U.S. military children arrested in Japan

On Saturday four American teenagers were taken into custody by Tokyo police on charges of attempted murder. All of them are children of U.S. military personnel and are accused of stringing a rope across a road by tieing it to two poles, and causing severe head injury to a 23 year old woman who was then knocked off her motorbike. This incident was reported in October, but there is little explanation for the delayed arrests. This is only one incident of many that have caused tension between the U.S. military prescence in Japan and the residents of the country. Last year a 14 year old girl accused a Marine of rape, but did not pursue charges, and in 1995 a girl was gang-raped by three U.S. military personnell who were found guilty by a Japanese court. Japanese residents also say that crime and noise are disrupptions from the U.S. military.

Until I read this article I was mostly unaware that there even was a U.S. military prescence in Japan. All the media coverage of the military that I see focuses on the Middle East, Afghanistan and Iraq. Japan seems like an incredibly stable and prosperous nation in present times compared to most of the world, so the need for U.S. soldiers to be stationed there seems pointless. It is disheartening to hear of how some people have abused their welcome in this foreign land. When just a few people behave in such a horrible manner abroad, it casts a negative oppinion on the entire country they represent. If our military committs heinous crimes, what opinion will the world have of America? The teens who are accused of this crime are not in the military, but they are the product of the military, so the impact of their actions is not diminished. They're actions were incredibly cruel, reckless, and thoughtless. Did they actually think this was some sort of funny prank? If so, they need some major counseling. I wonder how the legal system in Japan differs from ours here in the U.S. Committing a crime anywhere is horrible, but to do it in a country who is hosting you seems even worse. I wonder how the legal process will play out in this case.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/12/07/japan.us.teens/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29