Over 400 people are demanding the truth about Futenma

Thank you so much for signing my petition urging Marine Corps Commandant Robert Neller to tell the truth about Futenma airbase, which, as of September 14, reached 400 signatures.

First, let me bring to your attention an article by C. Douglas Lummis, a former Marine who now lives in Okinawa. He writes of facts that “are burned into the historical memory of the Okinawan people. It is jaw-dropping that Commandant Neller could speak publicly (and ‘authoritatively’) in utter ignorance of this history, which is also the history of a base under his command. As a former Marine I would expect the Commandant to understand that while propaganda and fake history may be useful to politicians, in the military you need stone cold accurate information about your situation. In Okinawa, the situation is that the ‘good neighbor’ illusion is fading, a process helped along by blandly ignorant statements like this one.”

Now as to the petition, 400 signatures is an important milestone, but we can’t stop there. Many more people would sign the petition, if only they saw it. For that, I need your help.

Your friends probably share some of your values; they are more likely to sign than the average person. If you could share the petition on social media, it would be enormously helpful in getting us to 500.

I know very well that some Americans are touchy about criticism of the US military. If you have friends like that, you can include the quotation above and identify it as coming from a former Marine. They may not sign, but they probably won’t get too huffy and puffy either.

Sharing the petition on Facebook is easy: just paste https://www.change.org/p/robert-neller-commandant-of-the-marine-corps-tell-the-truth-about-futenma-airbase into the “What’s on your mind?” box on your timeline, add a personal statement, and hit the Share button. You can also find posts to share at https://www.facebook.com/SeattleStandsWithOkinawa/

Thanks, and on to 500!

Jon Reinsch