ANSWER Coalition banner at last year's international demonstration against the U.S. military base in Iwakuni, Japan

On April 20, a demonstration will be held in Ukawa, Japan to protest the construction of a new U.S. X-band radar base. It is being organized by the Kinki Coalition Against the US X-Band Radar Base and Asia Wide Campaign (AWC), a well-known anti-war organization with a long history of struggle. X-band radar is an advanced system that is supposedly being put in place to defend against the non-existent threat of a North Korean nuclear attack against the United States. In fact, the new installation is part of a broader strategy by U.S. imperialism to expand its presence in Asia and dominate the region. Below are statements from the ANSWER Coalition that will be read at the demonstration.

Statement from the ANSWER Coalition - U.S. to the Asia Wide Campaign (AWC) and the Kinki Coalition Against the U.S. X-Band Radar Base

As people gather today in Kyoto to rally against yet another expansion of the U.S. military presence abroad, we – anti-war activists from across the United States – stand with the people from Kyoto, Okinawa, Iwakuni, Kanagawa and elsewhere who are opposing this expansion and demanding the end of the U.S. military occupation of Japan.

The brazen demand that the people of Japan host yet another U.S. base should earn the same outrage around the world as it does in Kyoto and throughout Japan. U.S. occupations serve a larger global agenda to keep the people of the world under U.S. militarism’s thumb, and so people around the world will continue to fight back against U.S. occupation, adventurism, militarism and imperialism. The ANSWER Coalition will continue to do its part in that important struggle from cities and towns throughout the United States.

We demand the closure of all U.S. bases in Japan, and throughout Asia and the world, and for an end to imperialist occupation. We stand firmly opposed to U.S. threats of war against North Korea and other countries.

We stand in solidarity with all those who rally today in Kyoto and look forward to the success of your struggle.

Statement from the Youth & Student ANSWER - U.S. to the Asia Wide Campaign (AWC) and the Kinki Coalition Against the U.S. X-Band Radar Base

People around the world know that when the U.S. military expands its presence abroad, it is not to protect the people of the country it occupies, the people of the world or even the majority of people in the United States. It is a threat by the U.S. military establishment to anyone who dares speak against the myriad forms of U.S. intervention around the world.

The planned X-band radar base in Kyoto is no exception. It supplements the thousands of troops already occupying Japan. These troops, aimed at intimidating people around Asia, commit crimes and abuse the people of Japan without even facing punishment in Japan, just as is the case at the U.S. garrisons in South Korea, the Philippines and elsewhere.

Youth & Student ANSWER has rallied thousands of students and young workers against U.S. aggression, including the constant threats to call the U.S. troops occupying Japan into war against North Korea.

As the Student Coordinators of the ANSWER Coalition, we stand in solidarity with all those gathered today, and all those who struggle against U.S. occupation and imperialism.

In Solidarity,

Walter Smolarek
Temple University
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Michael Wang
American University
Washington, D.C.