Travel  |  Business World  |  Women's World  |  Entertainment

Change Your Life!

Okinawa governor warns top Marine not to inflame anti-US sentiment

News
Sports
Chat
Travel
Dhaka Today
Yellow Pages
Higher Education
Ask a Doctor
Weather
Currency Rate
Horoscope
E-Cards
B2K Poll
Comment on the Site
B2K Club

February 9, 2001 

NAHA-- (AP) - Accepting a personal apology from a U.S. Marine general who called local leaders "a bunch of wimps," the governor of Okinawa warned on Thursday that such inflammatory talk could fan smoldering opposition to the U.S. military presence here.

"Okinawa is sitting on top of magma that is the accumulation of 56 years of history," Gov. Keiichi Inamine told Lt. Gen. Earl Hailston at a news conference. "Piercing even a single hole causes the kind of eruption that we saw in this instance."

A newspaper report this week about Hailston's remarks set off a firestorm of criticism on this small island on Japan's southern fringe, which has been the United States' key military outpost in the Pacific since it was invaded in 1945 at the end of World War II.

Amplifying a public apology he made on Tuesday, the U.S. general said he had "no excuse" for his remarks. They were allegedly made in an e-mail sent to his staff in response to the arrest of a Marine last month for lifting a schoolgirl's skirt.

Hailston reportedly urged his officers to crack down on crimes committed by American military personnel but also blasted Inamine and other Okinawan officials for failing to stand up to Okinawans who want to reduce the U.S. military presence here.

"I think they are all nuts and a bunch of wimps," the Ryukyu Shimpo newspaper quoted him as writing.

Military officials have not disputed the report, but have refused to confirm the contents of the e-mail, saying it was intended as a private communication. Hailston apologized on Tuesday for the "misunderstanding" caused by his choice of words, insisting he had only respect and admiration for local Japanese officials.

Many Okinawans saw that as an evasion. They were further angered by the Pentagon's announcement shortly afterward that it planned no punishment for Hailston.

The U.S. bases here, and off-base crimes involving Americans, are a constant source of friction with Okinawans.

In 1995, tens of thousands of Okinawans marched in outrage over the rape of a 12-year-old girl by three U.S. servicemen.

Under a mutual security treaty between Japan and the United States, about 47,000 U.S. military personnel are stationed in this country.

Nearly two-thirds of them, including the largest contingent of Marines outside the United States, are on Okinawa, about 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) southwest of Tokyo.

The three-star general told the governor on Thursday that his e-mail "certainly did not reflect my true feelings" and said that he deeply regretted his failure to show "wisdom and respect" in his comments.

The newspaper report prompted assembly members in one Okinawa city to unanimously pass a resolution calling for Hailston's resignation.

It was the first time a local government here has called for the removal of a senior U.S. military officer.

Hailston's meeting with Inamine on Thursday was seen as an attempt to calm the storm, but it was unclear whether it would be enough.

The story continued to dominate the front pages of newspapers here, and received prominent coverage in national newspapers and on television networks.