4 U.S. military personnel kids face arrest for putting rope across road

Wednesday 25th November, 02:55 AM JST

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fightfan2008 at 05:19 PM JST - 26th November

and btw ysr250jp- If the comparison of two individual cases is the underlying basis for your claim that the Japanese legal system is racist and treats gaijin unfairly...then you also need to stop saying that the Japanese legal system is unfair as though it were a fact.

Moderator: Readers, please stay on topic. Focus your comments on this particular incident.
perspective at 09:04 PM JST - 26th November

I would expect the legal system of Japan to treat them fairly.

Yes, of course you would, YuriOtani. I'm sure that it would be a great comfort to all foreigners, particularly Americans, to know that the court system is probably full of liberal minded, non-biased people much like yourself.
USNinJapan2 at 11:57 PM JST - 26th November

perspective

Yes, of course you would, YuriOtani. I'm sure that it would be a great comfort to all foreigners, particularly Americans, to know that the court system is probably full of liberal minded, non-biased people much like yourself.

God help us...
Nessie at 12:35 AM JST - 27th November

They do not deserve special treatment just because they are the children of American military.

Right. Pretty much everyone on this thread agrees with this, particularly the American military people who have weighed in.

Americans cans not go around the world violating local law then say I demand American justice which so often in these cases means a slap on the wrist or nothing.

In this case, are they saying they demand American justice? Because that's whay you're implying.

And if they are handed over, will you retract this acusation? I'm looking forward to seeing justice done.
numbskull at 01:16 PM JST - 28th November

NihonRyu: Research any crimes Statistics committed by Japanese overseas and you will find that we commit disappropriately less crime when we are visitors in other countries than the other way around.

Why ask us to reinvent the wheel when you could just post links to what you already researched?

What I heard is that the military in Japan has a lower rate of crime in Japan than the locals, which is impressive since the military is mostly young males and the local population is about half women and half geriatric.

Of course I cannot say if those rates include military dependents, but if you have some figures on that I would love to see them.

Anyway I think comparing the foreigners to the locals is a lot more important than saying which country has the best behaved expats. If Japan wears that crown, wonderful. Its hardly relevant.
Gombei424Canada at 02:37 PM JST - 28th November

Numbskull: "Anyway I think comparing the foreigners to the locals is a lot more important than saying which country has the best behaved expats. If Japan wears that crown, wonderful. Its hardly relevant."

Bang on as usual, mon ami.

Well, anyways, I'm glad we don't have US military personnel kids in Hirakata!
zurcronium at 03:16 PM JST - 28th November

Bottom of the barrel parents, same goes for the kids. A simple prank is one thing but attempted murder is quite another.
altinokinawa at 09:28 PM JST - 29th November

In response to johnnyreb's comment "The only thing worse than soldiers are their kids". If it weren't for the soldiers, or Marines etc. you would not be in a place to make such absurd comments. As a mother of 4 "military children" I am very proud. If you take the number of military children overseas and the total percentage of crimes the percentage is very low, much lower than the same number and percentages in the states. My "military kids" as you put it are successful in their careers as well as in life. Your comments only prove how little you know about the military community.
altinokinawa at 09:37 PM JST - 29th November

Gombei424Canada should understand that military children do more than just pull pranks. In our community the children volunteer in old age homes, orphanages, schools, village clean ups and the list goes on and on. The only activities that are usually put in print are the negative behaviors. I am not ignorant enough to believe that every child makes all the right choices but please don't group everyone in a single group.
These teens need to be held accountable for their actions. It is not because they are Americans, it is not because they are the children if Active Duty, it is because they are teens that chose to act on a horrible prank that endangered the life of another human being be it Japanese, American or Canadian.
altinokinawa at 09:39 PM JST - 29th November

I think numbskull best says it all.
Adamwesti at 08:29 AM JST - 30th November

If the kids in fact did place the rope across the street then they should be appropriately dealt with.
greensatindress at 11:45 AM JST - 30th November

This incident makes me sad for so many reasons. I wish the U.S. military would vanish from Japan (and other parts of the world, especially the Middle East). I hope the woman caught it the prank will successfuly heal.
zurcronium at 03:36 PM JST - 30th November

Altinokinawa,

I am sure the kids who attempted to murder this woman were going to church after they were done. I guess that makes attempted murder OK for some.
USAFdude at 07:40 PM JST - 30th November

Wake me up when one of you has even a shred of evidence that these American kids had the slightest bit to do with this incident.
Ranger_Miffy at 03:02 PM JST - 3rd December

I was raised in the military: Yokota, no less. It was drilled into me with the fear of god and the base commander that if I EVER did anything this crazy or illegal and was caught, my father's career was over. Even as a brainless adolescent, it made me pause many times and at least consider that there might be repercussions. Not that I ever did anything this malignant.