U.S. to cut force in Japan

9,000 Marines leaving Okinawa. Departure to other Pacific sites follows years of complaints.

The U.S. and Japanese governments said they will move about 9,000 Marines off Okinawa to other bases in the western Pacific, in a bid to remove a persistent irritant in the relationship between the two allies.

The Marine Corps Air Station Futenma on Okinawa has been seen by both sides as essential to deterring Chinese military aggression in the region. But the noisy air base’s location in a crowded urban area has long angered Okinawa residents, and some view the Marines as rowdy and potentially violent.

The relocation deal was announced late Thursday.

“I am very pleased that, after many years, we have reached this important agreement and plan of action,” Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said.

Still unresolved is the issue of establishing a replacement for Futenma. The failure to find a suitable spot for a new air base had held up a previous effort to relocate the Marines to Guam, but the current agreement removes that barrier. U.S. Marines would leave Futenma as soon as suitable facilities on Guam and elsewhere are ready.

The earlier plan in 2006 to relocate the base had been plagued by financial and political difficulties in both the United States and Japan. Frustration over the failure to execute that agreement grew so intense that it contributed to the resignation of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama in 2010.

Under the current plan, the total cost of closing Futenma and transferring the 9,000 Marines off Oki- nawa will be about $8.6 billion. Japan will pay about $3.1 billion to facilitate the moves.

About 5,000 of the Marines will go to Guam, and a smaller number will head to other Pacific sites such as Hawaii or Australia. Even after the moves, about 10,000 Marines will remain on Okinawa, as called for under the earlier agreement.

Three senior U.S. senators on the Armed Services Committee had raised concerns about costs and how the move would affect U.S. military strategy.

In a statement, Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin, D-mich., ranking Republican John Mccain, Ariz., and James Webb, DVa., said, “We still have many questions about the specific details of this statement and its implications for our force posture in the Asia-pacific region, and we will continue to work with the Administration and the Government of Japan to achieve the objectives we all share.”