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Japanese officials angry after 2 U.S. sailors arrested in Okinawa rape case

RDS

RDS

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What is the excuse now? Stress?

Tokyo (CNN) -- Japanese officials expressed outrage after two U.S. sailors were arrested over accusations that they raped a woman on the island of Okinawa, where the American military presence has generated long-simmering resentment.
Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto on Wednesday called the alleged rape "vicious and mean" and said Japanese authorities were lodging protests with the U.S. government and military, as well as demands for better preventive measures.
Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima, who met with Morimoto over the matter, said it went "beyond madness" that the alleged attack took place two months after a U.S. Marine was arrested over accusations he assaulted and molested a woman in Naha, the capital of Okinawa.
Police in Okinawa identified the detained sailors as U.S. Navy Seaman Christopher Daniel Browning and Petty Officer Skyler Dozierwalker of Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth in Texas.
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Japanese officials angry after 2 U.S. sailors arrested in Okinawa rape case - CNN.com
 
What's your excuse for mischaracterizing the article? The US is taking this seriously, are you?
 
I saw no excuses being made in that article. Seriously charges have been made, the accused were immediately arrested. The OP doesn't make sense to me.
 
I think the OP has more to do with the U.S. excusing all actions of its soldiers overseas. Kill and rape a village in Vietnam? Covered up. Shot at women and children in Iraq? Stress and mismanagement, terrible accident. Rape a woman in Japan? Stress.
 
Since when does the U.S. 'excuse' all actions of its soldiers overseas. We just had a series of court martials here of soldiers accused of murder in Iraq.

Why don't you see what the dispostion of this case is before you tar everybody with the same brush.
 
DiAnna said:
I saw no excuses being made in that article. Seriously charges have been made, the accused were immediately arrested. The OP doesn't make sense to me.
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That's because it makes no sense. It does, however, give those who are anti-military an opportunity to give voice to their prejudices.
 
US servicemen are pretty well known for sexual offences in asian countries where they had US bases from Japan to Philipines to S. Korea.

It is not surprising that Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima expressed outrage at the crime by saying, “This is just insane.”

The two suspects were in Okinawa on an official trip from the U.S. mainland. They allegedly raped the victim before dawn on the morning they were to depart Okinawa for Guam. Did they think they would not be caught once they left the island?

In 1995, the rape of a schoolgirl by three U.S. Marines in Okinawa provoked widespread fury among local residents. The incident led to fresh negotiations between Japan and the United States over a realignment of U.S. military bases in Japan and the issue of how to handle crimes and accidents involving U.S. troops.

But there has been no end to crimes by American soldiers in Okinawa. Sex offenses committed by U.S. servicemen in the past decade include the rape and molesting of junior high school students and a rape resulting in injuries. In August this year, a woman was injured when she was indecently assaulted. It seems highly likely there were other victims, but they didn’t report the crimes to police.

A growing number of people in Okinawa, citing the massive presence of U.S. forces in the prefecture, fear for the safety of women and children there.
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EDITORIAL: Greater efforts needed to reduce crimes by U.S. servicemen - AJW by The Asahi Shimbun
 
I wonder how this story is being reported in Nanking.
 
Here's a hot tip for you. This is not a petty issue.

Since the United States handed control of Okinawa back to Japan in 1972 there have been 25 murders, 127 rapes, 306 assaults, 25 arsons, 385 burglaries and 2,827 thefts by US troops. There have been more than 170 courts-martial for sexual assault, but the Pentagon prefers to keep these cases as hushed as it possibly can. It doesn't always succeed; in 1995, 40 years to the day after little Yumiko's murder by a US Marine, two Marines and a sailor kidnapped a 12-year-old girl before brutally beating her, binding her with duct tape and gang raping her. They made no effort to cover their tracks.

Read more: The US 'rape of Okinawa' continues
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Having spent quite a bit of time on Okinawa I can tell you that the locals react strongly to these incidents. However, their outrage is very generalized and these incidents rarely affect personal interactions or relationships between Okinawans and Americans on an individual basis. In the past, American forces have restricted off base access to military personnel following incidents such as these and it's usually the locals that ask for those restrictions to be lifted.

I assure you, every one is taking this seriously.
 
RDS said:
Here's a hot tip for you. This is not a petty issue.
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NObody claimed it was. You have admitted there were 170 courts-marital for sexual assault. The point of this thread by the OP was to allege that nobody prosecuted these cases and nobody took them seriously. Your own link would appear to state otherwise.

Unless, of course, you just want to take the opportunity to bash servicemen. Your source article, by the way, is a piece of crap. The guy goes back to 1945 to complain about something? Let's see - something else happened on Okinawa in 1945, didn't it? Oh yeah, the U.S. suffered 62,000 casualties and 12,500 dead taking the island from the Japanese. And you're focusing on some farmer who confronted U.S. troops and got killed?

Look, if it makes you feel good to trash american servicemen and portray them as evil monsters, go for it. I'm done with you.
 
Wiggen said:
NObody claimed it was. You have admitted there were 170 courts-marital for sexual assault. The point of this thread by the OP was to allege that nobody prosecuted these cases and nobody took them seriously. Your own link would appear to state otherwise.

Unless, of course, you just want to take the opportunity to bash servicemen. Your source article, by the way, is a piece of crap. The guy goes back to 1945 to complain about something? Let's see - something else happened on Okinawa in 1945, didn't it? Oh yeah, the U.S. suffered 62,000 casualties and 12,500 dead taking the island from the Japanese. And you're focusing on some farmer who confronted U.S. troops and got killed?

Look, if it makes you feel good to trash american servicemen and portray them as evil monsters, go for it. I'm done with you.
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Don't try to bait me. I'm done with you too.
 
It's a good start with a curfew being imposed by the military. At least some concrete action is being taken sooner than expected.

YO: The US military said Friday it was imposing a nationwide curfew on all military personnel in Japan after two servicemen allegedly raped a local woman in Okinawa.

From 11pm to 5am all of the approximately 47,000 members of the US armed forces stationed in Japan, as well as any there temporarily, must stay on base or in their homes.

The curfew begins Friday night and no end date was given.

"I'm immediately issuing a curfew to all military personnel in Japan, both temporary and assigned," Salvatore Angelella, the Commander of US Forces in Japan, told reporters.

He said "core value retraining" would also take place and commanders would be reviewing policies on leave.
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US military imposes curfew after alleged rape in Okinawa - Channel NewsAsia
 
The actions of some soldiers that commit crimes as individuals shouldn't reflect the US government. If the military is seeking justice and proper actions are being taken place then those at fault are solely the rapists.
 
digsbe said:
The actions of some soldiers that commit crimes as individuals shouldn't reflect the US government. If the military is seeking justice and proper actions are being taken place then those at fault are solely the rapists.
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The US govt and military is ultimately responsible for their actions and they tarnish the image.
 
RDS said:
The US govt and military is ultimately responsible for their actions and they tarnish the image.
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They are responsible for punishing their actions, the US government or military as a whole did not go out and rape these victims. Individual soldiers did and the responsibility of the US government and military is to bring about justice.
 
Another RDS drive-by on the US. I'm tired of the spam.


Anyway, I'd like to see per-capita stats for the Marines there and the general populace.
 
If they in fact were guilty then they should pay the price. If the terms of their detention is extreme then the US should get involved to lower it. If a foreign national rapes on US soil we would want the perpetrator prosecuted to the full extent the law provides.
 
I would like to see the marines come home and defend America
 
digsbe said:
They are responsible for punishing their actions, the US government or military as a whole did not go out and rape these victims. Individual soldiers did and the responsibility of the US government and military is to bring about justice.
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Then that does not necessitate the imposition of a curfew by the military going by your reasoning.
 
Edward said:
I would like to see the marines come home and defend America
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I somewhat agree with the sentiment, although Marines are, by their existance, offensive troops designed for offensive operations.
 
Edward said:
If they in fact were guilty then they should pay the price.
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Yes, our price - not tried by propaganda in some random backwards shthole, which we're trying to help. Get some perspective.
 
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Why disrespect our troops?

Hatuey said:
I think the OP has more to do with the U.S. excusing all actions of its soldiers overseas. Kill and rape a village in Vietnam? Covered up. Shot at women and children in Iraq? Stress and mismanagement, terrible accident. Rape a woman in Japan? Stress.
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