Maher, Clinton noticed no challenge even if Futenma can't be relocated

TOKYO, March 11 Kyodo

Kevin Maher, who has been eliminated from the chief submit of the U.S. State Department's Japan desk, told Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in December that he observed no obstacle even if the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station in Japan's Okinawa Prefecture won't be able to be relocated, resources close to Japan-U.S. relations reported Friday.

Clinton accepted and shared Maher's see, they mentioned. Maher was involved in bilateral talks on the thorny relocation situation previous to he was dismissed as director of the department's Workplace of Japan Affairs over documented disparaging remarks created about the women and men of Okinawa.

Maher offered the watch as a worst-circumstance scenario when Clinton asked for his opinion on the preferred- and worst-case scenarios for the extended-delayed relocation of Futenma. He added that even the worst case would manage the standing quo and poses no main problem for U.S. forces or a disadvantage for the United Says, they mentioned.

Clinton accepted Maher's reply, the sources claimed.

Maher also informed Clinton that the most excellent situation would be if the base could be relocated swiftly from a densely populated metropolis of Ginowan to a much less populated seaside district in Nago, both equally in Okinawa, with native Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima softening his opposition to the strategy, they claimed.

U.S. political scientist Kent Calder, who is best-known as an authority on Japanese politics, reported Maher, along with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, is identified to have maintained a challenging stance against Japan in bilateral negotiations.

Calder, director of the Reischauer Center for East Asian Scientific studies in Washington, also said an rising quantity of administration officials have arrive to see difficulties in settling the Futenma relocation concern as prolonged as the touch stance was preserved.

Maher was replaced Thursday above remarks in a briefing to American University students in December, in which he described the persons of Okinawa as ''lazy'' and ''masters of manipulation and extortion,'' according to students' account. Maher mentioned the account was not correct.

Under a 2006 bilateral agreement on the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan, the Futenma base will be relocated to the coastal location of Nago by 2014. The dilemma hit a snag immediately after a switch of authorities in Japan in 2009, creating Japan and the United States to reconfirm the authentic accord previous year just after some twists and turns.