U.S. mulled moving forces out: Maher

The U.S. government had considered evacuating part of its forces out of Japan in a "worst-case scenario" in the early days of the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant, a former senior U.S. diplomat said Thursday.

Moving the U.S. forces out of the country was "one scenario that was looked at in terms of crisis-management planning" in the event the radiation threat worsened, Kevin Maher, the U.S. State Department's former Japan desk chief, said at a press conference in Tokyo.

Maher, who now works as a senior associate at NMV Consulting LLC in Washington, was discussing his position as a coordinator at the department's Japan Earthquake Task Force until early April.

Prior to that, he was director of the department's Office of Japan Affairs.

Maher told the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan that the U.S. government, being "very concerned" over the lack of "good information" on the Fukushima plant status after it was crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, began looking into possibly evacuating U.S. residents as well as U.S. forces based in Japan.

Maher's comment acknowledges for the first time that Washington had thought of moving U.S. forces personnel out of Japan. But since the situation did not worsen, Washington only recommended evacuation for its citizens living within an 80-km radius of the plant as a precautionary measure, according to Maher.

He said that based on information the United States had, there have probably been "at least one, probably two meltdowns" at the Fukushima plant. The United States had dispatched a Global Hawk unmanned high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft to take images of the inside of buildings housing the reactors.

The former U.S. diplomat told Kyodo News after the press conference there was concern that U.S. forces stationed in metropolitan areas including Yokota outside Tokyo and the Yokosuka and Atsugi naval bases in Kanagawa Prefecture, and the Misawa base in Aomori Prefecture, might be exposed to radioactive substances.

Although the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and other American forces participated in the posttsunami relief operations, the Yokosuka-based carrier USS George Washington and elements of its battle group were, according to earlier reports, temporarily redeployed to Guam, dependants apparently included.

In his recently published book "Ketsudan Dekinai Nihon" ("The Japan That Can't Decide"), Maher wrote there was a senior U.S. government official who urged that all 90,000 U.S. citizens living in Tokyo be evacuated.

Published by Bungei Shunju Ltd., the book also reveals his view on a Kyodo News report that led to his dismissal in March as the State Department's Japan desk chief over his alleged remarks disparaging the people of Okinawa.

Kyodo News reported in early March that Maher had described people in Okinawa as "lazy" and "masters of manipulation and extortion" in a briefing to American University students in December, quoting notes taken by some of the students.

Maher again rebuffed the report, saying the article was "biased" and "fraudulent." On Wednesday, he asked Kyodo News to retract the story, saying he finds it problematic that the Kyodo reporter who wrote the article hosted some of the students who attended the briefing at his Tokyo home during a study tour later in December.

In response, Kyodo News said its report was accurate because several students and their assistant professor testified that the notes were precise.

Kyodo News also said the reporting activities were done in an appropriate manner and it does not see any ethical problem with the reporter allowing the students to stay over at his home.

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