“We are behind a timeline to achieve that goal of 8,000 (Marines) down to Guam, and we don’t have enough money to make it happen right now,” Navy Adm. Timothy Keating said.
“I don’t think it will happen on time. I think it will be more expensive,” he told Reuters in an interview.
The Hawaii-based commander stressed that there had been no change under the new Obama administration to the major overhaul plan, unveiled in 2006 and formally called the Defence Policy Review Initiative.
Analysts say key elements of the plan to shift troops away from the southern Japanese island of Okinawa have been held up by wrangling between the central government and the local government on the densely populated southern island.
Okinawa plays host to the bulk of the 50,000 U.S. troops based in Japan under a bilateral treaty and islanders have chafed at military accidents and crimes such as rape committed by U.S. servicemen.
Keating played down the impact of any delay.
“A case can be made that a more measured, longer-term approach approach … could be beneficial,” he said.
“It could be reassuring to our friends and allies in the region that we’re not abandoning Japan, we’re not rushing to judgment,” Admiral Keating said.
Guam, the largest of the Mariana Islands in the western Pacific, is a U.S. territory and is home to a number of military bases.
