Editorials
Wednesday, May 7, 1997THE governor of Okinawa, Masahide Ota, was a recent visitor to Honolulu, trying to drum up support for his campaign to get U.S. forces removed from his island. Although that is undoubtedly the popular sentiment among Okinawans, they're not getting any encouragement from the national government -- or, needless to say, from Washington. Okinawa presence is
still vital for securityParticularly significant as a gauge of opinion in Tokyo was the vote in the lower house of parliament last month on a bill to maintain the central government's authority to extend land leases for U.S. military bases on Okinawa over the opposition of the private landowners. Properties of about 3,000 anti-base landowners are affected.
The measure passed with the support of the two largest opposition parties -- Shinshinto and the Democratic Party. The bill had initially been expected to face strong resistance because the Social Democratic Party, one of the ruling Liberal Democrats' partners, was opposed; the Liberal Democrats lack a majority in parliament. Because of the support of the opposition, however, passage turned out to be easy. The results of the vote stirred speculation that the current tripartite governing alliance may collapse.
The vote was a relief for Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, who would have been deeply embarrassed by a defeat on this issue. He had given priority to gaining a sound legal basis for securing lands within the U.S. bases after the lease contracts were to expire on May 14. Hashimoto has described the Okinawan bases as Japan's duty under its security agreements with the United States.
The opposition Democrats decided to support the measure after the LDP agreed to take steps to strengthen the Okinawan economy. That program calls for efforts to make better use of land that is left vacant by U.S. forces, tax incentives for the expansion of a free-trade zone and other measures to make the prefecture more attractive for private investment plus development of tourism and multimedia industries.
No nation welcomes the presence of foreign forces on its soil, and the Okinawans' feelings are certainly understandable. Eventually, of course, U.S. forces will leave Okinawa and other bases in Japan. But the security of Japan is still highly dependent on the presence of those forces and there is no real alternative to their continued presence at this time.
Fortunately Japan's national leaders appreciate that fact and are willing to defend the national interest in the face of opposition on Okinawa.
OCCUPYING the governor's chair in the state Capitol has its attractions, but it must get lonely at times, especially without a companion to ease the burdens of high office. At the time of his election, Ben Cayetano was separated from his former wife and they were subsequently divorced. Governor takes a wife
We wish the new first couple every happiness and hope marital bliss will improve the governor's sometimes less-than-cheery disposition.
ARMY jurors in Maryland have sounded a bugle that should reverberate throughout the ranks of the military. The 25-year prison sentence issued to Staff Sgt. Delmar G. Simpson for raping six female trainees and other offenses sends a strong message that sexual predators will not be tolerated. Numerous other reports of sexual offenses in the military indicate changes are needed to reduce opportunities and temptations for sexual abuse to occur, particularly in training. Sex in the military
If the military is unable to devise a system that adequately prevents sexual abuse within the ranks of sexually mixed units in basic training, it should consider a system of separate training for men and women. The Marines already employ female drill instructors to handle female recruits and do not encounter the problem of drill instructors raping recruits.
Rupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
