U.S., Japan Agree on Troop Realignment
The United States and Japan have settled their differences on a payment plan to move thousands of U.S. Marines out of Japan, with Japan agreeing to contribute nearly 60 percent of the $10.3 billion cost, the Japanese defense chief said. Japanese Defense Minister Fukushiro Nukaga flew to Washington to secure the agreement, spending more than three hours in a meeting Sunday with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. Nukaga told reporters afterward that Japan wanted an appropriate sharing of the cost of transferring 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to the Pacific island of Guam. Full Story