Okinawa officials condemn alleged rape, outrage on island grows

[unhappycamper]

Okinawa officials condemn alleged rape, outrage on island grows
By David Allen, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, February 15, 2008

NAHA, Okinawa — Anti-U.S. military outrage continued to mount Thursday on Okinawa in the wake of an alleged rape of a local middle-school girl by a U.S. Marine.

The latest salvo came from the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly, which issued a strongly worded resolution demanding action.

Calling the alleged incident a “malicious crime,” the assembly demanded reducing the presence of the U.S. military on the island, apologies and compensation to be paid to the victim and her family and tighter disciplinary measures on American servicemembers.

The resolution was to be delivered to the U.S. ambassador to Japan, commander of U.S. Forces Japan, commander of III Marine Expeditionary Force, the U.S. consul general in Naha and the commander of Marine Corps bases on Okinawa, assembly officials said.

On Wednesday, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Scheiffer told reporters that he and U.S. Forces Japan Commander Lt. Gen. Bruce Wright were taking “steps to review and reinforce the policies that we have in the United States military against sexual harassment and sexual assault.”


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=52493

[no_hypocrisy]

1. The intensity of outrage by the Okinawa community and Japan generally

is more than the alleged rape, the alleged victim was in middle school, and the alleged perpetrator was an American soldier stationed on their island. This is not the first time an American soldier has been accused of rape of a Japanese citizen on Okinawa. Other soldiers have received reprimands and punishment, but obviously none sufficient to impress the soldiers still stationed on the island that this is unacceptable, period. The people of Okinawa have had enough and want real sustained justice, not condescending cooing noises of sympathy.