FROM ABC NEWS: Today

The U.S. military in Okinawa has restricted its troops to their home bases for a "Day of Reflection" today after a series of crimes by American soldiers, including the alleged rape (Feb 11) of a 14-year-old girl that has roiled relations with the islanders.

Japanese and U.S. officials also announced new measures to be more selective of military personnel allowed to leave their bases and to have joint Japanese-American police patrols.

Related Stories
Japan PM calls Okinawa rape case "unforgivable"US Marines Warned of Japan's Anger over Okinawa Rape: 'We Can Never Forgive This' Hundreds rally in Okinawa over U.S. rape suspect US Envoy in Okinawa Over Rape CaseTop Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said 44,963 U.S. military servicemen and related personnel live in Okinawa and 10,748 of them reside off base.
The Japanese government will also provide support to local authorities should they feel the need to install surveillance cameras in public places in order to ensure security.
"Will these measures stop any future crimes by U.S. military personnel? I cannot say they will with certainty," Komura said. "We will have to keep working on those measures on a long-term basis to prevent any recurrences."
Japanese Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba also said today that further crimes committed by U.S. troops could hurt the alliance between the United States and Japan. Ishiba also called for concrete and tighter prevention plans by the United States, including toughening the criteria for the military personnel living off base.

The arrest of a 38-year-old U.S. Marine Feb. 11 for the alleged rape of a 14-year-old junior high school student sparked protests and demands for tighter discipline on U.S. military personnel.

Staff Sgt. Tyrone Luther Hadnott has been questioned by Japanese authorities, but not charged with a crime.

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda condemned the alleged incident as "unforgivable."

Just when we are considering loosing curfew restrictions in Korea>>>

If he did it, put him under the jail. They need to get stricter on these guys. This has been going on for years.

They are already pretty strict on them. But with a group this size (44,963 personnel) you're inevitably going to have a few bad apples that will do stupid stuff like this. I'm not saying the military shouldn't do everything it can to stop it, but there is only so much you can do...short of running the place like a prison.

I believe the military acted properly regarding the suspect. Understand the Japanese let him go, but now the guy faces UCMJ action.

However, the command-mandated "period of reflection" was COMPLETELY uncalled for. This was nothing more than a mass punishment of innocent troops, family members, and civilian employees. The idiots who thought this up are no leaders, just people wearing suits with stars. REAL leadership would have been ensuring swift justice be meted out to the offender, while recognizing the professionalism of all others serving on Okinawa.

I guess the "leadership" did this to look good in the eyes of the Japanese and in Washington, with no concern about the morale of the innocent troops and the families. The "period of reflection" reminds me of something out of Cool Hand Luke - "get your mind right".

I wouldn't want my son to join a military with such people in charge. As usual, these people wearing stars will do ANYTHING for that next star or that next plum assignment. If I were stationed on Okinawa I wouldn't volunteer for anything in the community or on base, or at least as far as I could get away with it without hurting my performance report.

Looking at things another way, what if we had lost WWII and Japan was occupying Hawaii? What do you think the Imperial Japanese Army's reaction would have been if a Japanese Marine had been accused of sexually assaulting an American girl? Most likely the Japanese would have laughed the American police right off the base. Do you think the Imperial Japanese military, family members, and civilian employees on Hawaii would have to undergo a "period of reflection"? Highly unlikely.

At any rate, I hope a number of military people "incarcerated" on Okinawa sent complaints to their Congresspeople. Such a mass punishment should never be allowed to happen again.

Guess I accidentally pushed the "Thank You" button; not what I intended.

I am not up to date on the outcome. Personally, though, I don't think one day off to consider what happened, how to prevent it, and to give the locals time to cool down was a bad idea. I saw nothing about innocent
Americans being "Incarcerated". Because of the protests and anger of the local Japanese, I believe it was good to prevent any possible confrontations.
More of us could use some time out to "Get your mind right"!

Firing squads offer swift justice. The guillotine is also pretty swift. Hanging someone is a tried and true method, but it probably takes a few minutes to kill someone with this method. Burning someone at the stake isn't as swift as shooting them in the head, but still pretty quick...don't know if that would be swift enough for you though.

I prefer a full investigation, even if it isn't very swift, followed by a trial. And if the accused wants to appeal, that's OK too. But of course, that also takes time...

The Japanese dropped the charges against the Marine. As I understand it, the "period of reflection" lasted longer than one day, and affected the military, dependents, and civilian employees.

Sorry, I don't believe most of us could use some time out to "get the mind right". The idiots who mandated the "period of reflection" need to have Congresspeople jump on them with both feet. This was a mass punishment of innocent people and should not be allowed in the future.

To me swift justice also means an investigation, an Article 32 hearing, then a court-martial if indicated. Being a retired field-grade officer, I am well aware of the process.

I disagree with your views on "idiot" and "leadership".
Those "idiots" are doing their job by preventing any fools from commiting crimes. If this is going to be another wake up call for the troops, I hope they could learn lessons and not making same mistakes. Also, those leaders have to consider various polictical issues to prevent any crash with Japanese goverement. Whoever commited crimes should be court martialed for gods sake. Willy mentioned about a few bad apples, those few bad apples are the people who ruining innocent troops.

__________________