Why Can't We Reduce the US Military Presence on Okinawa?

There were a few things in the speech by Ota Masahide that caught my attention...

1) That the occupation of Okinawa was in violation of the Hague Treaty. I guess I can understand why after WWII other countries might look the other way as the US violated an international treaty. The fear created from the War understandably made people scared to allow some countries free reign or to be militarily unsupervised. At the same time however, I think that Americans have lost sight of the fact that we became a country because we rebelled against foreign occupation. Certainly our occupation of Okinawa is quite similar. That part of the speech really upset me, but I guess I shouldn't be that surprised. The United States tends to do whatever they want and disregard concerns from other countries.

2) That 75% of the US bases in Japan are based in Okinawa and that Okinawa only makes up 1% of Japan's total area. Perhaps because Okinawa was the site of the only battle fought on Japanese soil during WWII the US put bases there. Or perhaps because the rest of Japan is able to pawn the bases of on the under-represented Okinawan population. The people of Okinawa carry the majority of the burden of placed on the Japanese by US military bases.

3) That Okinawan people only occupy 7 seats in the legislature out of 752. With that kind of skew on seats in the legislature it seems to be nearly impossible to ask the Japanese government for anything that might help Okinawa. They are a small island that is made to carry the burden of US military presence. The effects of which can be seen in their per capita income which is 71% lower than the mainland's or their unemployment rate which is double that of the mainland.

4) That US military personnel are committing crimes and not being held accountable. "American servicemen have committed 111 rapes, 23 murders, 357 robberies and 2, 479 burglaries." (262) The Okinawan population does not need the added stress of American servicemen committing crimes. This part was especially upsetting to me.

5) And finally, why can't we reduce the US military presence on Okinawa? I genuinely don't understand why we feel the need to have such a heavy presence on the Island. I understand the need to have a presence in Japan and in Asia, but I don't understand why it has to be so concentrated and large. It's time to start returning land to the Okinawan people and helping them return to a lifestyle of living that allows them to succeed.