Patrick Henry and Thomas Paine might have been better equipped to understand the Okinawan reversion movement than are most Americans today. Many Americans in Okinawa wonder why, in the light of the obvious military and economic advantages of American occupation of the Ryukyus, an over- whelming majority of the Ryukyus wish to return to Japan. The question includes, of course, a full periphery of qualifications relating to degree and schedule of withdrawal, but the fact remains that no Japanese or okinawan politician dares oppose eventual reversion.