Futenma to Henoko: Easier Said Than Done

Sorry I missed your previous comment, Janne. Actually, Futenma doesn’t need a legislative bill to go forward. It needs the following:

1) The Okinawa governor’s permission for the landfill that is necessary for the runway.
2) Appropriation in the FY2011 budget.

Note that 1) is unlikely to be forthcoming in the immediate future, although the Japanese and US authorities have agreed to come to a definitive conclusion by the end of August if I remember correctly. 2) is not hard to do. But once the US side has its own 2011 budget in place and actually starts spending the money, something is going to hit the fan and it won’t be pretty. Or at least that’s how I see it.