U.S. Asia Presence Tied Up in Okinawa

T O K Y O, July 5, 2001 -- The used car shops, burger joints and bustling bars around the U.S. military bases on Okinawa make it seem like a Southern California city.

But over the last couple of years, it has become a quiet battleground for one of America's last strongholds in the Pacific.

While the governments of Japan and the United States recognize the strategic importance of the 26,000 troops at Futenma and Kadena air bases, Okinawans have been festering.

Over the last decade, Okinawans have drawn the attention of the international press with complaints of crime coming from the bases. The latest flashpoint came last Friday, when a local woman accused an Air Force staff sergeant of rape.

Despite a local outcry and pointed comments today from Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Staff Sgt. Timothy Woodland has not been handed over to local authorities.

Koizumi urged Washington to do the right thing by handing over the airman.

Police in Okinawa called the suspect in for a seventh day of questioning today. He has denied committing rape and has not been charged.

"I hope that the United States will make an appropriate and proper decision soon," Koizumi said.

In recent months, American military personnel have been accused of offenses ranging from arson and hit-and-run accidents to brawling and molesting local children.

In the highest-profile case, three U.S. servicemen raped a 12-year-old schoolgirl in 1995.

There are other problems that come from the bases, Okinawans say. They cite noise — from raucous military men as well as the jets and helicopters booming across the skies — and the 10 percent of the land the bases take up on the crowded island.

Improved Response

When the Marines settled in after World War II, it was the relatively isolated and poor prefecture of Okinawa that was chosen to host the troops in Japan.

Little has changed since. Okinawans believe Tokyo puts its military ties with Washington above their interests, and the latest alleged crime, in their eyes, is only more evidence of the disparity.

The local government adopted a resolution on Tuesday condemning the crime, and made a request to the U.S. military for a nighttime curfew covering troops in the town and a ban on drinking alcohol by them.

On Monday, Okinawa's governor, Keiichi Inamine, called the alleged rape "a vicious crime that violates human rights, and is absolutely unforgivable."

Protest is said to be especially strong this time, because the latest crime echoes the one in 1995.

After that instance, Okinawans asked for the Marine's Futenma Air Station to be relocated within 15 years. Tokyo agreed to address the time limit, but Washington refused, frustrating the island community.

This time, Japanese authorities have issued an unprecedented arrest warrant for the suspect, 24-year-old Woodland. If he is placed in Japanese custody, it would be only the second time the U.S. military has done so before charges were actually filed.

Meanwhile, the top U.S. military commander in Okinawa, Lt. Gen. Earl Hailston, said he would cooperate fully with Japanese authorities in the investigation.

Sheila Smith, a specialist on U.S.-Japan relations at the East-West Center in Hawaii said both Washington and Tokyo were appearing more responsive to Okinawa this time.

"My sense is that there's a difference, there's two layers of interpretation," she said. "There's not a very clear threat, people are a little worried about China, but the general public is looking at priorities that are not necessarily the strategic ones."

Potential Solutions

Despite the tensions on Okinawa because of the bases, most authorities say the problem is more of an issue of reducing the troop presence than eliminating it altogether.

After World War II, the United States and Japan signed securities treaties that limited the expanse of the Japanese military and committed the United States to defend Japan and deter aggression against the island nation.

In addition, recent years have seen a nuclear crisis in North Korea and a standoff in the Taiwan Straits, so the Okinawa bases reassure the region that the United States remains committed to the region, Smith said.

She says policymakers are aware of a time when the political costs of maintaining a base in Okinawa will outweigh military readiness.

Some of the solutions have been to conduct joint exercises with military forces in Thailand, Australia and the Philippines. Marines have also used Japanese military facilities for live-fire exercises.

As for leaving Okinawa altogether, Smith says, "it would be very hard to think of scenarios where U.S. forces could visit [and establish] other ports in the Pacific," she said.

"I don't know many countries that would say 'yes, come on, 10,000 marines can come live with me.'"

The only option would be Guam or Hawaii, she said — but that would take Marine forces almost a day out of the area and hinder readiness.

ABCNEWS' Ron Claiborne in Tokyo contributed to this report.