UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, September 27, 1995
11A
Crimes by U.S.military abroad fall from 1989
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — American servicemen abroad are committing fewer violent crimes than a few years ago, the Pentagon says. The recent gang rape of a 12-year-old girl in Japan shows, however, that the problem persists and can cause diplomatic headaches.
The statistical improvement is due in part to the fact that there are only about half as many American military people overseas today as in 1990 when the Pentagon began cutting troops, consolidating bases and withdrawing troops from Europe.
Even considering that, a review of the Pentagon's crime statistics shows American troops in foreign nations have become less likely to
break laws. But one case can have serious diplomatic repercussions
The rape in early September of a 12-year-old girl in Okinawa — allegedly by two U.S. Marines and a Navy seaman — has raised questions in Japan about ties to America and has added to local opposition to the U.S. military presence in Okinawa, home to about 30,000 American servicemen.
There are about 15,000 U.S. forces stationed elsewhere in Japan.
President Clinton publicly apologized for the Okinawa assault even though the accused Americans have not been formally charged. Washington and Tokyo are reviewing the U.S.-Japan security arrangement. This week hundreds of people protested in Okinawa to demand that U.S. forces leave their
country.
Lawrence Korb, assistant secretary of defense for manpower during the Reagan administration, said that although criminal activity by American servicemen had been more prevalent in the 1970s and '80s, it had received relatively little attention.
During the Cold War people in Japan and Europe were so afraid American troops would leave that they were willing to overlook the problem to remain under the protective American nuclear umbrella, Korb said.
"They've got more self-awareness now," Korb said. "They look around and say, 'The Cold War is over, why are all these Americans still here?'"
The main U.S. overseas bases are in Japan, Germany and South
Christopher John, who was President Bush's assistant secretary of defense for force management, said that the decline in criminal activity reflected an overall improvement in the quality of recruits.
Korea.
Americans at U.S. posts around the world are still involved in substantial numbers of crime but the trend is improving. According to Defense Department records:
The number of violent crimes — murder, rape and manslaughter — that U.S. military personnel outside the United States were accused of fell from 223 cases in 1989 to 80 last year. During that same time the population of U.S. servicemen abroad decreased from 510,000 to 287,000.
The number of crimes that the Defense Department categorizes as
serious crimes — murder, rape, arson and aggrivated assault — fell by about 50 percent globally, from nearly 2,000 cases in 1989 to just under 1,000 last year.
Rape cases fell from 134 in 1989 to 45 last year. There were 11 murder cases in 1989 compared with six last year. Robbery incidents fell from 1,095 in 1989 to 406 last year.
In Japan, where there are about 10 percent fewer U.S. servicemen today than in 1989, the number of crime cases has decreased by 52 percent.
Neither the Army, which compiles military crime statistics for the Defense Department, nor the Pentagon's Office of the General Counsel, which handles legal issues involving U.S. servicemen abroad, would agree to an interview.
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