Bagong Alyansang Makabayan stands in solidarity with Japanese progressives and peace-loving citizens in condemning the ongoing US-Japan Keen Sword military exercises, which are being held amid widespread outcry over the killing of an Okinawa resident by a US marine.
Keen Sword is the largest biannual exercise between Japan and the U.S. involving 45,000 Japan Self-Defense Forces troops, 11,000 U.S. service members, and forces from US allied countries including the Philippines.
Aside from deploying 6,100 vehicles, 40 vessels and 260 aircraft for the exercise, Japan will also introduce its Type 25 surface-to-ship missile with an operational range of 1,000 kilometers. The US has also deployed the NMESIS ground-based offensive anti-ship missile system, MADIS short-range surface-to-air system, and the HIMARS mobile rocket launching system.
These are provocative war drills that escalate tension in the region and reflect the increasing militarism of the US and its allies.
During the Balikatan exercises in the Philippines from April to May, Japan fired its Type 88 missile in north Luzon. We join our comrades in Japan in raising alarm over the Japanese government’s use of Type 25 and Type 88 missiles and other weapons of mass destruction that is contrary to the Constitutional prohibition of maintaining any means to wage war.
During the Balikatan, we saw how the weapons deployed by the US and Japan disrupted livelihoods, destroyed the environment, and endangered the local population. The same weapons are used in the Keen Sword that threatens regional security by allowing the US to preposition its war materiel and turn communities into staging grounds for military projection against its geopolitical rivals.
It is reckless for the Marcos Jr government to send a delegation to the Keen Sword and participate in the war exercise hosted by the country’s former colonizers.
It is deplorable that US troops are allowed to conduct war drills a few weeks after a US marine was indicted for killing Anna Yagi, a 39-year-old Okinawa resident. This is not an isolated incident but the latest manifestation of the violent impact of US basing and military occupation in Japan. The only way to end the vicious cycle of violence is not by token restrictions imposed on US forces but the immediate dismantling of US bases, the removal of US troops, and the cancellation of war drills like the Keen Sword.
The US is running roughshod over the call for justice and accountability as it continues its military operations in Japan and the region. This murderous military force must be expelled from our communities.
Stop Keen Sword, Balikatan, and US-led war exercises!
US out of Japan, Korea, Philippines, and everywhere!
Imperyalismo, ibagsak!