UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, April 9, 1997
79
Troop conduct affects U.S. image
U.S. Secretary gives pep talk to soldiers abroad
The Associated Press
TOKYO — Just one bad deed by U.S. troops in Japan may spoil the good will the American military has carefully built here and could soil the image of the United States, Defense Secretary William Cohen told troops yesterday.
"It's a heavy responsibility that everybody bears, but keep in mind you have a role to play as diplomats as well as sailors," Cohen told several dozen American sailors eating a steak-and-lobster lunch at Yokosuka Naval Base.
The military alliance with Japan
William Cohen
has been under particular strain since the September 1995 rape of a 12-year-old Oki-nawan girl by three U.S. servicemen. The public outcry triggered calls for reductions in the U.S. milli-
tary presence in Japan.
Just last week a U.S. sailor at Yokosuka was investigated for allegedly assaulting a 21-year-old Japanese woman. There are 47,000 U.S. troops in Japan, which is an anchor for U.S. military and political ties in Asia.
"When you conduct yourselves, be it on duty or off duty,you in fact are having an impact and reflecting an
This was a recurring theme as Cohen spent the day visiting two American military installations near Tokyo and delivering pep talks to small groups of troops.
image of who or what the United States is," Cohen said.
Cohen was to meet today with Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, who will visit the White House later this month, and then fly to Seoul for two days of talks with government officials and a visit to the border with North Korea.
In his talks with troops at Yokota Air Base and Yokosuka Naval Base, he assured officials that Americans appreciated their service and sacrifices. And he stressed that the Americans' individual behavior could have a dramatic impact on foreign policy.
"Your are our ambassadors of good will," Cohen said in a speech to
about 100 sailors on the flight deck of the USS Bunker Hill, a cruiser stationed at Yokosuka.
"Everything you do reflects upon our country, wherever you are deployed," Cohen said during breakfast with troops at Yokota, headquarters of U.S. Forces Japan.
"You're not only soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines, you also are ambassadors, and you have to keep that in mind," Cohen said. "You do 100 good deeds and you will get credit for it. On the other hand, all you have to have is one bad deed and that makes the headline news and changes people's perceptions."
In an interview with American reporters later in Tokyo, Cohen was asked about the problem.
"There is so much good that they do day in and day out, it can be overshadowed and undercut by one bad incident," he said.
Physician walks free in euthanasia case
The Associated Press
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — A Dutch doctor charged with murder for helping an elderly cancer patient die — then trying to cover up the euthanasia — walked free yesterday with a suspended sentence.
The District Court in the northern city of Leeuwarden said that although Sippe Schat violated the country's euthanasia guidelines, prosecutors failed to prove that the 54-year-old physician committed murder.
Euthanasia is technically illegal in the Netherlands, and punishable by up to 12 years in prison. But doctors who adhere to Parliament-approved euthanasia guidelines can expect immunity from prosecution.
The practice is widely accepted in the Netherlands, which has the world's most permissive mercy-killing policy.
Schat said he injected his patient, Dora Brattanga, with a lethal cocktail of drugs in April 1996 at her request. Brattanga, 72, was dying of
cancer.
But prosecutors in Leeuwarden, about 60 miles north of Amsterdam, maintained that the request was not clear and that the case should be considered a murder.
Those convicted of murder in the Netherlands face up to 20 years in prison. In this case, prosecutors requested only a one-year jail term for Schat, and the court handed down a six-month suspended sentence.
The three-judge panel ruled that the patient did express a wish to die but that the doctor did not follow all the mercy killing guidelines.
Those guidelines stipulate that the candidate must suffer from unbearable and irremediable pain and must request death persistently and voluntarily. Doctors must also seek a second opinion and report all euthanasia deaths to authorities.
Schat did not have a second opinion and he falsified the death certificate, claiming Brattalinga died of natural causes, court representative Martine Verhaag said.
Angry Cambodian shoots airplane tire
Business tycoon shows no regret
The Associated Press
Teng Boonna ordered a bodyguard to fetch him a pistol after disembarking Monday from the Royal Air Cambodge plane that brought him home from Hong Kong. He flattened the tire with a single shot.
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia Fed up with lost luggage and flight delays, the head of Cambodia's chamber of commerce took out his frustration with the national airline by shooting a tire on a parked jet.
"I know it was wrong to do that," said an unrepentant Teng Boonma. "But I only regret that I did not get to shoot the other three tires."
He said he was afraid of missing the other tires and hitting someone.
Airport security officials confirmed the shooting, but no immediate action was taken against the powerful tycoon.
"It is not just one time, but many, many times," Teng Boonma said. "Many times I have had to wait at the airport in Thailand because of the irregularity of the flights. I know I am wrong, but I am happy to go to court to defend myself."
Teng Boonma complained that he was simply fed up with Royal Air Cambodge, a joint venture between Malaysian Helicopter Services and the Cambodian government. The breaking point Monday appeared to be a $4,000 excess luggage charge.
First Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranarddh criticized the shooting and said he would have the incident investigated.
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