"We have to realize that we no longer have the luxury of
interminable dialogue over parochial issues. If we are to bring the
alliance to where it needs to be in the 21st century, then we need
to dramatically accelerate, across the board, to make up for the
time lost to indecision, indifference and procrastination."
Source: Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Richard
Lawless, speaking at a Tokyo conference sponsored by the
Washington-based American Enterprise Institute. The Washington Post
quoted him, saying, while a breakthrough agreement has been reached
between Washington and Tokyo on basing US Marine aviation assets in
Okinawa, He's generally concerned about the slow pace of military
negotiations between the two partners.