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Don't you care about residents enduring traumas caused by U.S. forces, Mr. Foreign Minister? -- Akahata editorial

An Okinawan woman who was raped by a U.S. soldier wrote recently to a local newspaper to express deep concern over the most recent sex crime of a U.S. serviceman against an elementary school girl and call for the earliest possible closure of all U.S. bases in Okinawa.

Foreign Minister Machimura Nobutaka commented on the letter in reply to a question in parliament. He stated, "Japan's peace and security are maintained thanks to the U.S. military presence. An one-sided emphasis is not fair" (at the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee meeting on July 13).

How cold-blooded Machimura is in treating a woman making a plea for the removal of U.S. bases based on her personal tragedy!

U.S. forces are the source of the danger

In asserting that "U.S. forces are defending Japan's peace and security," Machimura paints the U.S. war of aggression against Iraq and the reality of U.S. forces using Japan as a stepping-stone in their war of aggression in a favorable light. The truth, however, is that U.S. bases are very dangerous and they do not serve to defend Japan's peace and security.

The number of cases of U.S. military crimes and accidents that occurred between 1952 and 2003 is about 201,000. During this period, 1,076 Japanese people were killed by the U.S. forces. These figures do not include crimes committed in Okinawa before the reversion to Japan of the administrative rights over Okinawa.

A brief look at the cases shows how serious these crimes and accidents are. According to the National Police Agency, U.S. military personnel committed about 7,000 criminal offenses between 1973 and 2004, including 683 cases of serious crimes such as homicide, robbery, arson, and rape, in addition to 1,341 violent crimes, 3,505 thefts, 200 intellectual offenses, 124 crimes against good manners, and 1,080 other crimes.

In Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture, two U.S. soldiers who hit a man with a brass knuckle were charged with attempted murder. In Tokyo's Shibuya, a shop assistant was hit and injured by a U.S. soldier who was shoplifting. A rape occurred in Zama City, Kanagawa Prefecture. A crime of sexual offense and violence by a U.S. serviceman occurred in Sasebo City, Nagasaki Prefecture. These are examples of the most recent crimes.

Serious crimes are not rare in Okinawa. Sexual offenses have not been eliminated since the 1995 gang-rape of a school girl. Recently, a U.S. soldier committed an indecent assault against a little girl.

In addition, U.S. military aircraft have caused serious damages. In 1964, an aircraft crash in Yamato City, Kanagawa Prefecture, killed five people, including three children. In 1977, a mother and her two children were killed when aircraft crashed in Yokohama's Midori Ward, Kanagawa Prefecture. In Okinawa, 17 pupils were killed in 1959 when a U.S. aircraft crashed into an elementary school in Ishikawa (now Uruma) City. In 1962, seven people were killed in a crash in Kadena Town. Last year, a U.S. helicopter crashed into a university building in Okinawa. Similar crashes have occurred in many other places in Japan.

Noisy roars of U.S. military aircraft are unbearable to nearby residents. Frequent night-landing practices (NLPs or touch-and-go practices) with aircraft from the U.S. aircraft carrier around U.S. Atsugi Naval Air Station in Kanagawa Prefecture are affecting 1.5 million residents with sonic booms. The low-altitude flight exercises by U.S. Navy, Air Force, ad Marine aircraft cause disturbances of local residents' peaceful life in many areas in the Chugoku region (western Japan) and the Tohoku region (northeast Japan).

Thus, U.S. forces in Japan are not only endangering but also killing residents.

Base closing is the solution

Machimura stated, "We are facing threats of terrorism and other dangers." With this, he meant to stress the need for U.S. forces to be stationed in Japan. However, he must take a hard look at the fact that because of the U.S. military presence in Japan, many Japanese people are killed or injured. If the Japanese government really represents the Japanese people, it should take measures to prevent such crimes from being repeated. He is just talking about the "danger of terrorism" without taking any necessary steps. No one can believe that he cares about the public safety.

If the government is to ensure public safety, it has to get U.S. forces withdrawn from Japan. The need now is to increase the mass movement to get the U.S. bases reduced and then removed. -- Akahata, July 27, 2005