Life on the island takes place in the shadow of olive green hangars, military aircraft and ships, where incidents are not uncommon
As soon as the sun goes down, the bars on the island are flooded with muscular and tattooed young men in tight T-shirts. They are accompanied by young girls who do not have to wait long for a free drink or an invitation to a game of billiards. Remembering what happens later the next day is usually clouded by a severe hangover headache. We are not talking about a popular summer resort for young people on some Greek island, but about Okinawa, the southernmost Japanese island, where the largest American military base in Asia is located.
The inhabitants of Okinawa are still struggling to get used to coexistence with the Japanese from the mainland who colonized the island during the war, because they have a hard time forgiving all the abuses that the Japanese committed against the islanders. The burden of coexistence with about 28.000 US soldiers, sailors, pilots and marines, who make up more than half of the total US forces in Japan and a quarter of the US forces in Asia, which remains a US strategic priority, does not get any easier. Since the end of the Second World War, when Japan practically ceded its own defense and security to the US, which turned the tropical island into a large base, life on the island takes place in the shadow of olive-green hangars, military aircraft and ships, where incidents arising from the collision of the military and civilian worlds they are not rare.
However, memories of most contacts, especially those occurring in the wee hours of the night, remain clouded by alcohol fumes. However, not all. Last week's incident in which Japanese authorities arrested Sergeant Timothy Woodland, 24, is a serious test for US-Japanese relations. A US Air Force sergeant has been arrested on suspicion of raping a Japanese woman in a parking lot outside a string of bars and nightclubs where young Marines, far from their homes, like to spend their dollars.
U ZAO TIME: The alleged rape happened just one day before the first meeting between new Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and US President George W. Bush in Washington.
After lengthy negotiations between American and Japanese officials, Sergeant Woodland was handed over to the Japanese police, who will interrogate him until it is determined whether there are elements for indictment. Under the bilateral Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which governs the position and status of US soldiers stationed on Japanese soil, US forces are not required to hand over suspects to Japanese authorities until charges are filed. The agreement also provides some protection for American soldiers against unjustified arrest, because the treatment of people in Japanese custody is quite notorious. More than 90 percent of suspects against whom an indictment is filed are convicted in court, largely because the suspects do not have the right to a lawyer during the interrogation, so it is suspected that the verdicts are mostly based on statements that the police use their methods to extort from the suspects. Also, suspects can be deprived of their liberty until the indictment is filed for 21 days, and during that time they have no rights to visits or defense attorneys.
However, when three members of the US forces were convicted of kidnapping and raping a 1995-year-old girl from Okinawa in September XNUMX, Washington agreed to speed up the process in cases of serious crimes, such as murder, kidnapping and rape, and hand the suspect over to local authorities. Then the incident caused anger and mass demonstrations by Okinawans who demanded not only that the perpetrators be brought to justice, but also that Japan completely cancel hospitality to American soldiers.
REPEATED REQUIREMENTS: The first case of surrender of an American soldier to the civilian authorities of Japan occurred already six months after the September incident, when an American soldier from a base in Nagasaki was arrested for attempting to kill a Japanese girl. The soldier was sentenced to 13 years in prison. Sergeant Woodland, who has been under investigation by Japanese authorities since last week, denies allegations that he raped the girl and claims that she voluntarily engaged in sexual intercourse. However, if an indictment is brought against Sergeant Woodland and his guilt is proven, it is not excluded that the situation will escalate. There have been incidents between arrogant soldiers and local girls before, but they rarely reach the public due to the shame and fear of the victims of misconduct. However, even the smallest incident of this kind in Okinawa is enough to ignite the anger of the islanders. When a Marine lifted the skirt of a XNUMX-year-old girl in January of last year in order to photograph her, the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly unanimously voted to reduce the number of American soldiers on the island.
It may seem improbable that the occasional heist of girls or the hanging of drunken soldiers would affect the geostrategic goals of the US and Japan to such an extent, but it is not excluded that the latest incident will affect the strategic landscape of the Far East. Demands for a reduction in US troops on the island are becoming more frequent, from which both the US and Japan, in the long run, could benefit to some extent. Last year, Japan launched an initiative for constitutional changes, particularly Article 9 of the constitution, which prohibits Japan from waging war. Although the deletion of Article 9 might seem like an innocuous move by a country with virtually no defense of its own, in the context of Japan any change in US-Japan military relations could have enormous implications for the wider Asia region.
If the constitutional obstacles to the creation of a "real" Japanese army were removed, it could soon become one of the most powerful armies in the world, despite bearing a "defensive" overtone. On the other hand, reducing the US presence in Japan would allow the US to move some of its personnel and equipment to other locations and bases in Asia, first to South Korea. Negotiations in this direction with Japan had already been started by Bush's predecessor, Bill Clinton, but representatives of the State Department claim today that "Okinawa is still the backbone of security in the region." However, despite the current position, it is not excluded that the US decides to militarily "de-escalate" the island, in order to strengthen bases elsewhere in Asia.
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