What do Seumas Milne, Shinzo Abe, Yukio Mishima, and Okinawa have in common? The United States.

Last month, Seumas Milne wrote a column with the heading, "70 years of foreign troops? We should close the bases" (The Guardian, Jan. 22, 2014).

"There's been nothing like it since the Norman invasion," he reminded readers. "With the 15-month Dutch occupation of London in 1688-89 a distant competitor, there has been no precedent since 1066" for the string of military bases U.S. forces have held for the better part of a century.