Day: December 2, 2023
The U.S. military unit that had a V-22 Osprey aircraft crash off the coast of Japan is not carrying out operations, but other aircraft will continue to fly after undergoing safety checks, the Pentagon said Friday, even as Tokyo has said it is concerned about continued Osprey flights.
Japan, a key U.S. ally, had sought the suspension of all nonemergency V-22 Osprey flights over its territory after one fell into the sea on Wednesday in western Japan. Japan’s Coast Guard said one person was found and confirmed dead, and the search for the remaining seven aboard was continuing.
Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said that outside the unit that had the crash, which has suspended Osprey flights, all other Ospreys in Japan “operate only after undergoing thorough maintenance and safety checks.”
“We have already started sharing information about the accident with our Japanese partners and have pledged to continue to do so in a timely and transparent manner,” Singh said.
She added that Japanese and U.S. leaders had good and constant communication.
The Pentagon said on Thursday that it was still flying Ospreys for now, and that it was not aware of any official request for their grounding. The cause of the crash was under investigation.
Asked about that statement, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Hirokazu Matsuno, said Tokyo had “officially” made the request.
“We are concerned that despite our repeated requests, and in the absence of sufficient explanation [from the U.S. military], the Osprey continues to fly,” he told a news conference.
SDF to halt flights
The Japan Self-Defense Forces (SDF), which also operates Ospreys, has said it would suspend flights of the transport aircraft.
Japan’s foreign minister, Yoko Kamikawa, said she had directly asked U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel on Thursday to confirm the safety of Osprey flights before further flights were carried out.
The U.S. Embassy in Japan declined to immediately comment.
The deployment of the hybrid aircraft in Japan has been controversial, with critics of the U.S. military presence in the southwest islands saying it is prone to accidents.
Pacifist Japan hosts the biggest overseas concentration of U.S. military power, with the country home to the only forward-deployed American carrier strike group, its Asian airlift hub, fighter squadrons and a U.S. Marine Corps expeditionary force.
Robert Dujarric, a scholar at Tokyo’s Temple University, said Japan was very sensitive to residents’ concerns about military operations, which date to Japan’s defeat in World War II and its subsequent reliance on the U.S. for security.
“They think that if it looks like the U.S. and Japan are not sufficiently investigating this, it is going to put problems on deployment, because in Japan, unlike what happens in other countries, the local communities have an impact on what type of assets are deployed,” he said.
Dujarric said that he did not expect the issue to “blow up” into a major diplomatic spat between the allies, who have been forging closer ties in the face of China’s increasingly muscular military stance in the region.
The U.S. military unit that had a V-22 Osprey aircraft crash off the coast of Japan is not carrying out operations, but other aircraft will continue to fly after undergoing safety checks, the Pentagon said Friday, even as Tokyo has said it is concerned about continued Osprey flights.
Japan, a key U.S. ally, had sought the suspension of all nonemergency V-22 Osprey flights over its territory after one fell into the sea on Wednesday in western Japan. Japan’s Coast Guard said one person was found and confirmed dead, and the search for the remaining seven aboard was continuing.
Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said that outside the unit that had the crash, which has suspended Osprey flights, all other Ospreys in Japan “operate only after undergoing thorough maintenance and safety checks.”
“We have already started sharing information about the accident with our Japanese partners and have pledged to continue to do so in a timely and transparent manner,” Singh said.
She added that Japanese and U.S. leaders had good and constant communication.
The Pentagon said on Thursday that it was still flying Ospreys for now, and that it was not aware of any official request for their grounding. The cause of the crash was under investigation.
Asked about that statement, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Hirokazu Matsuno, said Tokyo had “officially” made the request.
“We are concerned that despite our repeated requests, and in the absence of sufficient explanation [from the U.S. military], the Osprey continues to fly,” he told a news conference.
SDF to halt flights
The Japan Self-Defense Forces (SDF), which also operates Ospreys, has said it would suspend flights of the transport aircraft.
Japan’s foreign minister, Yoko Kamikawa, said she had directly asked U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel on Thursday to confirm the safety of Osprey flights before further flights were carried out.
The U.S. Embassy in Japan declined to immediately comment.
The deployment of the hybrid aircraft in Japan has been controversial, with critics of the U.S. military presence in the southwest islands saying it is prone to accidents.
Pacifist Japan hosts the biggest overseas concentration of U.S. military power, with the country home to the only forward-deployed American carrier strike group, its Asian airlift hub, fighter squadrons and a U.S. Marine Corps expeditionary force.
Robert Dujarric, a scholar at Tokyo’s Temple University, said Japan was very sensitive to residents’ concerns about military operations, which date to Japan’s defeat in World War II and its subsequent reliance on the U.S. for security.
“They think that if it looks like the U.S. and Japan are not sufficiently investigating this, it is going to put problems on deployment, because in Japan, unlike what happens in other countries, the local communities have an impact on what type of assets are deployed,” he said.
Dujarric said that he did not expect the issue to “blow up” into a major diplomatic spat between the allies, who have been forging closer ties in the face of China’s increasingly muscular military stance in the region.
The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday voted to expel New York Republican George Santos from Congress over the lies, scandals and alleged campaign finance crimes.
The lower chamber voted 311-114 to expel Santos, with 105 Republicans and 206 Democrats voting for expulsion. All Republican leaders voted against expulsion.
The latest action, which required a two-thirds majority, makes Santos, a first-term lawmaker, the sixth member of the House to be expelled in the body’s history. Such move hasn’t happened in more than 20 years.
Santos invented ties to the Holocaust and made false claims that his mother was at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. His detractors also mentioned several times his use of campaign funds for personal expenses.
The removal of the scandal-ridden 35-year-old Congressman came two weeks after a scathing House Ethics Committee report revealed details about his use of campaign funds for personal benefit. Santos, however, repeatedly debunked the report as political smear.
Santos faces 23 federal felony counts. A 23-count indictment was filed in October in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, charging him with conspiracy, wire fraud, false statements, falsification of records, aggravated identity theft, and credit card fraud.
“George Santos is a liar — in fact, he has admitted to many of them — who has used his position of public trust to personally benefit himself from Day 1,” said Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, a Republican of New York.
Santos survived two previous expulsion efforts due to the influence of the current House speaker, Mike Johnson, and his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, who both didn’t want to lose his seat to a Democrat in a special election.
Under New York state law, the governor has 10 days to declare the date of a special election.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said Friday that she was prepared to fill the vacancy. “I am prepared to undertake the solemn responsibility of filling the vacancy in New York’s 3rd District. The people of Long Island deserve nothing less,” she said on social media platform X.
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