Past time to go
I grew up around the military in Far East Asia. If you are like me, then you know that there are two kinds of soldiers: Those that live here and those that come here to party. *shrug* Those that settle down, get married with a local and have a kid (like me) are alright--and their kids are alright because this is HOME. As for the others? Well, after a lifetime I've come to realize that the number of partiers and troublemakers are MUCH higher on that other side.
This latest rape case (or cases) is being sensationalized in the view of some people. But these are people that don't LIVE HERE. This is NOT the first rape case. Was it last year that a teenager was raped, killed and discarded? This is a regular occurance. Laugh, joke, and hedge all you will. Rapists are trash, and anyone that defends them are too.
If the price of peace and prosperity with the US is allowing their servicemen to rape the women of this country, then it is past time for the US to go. Japan IS an ally. Japan has respected their side of that coin.
I think Japan has been very patient with the US. The US didn't pay for its embassy in Tokyo for years. The US get's angry when Japan catches bad beef. Japan pays a premium price for everything that comes from the US. We can go on about this.
But the point is: Do all these bases belong here? There are over a DOZEN bases in Japan. We can talk about WWII, the treaty, the good that the US, in fact, HAS done. Yup, u-huh, but do Japanese deserve to be raped? No.
The Japanese have since WWII, in very good faith, turned around. Yes, they have become an economic giant. Great, good for them. But it's costing them. They are suffering the same pains that the US is: Unemployment, disillusionment--pick your industrial fallout. But more than this, they loose their culture daily. They are loosing themselves. They are paying dividends that are irreplacable. We can talk about this too.
What are the purposes of the bases? Having lived in several in Japan, I certainly loved them. But are they necessary here? Is the US really doing the world a favor by being here of all places?
Drop the attitude and be honest:
The US wants to wage a political and economic war in Iraq? Great. Cool. Yay, oil. So then, why doesn't the US put a dozen bases over THERE, where their presence is SO obviously needed? I think if they did so then their weapon sales to terrorists would go all the more smoothly.
Economic and political realities? That's the world, right?
Look at Japan as an outsider and you'll see it for the sides that it has: The old guard (Yeah, THEY are still here, and, yeah, THEY are still in the offices of power--jerks), the corporations (learning everything bad from the example that shifty foreign business has taught them--so blind), and finally the people. The Japanese are a good people. And these soldiers that I grew up around, worked with, TRAINED, are raping--not the jerks in power, not the corporations--but the PEOPLE that are my neighbors and friends and family.
I did my part for the US. I did my part for the military. And if there is one thing I've learned is to recognize and fight for what is RIGHT. And right now the US is NOT right.
Stow your misquided history lessons. Your illusions about political realities. People like you are making the situation worse: Because the Japanese want it stopped.
But jerks like YOU want the rape to continue.
And the old guard WILL come back because of people like you.
I pity you. And I pity me because I am embarassed to be a citizen of the US. I pity us all, because more than likely Japan will back down and the raping will continue.
But don't let me catch you, citizen.
