[HCCN] Fwd: Call from Japanese women's organization

[Judith Robbins]

> From: "Global Network" <globalnet at mindspring.com>
>
> Dear our friends in the peace community in the U.S.,
>
>
> This is Emiko HIRANO, international section head of the New Japan  
> Women’s Association (Shinfujin).
>
> Thank you very much for solidarity, compassion and support you have  
> been extending to us, in this most difficult time in our postwar  
> history. You keep reminding us that we are not alone in enduring  
> and recovering from the unprecedented tragedy.
>
> President Barack Obama said in his statement on Thursday, “We will  
> stand with the people of Japan as they contain this crisis, recover  
> from this hardship, and rebuild their great nation.” We are  
> grateful that the president of our ally is ready to do whatever it  
> can to help us out of this tragedy.
>
> The New Japan Women’s Association calls on our sisters and  
> brothers, friends of the U.S. peace and just movement to ask your  
> president to return the money he receives from the Japanese  
> government, that is our taxpayers’ money, to cover the 75 percent  
> of the cost of the U.S. military stationing in Japan. We have over  
> 130 U.S. military bases and facilities with about 40,000 personnel.  
> The expenses for the maintaining the U.S. military in our country  
> is called “sympathy budget,” (host nation support in your media)  
> because it covers far beyond the Japan’s obligation under the  
> Security Treaty; it includes the salaries of the Japanese employees  
> working in the bases, as well as heating, electricity and water,  
> and even dry-cleaning charges of military families. In 2010, the  
> expenses totaled nearly 190 billion yen (about $1.6 billion), and  
> Japan covers 50 percent of all the cost of U.S. military stationed  
> around the world.
>
> With the unprecedented scale of damage in Tohoku region, well-known  
> for its fishery and agricultural products, and the possible  
> radiation contamination, we need money for the rescue work and for  
> assisting the people who barely survived to recover. In the long  
> run, Japan will need more and more money not only for the  
> reconstruction of the disaster-stricken areas but also for  
> recovering from the economic and human losses we are facing as a  
> whole nation. We cannot afford sustaining U.S. military bases and  
> daily life of the military families any more while we need money to  
> help our fellow people living in sorrow, grief and fear to get back  
> to their normal life as soon as possible, although life will not be  
> the same as it used to be.
>
> Please tell your president to show his support by saying that he  
> kindly declines to receive the “sympathy budget.” Please tell your  
> congresswomen, congressmen and senators to present a resolution to  
> this end.
>
> Here in Japan, the New Japan Women’s Association, urges the  
> Japanese government to stop spending the Japanese people money for  
> maintaining the U.S. military and to reallocate the budget for  
> human need, with immediate focus on the assistance to the Tohoku  
> population. We believe this will lead to the drastic cut in  
> military spending to make our world safer for all and more  
> sustainable.
>
> HIRANO Emiko
> ****************************************
> International Section Head
> New Japan Women's Association
> 5-10-20, Koishikawa, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 112-0002 JAPAN
> Phone: +81-3-3814-9141
> Fax:     +81-3-3814-9441
> E-mail: s-intl at shinfujin.gr.jp
> URL:    http://www.shinfujin.gr.jp
>
>
>

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