U.S. and Japan admit basing plan has hit delays, but promise to press on

Top U.S. and Japanese officials announced today that the plan to relocate the controversial Futenma Air Station on Okinawa will not meet its target date, but they rejected the idea of altering the plan, as three top senators are demanding.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates met with Japanese Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto and Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa at the State Department Tuesday morning for the first U.S.-Japan "2+2" meeting since 2007. They issued a long joint statement and held a short press briefing following the meeting, during which they acknowledged that the basing realignment plan, which was signed in 2006, will not meet its 2014 deadline for completion.

"We decided to remove the deadline of 2014 for its completion, but in order to avoid forever continuing the use of Futenma Air Station, we also confirmed a mutual strive for earliest possible relocation," Kitazawa said.

The announcement was not a surprise, considering that virtually no progress has been made on the relocation plan since 2006 due to local Okinawan opposition. "It does not take a math prodigy to look at the calendar, look at the original timelines that were laid out, look at the progress that has been made, and make a determination about what can and can’t be completed between now and 2014," a senior administration official said Monday.

Gates added today that the two governments would proceed with the plan as agreed rather than alter it, as Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI), John McCain (R-AZ), and Jim Webb (D-VA) are demanding. The three senators want Futenma to be moved within the Kadena air base on Okinawa, rather than to a new facility on the island. They also want to scale back the relocation of 8,000 Marines to Guam and to halt the movement of military families to South Korea.

"The decision announced today on the Futenma replacement facility configuration, along with other elements of the 2006 Realignment Roadmap, shows we are making steady progress toward modernizing U.S. forward presence in the region. It is critical that we move forward with the relocation of Futenma and construction of facilities in Guam for the U.S. Marines," Gates said, effectively rejecting the senators’ plan.

Gates then said that the senators’ complaints are a manifestation of "growing Congressional impatience" with the relocation plan’s lack of progress, raising the need for "concrete progress" over the next year.

But the senators aren’t waiting until next year to try to alter the plan. Last week, Levin and McCain included several provisions in their version of the defense authorization bill that would remove authorization for funding of the entire force realignment plan unless the administration meets several of their demands for more information.

Webb, in a statement issued late Tuesday, dug in on his promise to try to change the plan.

"The decisions announced today with respect to basing realignments were predictable.  However, the reality of extensive delay in completing the Futenma Replacement Facility as it is now proposed underscores the importance of resolving U.S. basing realignments in a more realistic manner," he said. "The concerns regarding costs and feasibility raised by the Armed Services Committee should be fully addressed before Congress funds the proposed realignments."