Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 19, 1995 TAG: 9511210030
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-18 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: OSAKA, JAPAN LENGTH: Long
Vice President Al Gore stepped off Air Force Two into a political maelstrom Saturday caused by a U.S. admiral's insensitive remarks about the abduction and rape of an Okinawan schoolgirl.
The crime, allegedly committed by three American servicemen, has inflamed passions in Japan against the U.S. military presence on Okinawa and strained Washington's relations with Tokyo.
Adm. Richard C. Macke, commander of all U.S. military operations in the Pacific, agreed to early retirement Friday, hours after saying the servicemen should have hired a prostitute instead.
``I think that it was absolutely stupid, I've said several times,'' Macke, 57, said Friday during a breakfast interview. ``For the price they paid to rent the car, they could have had a girl.''
``I was outraged - and severely disappointed - at the remarks made by Admiral Macke,'' Navy Secretary John Dalton said in a statement Saturday.
``There is no place in today's Navy for attitudes that reflect a regard for women as property or that show insensitivity toward the victim of rape and brutal assault. Admiral Macke's desire to retire was most appropriate.''
In Osaka, where Japan is acting as host of a Pacific Rim trade summit, U.S. Ambassador Walter Mondale issued a swift apology - but the damage was done. Okinawans and women's activists were outraged, and even normally circumspect Japanese government officials were incredulous.
``I absolutely cannot believe this statement,'' Foreign Minister Yohei Kono said.
Fumiko Maeda, head of the Okinawa chapter of a national women's group, said Macke's statement trivialized the brutality of the attack and degraded Japanese women.
``The remarks are unforgivable,'' she said. ``Each time, we have swallowed our anger and sorrow, but we can't stand it any more.''
``Macke insulted all of us women and the Japanese,'' echoed women's rights activist Noriko Yamaguchi
Suzuyo Takazato, a city assemblywoman in the Okinawan capital, said Macke's remarks show that the rape was ``not just a problem caused by the three accused servicemen, but a fundamental problem involving the U.S. military.''
``Women in Okinawa are forced to constantly live with a threat from the American servicemen around us who see women only as objects,'' Takazato said.
Among the people meeting Gore's plane was Okinawa Gov. Masahide Ota, who has called the U.S. military ``uninvited guests'' and is refusing to force landowners to renew base leases.
Gore, in an arrival statement, called the U.S.-Japanese partnership ``a cornerstone for peace and prosperity in Asia and the world.''
The vice president, filling in at the summit because President Clinton was kept home by the budget standoff, will meet with Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama on Sunday. The U.S. military presence in Japan is to be among the matters discussed.
Both the U.S. and Japanese governments had hoped the Clinton visit would help to lay the Okinawa controversy to rest. He had planned to publicly express sorrow over the girl's ordeal, and stress the importance of the two nations' security relationship.
The rape, and discontent over the heavy U.S. troop presence, has set off massive protests on tiny Okinawa, where about 26,000 of the 44,000 American soldiers in Japan are stationed. Nearly one-fifth of the island is leased to the U.S. military.
One of the three servicemen has pleaded guilty to the rape, while the other two have acknowledged helping to plan and carry it out.
AP-DS-11-18-95 2017EOSAKA, Japan - Vice President Al Gore stepped off Air Force Two on Saturday and into a political maelstrom caused by a U.S. admiral's insensitive remarks about the abduction and rape of an Okinawan schoolgirl.
The crime, allegedly committed by three American serviceman, has inflamed passions in Japan against the U.S. military presence on Okinawa and strained Washington's relations with Tokyo.
Adm. Richard C. Macke, commander of all U.S. military operations in the Pacific, agreed to early retirement Friday, hours after saying the servicemen should have hired a prostitute instead.
``I think that it was absolutely stupid, I've said several times,'' Macke, 57, said during a breakfast interview with defense writers. ``For the price they paid to rent the car they could have had a girl.''
In Osaka, where Japan is hosting a Pacific Rim trade summit, U.S. Ambassador Walter Mondale issued a swift apology - but the damage was done. Okinawans and women's activists were outraged, and even normally circumspect Japanese government officials were incredulous.
``I absolutely cannot believe this statement,'' Foreign Minister Yohei Kono told reporters.
Chief Foreign Ministry spokesman Hiroshi Hashimoto said Mondale had met with Kono and explained that the admiral's comment ``doesn't reflect the Clinton administration's position.''
``I hope the Okinawans will understand that,'' Hashimoto said.
They didn't. Fumiko Maeda, head of the Okinawa chapter of a national women's group, said Macke's statement trivialized the brutality of the attack and degraded Japanese women.
``The remarks are unforgivable,'' she said. ``Each time we have swallowed our anger and sorrow, but we can't stand it any more.''
``Macke insulted all of us women and the Japanese,'' echoed women's rights activist Noriko Yamaguchi.
Others questioned whether the comments reflected a larger pattern.
Suzuyo Takazato, a city assemblywoman in Naha, the Okinawan capital, said Macke's remarks show that the rape was ``not just a problem caused by the three accused servicemen, but a fundamental problem involving the U.S. military.''
by CNB