Because Japan doesn't want them there
(NEWSER) - The US military has worn out its welcome in Japan, so the two countries today announced an agreement to pull about 9,000 Marines from the Okinawa base, redeploying them in other places in the Asia-Pacific region, like Hawaii and the US territory of Guam. Japan has grown increasingly restless about the US military presence there (in part because of incidents like this one ), and the move is part of a larger agreement to reduce those tensions, the AP reports. More»