Page:CIA Nerve Gas Incident on Okinawa.pdf/2

 a basis, the Japanese are easily aroused by scare reports of radioactive pollution of their waters, and of other "evils" associated with US bases in Japan and Okinawa, such as jet noises, danger of crashing planes and dropped objects, and contamination of local wells by seepage from gasoline storage tanks. These fears and irritants are always present among the Japanese, and are readily susceptible to exploitation by anti-US elements on the slightest pretext.

5. The article mentioned a possible previous instance of CBW contamination on Okinawa last year. Our files reveal the following on that case:
 * On 21 July 1968, 237 Okinawans, mostly students, swimming near a US military installation at Gushikawa in east central Okinawa, were exposed to an unknown irritant which caused inflammation of the skin and eyes. The local press claimed the source of the ailment was a "chemical" [sic] defoliant" stored at Gushikawa for use by US forces in Vietnam. The actual source of the ailment was never officially identified. US authorities on Okinawa speculated that the irritant could be a) industrial waste; b) poisonous marine life; or c) rupture of discarded war gas cannisters on the ocean bottom.

6. That episode last year blew over without serious repercussions, largely due to the relative mildness of the affliction and the inability to pinpoint the cause. However, "nerve gas" is a more volatile issue, much in the news these days. Japanese leftists, moreover, are hurting for a good rallying cause in their lagging campaign against the Sato government's handling of the Okinawan and Mutual Security Treaty issues with the US. They may well be tempted to try to give this present incident a good propaganda ride.

Chief, North Asia Branch