Posted on 02/22/2008 3:57:46 PM PST by americanophile
TOKYO -- The Japanese prime minister has described the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl by an American Marine as "unforgivable." The foreign minister declared that Japan has "had enough" of such incidents. And the government's most senior Cabinet official promised that Japan would raise the issue of misconduct with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice when she visits next week. Few events have animated the top levels of government recently as much as the alleged rape this month on Okinawa Island, which has a large U.S. military presence that has long been a source of tension with residents. Senior Japanese politicians have continued to berate the United States, citing other less serious incidents involving troops, despite expressions of regret from U.S. Ambassador Thomas Schieffer and new restrictions on off-base travel for U.S. forces in Japan. The suspect, 38-year-old Staff Sgt. Tyrone Luther Hadnott, is in Japanese custody. Japanese news media, quoting police sources, have reported that he denies raping the girl but admits forcibly kissing her. The intensity of the reaction arises, in part, from a 1995 gang rape of a 12-year-old Okinawa girl by three U.S. servicemen that provoked massive anti-American demonstrations, and from the desire of the United States and Japan to avoid similar protests. And the mood was darkened further Thursday with reports of another U.S. serviceman under investigation on suspicion of raping a Filipino woman in an Okinawa hotel.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Send them a bill for the full cost of defending them for the past 50 years. It’s huge.
Ya know, I do not blame the Japanese one bit. This is not the first time this has happened, and I would be outraged as well.
Dude, rape is unforgiveable.
This is simply the wrong thread for those discussions.
Could be time we start dragging up and parading the usual suspects among the Japanese tourist hordes when one of them behaves in a criminally predatory manner.
If our media put half the effort into inflaming popular opinion as theirs does, we’d have mobs with hanging ropes waiting outside every international airport.
Personally, I agree with the poster who said something like, hope he’s innocent, but if he aint, hang him.
And as to the actual real motivation behind all this screeching and hollering by the locals which is US presence on Japanese soil.... sucks to lose a war. Maybe that’s the real lesson we should be taking out of this too.
In your opinion. Not mine.
Not good when this happens..ever...and especially on foreign soil. Can’t these dudes get some prostitutes or inflatable dolls? I love our marines but rape is a crime in any culture.
Except Saudi.
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I'm with you sir, send it to the 12-14 year old girls then have some scumbag who made it through boot camp show up to take it out in trade.
Apparently you are wrong-o.
You want tension? Pull that "large U.S. military presence" (Can you say JOBS) out of there and I guarantee, you'll see some "tension." Only a liberal moron would write that kind of crap.
It’s a crime there, too. The victim is guilty and must be punished.
Tell that to your Senators and Reps...
If it happened, he should be punished.
On the other hand, this kind of “outraged reaction” gets pretty annoying. It’s not as if the Japanese treated the people of Okinawa all that well in the past.
How about waiting to see what happens before all these complaints and demonstrations? Or would they rather we left Okinawa vulnerable to a Chinese attack?
“Dude, rape is unforgiveable.”
Yes it is. We will punish the perpetrators if they are guilty, and then lets bring all our troops home and let the whining, complaining, and ungrateful Japanese defend themselves at their own expense. They should have lots of fun as a vassal state of the new China.
I am really disgusted that on Free Republic of all places posters would agree with holding all American soldiers responsible for the criminal acts of a few. I feel like I’m in the twilight zone on Democratic Underground.
So you say. Means zip to me.
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