by Sabrina Salas Matanane

Guam - Senate Armed services committee member Senator Jim Webb urged Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to "reexamine carefully" available alternatives to resolve the disputes over U.S. military bases in Okinawa. Panetta will be heading to the Pacific region this weekend, and will be meeting with Japanese government officials in Tokyo.

In a news release, Webb indicates that officials at the highest level in DOD and the uniformed military have told him repeatedly of the deep concerns regarding the affordability and workability of the 2006 roadmap agreement for basing on Okinawa and Guam, even though he says "our two national governments seem unable to admit this publicly." He adds, "Our failure to resolve the issue of American bases on Okinawa has resulted in a volatile political debate in Japan, the implications of which should not be under-estimated by American leaders."

Webb has drafted alternative basing recommendation with the senate armed services committee chair Carl Levin and ranking republican John McCain. A key recommendation is to move Marine Corps aviation assets assigned at Futenma into Kadena Air base, and dispersing Air Force assets to other locations in the Pacific region.