From what I understand Japan under the Surrender of Japan, is only allowed only so many Army, and Navy Personnel. Thats why Japan has done so well the the Technology Sector, they pay almost nothing for their small Defense force. The U.S. Believe it or not is needed much more in the Asian region more so than The European on. China may be one of the biggest trade partners, but is also a threat to the area too. Thier Econonmy is enormous, there military is HUGE, So if we leave Japan, you think Japan can keep China from getting in... I think not... then there is always Taiwan (or China the renegade province). Oh yeah... lets not forget the Russians are there, and they arent really the U.S.'s friend either. Iran, the whole Gulf region. So you see the complexity of it all...

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Kill 1 Person thats Murder, kill 100,000 People thats foriegn policy!

quote:

Originally posted by _Ocean_Drive_ I read this and it made my stomach turn http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-...20080212a1.html Which made me think, why is America allowed to have bases all over the f*cking world? Surely nuclear deterrent is enough? And hey, when there's no fixed army, they can go over and invade anyway. I can kinda understand America occupying Japan after the 2nd World War, but there is ZERO need for them to be in Japan in the 21st century, or Korea for that matter. Let these countries defend themselves, and if they need help, they'll ask for it.

Well... I'm not fan of American empire... but as far as Korea goes it is pretty common knowledge that Kim Jong-Il is hell-bent on forced reunification with the South and that as soon as he perceives a military advantage he'll press the issue. And as for Okinawa, as Chryz said, Japan doesn't have a military so American troops have been stationed there to act as a deterrent to their mobilization in the past, and their exploitation by other Asian (or Russian) powers in the future. It's all about power projection in East Asia, which is something we would have no capability for were it not for advance bases in places like Okinawa.

As for the issue of the rape... well... it's a terrible incident but in the end it is one incident. Criminals exist even within the US armed forces, and hopefully it will be dealt with properly. But in all, crimes like this are the exception with American troops abroad and not the rule.

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There are Japanese Criminals too, this is just something that is a bigger spotlight issue, because the U.S. is should and is supposed to respect the people of Asia and to protect them as best as possable. One bad seed ruins it for everyone. The stupid shall be punished.

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Kill 1 Person thats Murder, kill 100,000 People thats foriegn policy!

there is a reason for why the united states has bases around the world, with the ongoing support of the war in the middle east the bases in europe are a huge depot for cargo and a throughpoint for troops being deployed and returned
in japan, as previously stated, we are a presence because (whether we like it or not) we have to keep on that region. china shooting down our communication sattelites is not something that should be taken lightly.
in addition to the threat, the bases over there actually fuel the local economy. base towns live and die with the base, and if we were to just pick up and leave, that leaves all the locals in the lurch when happy GIs arent around to spend their money anymore

but unfortunately, there are idiots in every walk of life, and even more unfortunately, sometimes these idots exist within an organization that represents something much larger than their own malfuctioning mind, as in the case of this marine.

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fuck girls i just wanna dance

oh and south korea has asked we stay. they are still at war with north korea.

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fuck girls i just wanna dance

quote:

Originally posted by Chryz707 From what I understand Japan under the Surrender of Japan, is only allowed only so many Army, and Navy Personnel. Thats why Japan has done so well the the Technology Sector, they pay almost nothing for their small Defense force. The U.S. Believe it or not is needed much more in the Asian region more so than The European on. China may be one of the biggest trade partners, but is also a threat to the area too. Thier Econonmy is enormous, there military is HUGE, So if we leave Japan, you think Japan can keep China from getting in... I think not... then there is always Taiwan (or China the renegade province). Oh yeah... lets not forget the Russians are there, and they arent really the U.S.'s friend either. Iran, the whole Gulf region. So you see the complexity of it all...

You dont really think China will invade any of those countries.... do you?

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Originally posted by Halcyon+On+On OOKA-OOKA ME NACHOS ME PRESS KEYS ON COMPUTER GOOD

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Originally posted by nchs09 You dont really think China will invade any of those countries.... do you?

Its not thinking that they wont, its a matter of When? Tiawan is a hot bed of Tension. The way China is aiming is to be the next if not already to be a superpower. Financialy, they are unstoppable, but there are still divisions in China with its people and also the Communism issue too. The U.S. leaves there is a Vacuum to fill.

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Kill 1 Person thats Murder, kill 100,000 People thats foriegn policy!

quote:

Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov As for the issue of the rape... well... it's a terrible incident but in the end it is one incident. Criminals exist even within the US armed forces, and hopefully it will be dealt with properly. But in all, crimes like this are the exception with American troops abroad and not the rule.

Entirely agree. But also he is only "suspected" and some this seems to be fairly ambiguous:

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Hadnott allegedly took her to his home instead and tried to rape her. The girl started crying and he then took her to his car, saying he would drive her home, police said.

Tried as in didn't. And he took her home. What kind of rapist drives the victim home?

I reckon this is a case of the girl being all up for it basically (it being riding on his bike and so on). Then a bit of a language issues. Then her getting scared.

I mean would the guy have even known how old she was?

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If you can read this, I'm seriously fucking bored.

2 Things come into play, Date Rape for 1, so maybe he gave her a ride home...

the otherthing is language. If you cant speak enough to understand then you dont need to be there in that situation. Walk away, but marines are very aggressive too... we will see how this pans out.

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Kill 1 Person thats Murder, kill 100,000 People thats foriegn policy!

quote:

Originally posted by _Ocean_Drive_ I read this and it made my stomach turn http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-...20080212a1.html Which made me think, why is America allowed to have bases all over the f*cking world? Surely nuclear deterrent is enough? And hey, when there's no fixed army, they can go over and invade anyway. I can kinda understand America occupying Japan after the 2nd World War, but there is ZERO need for them to be in Japan in the 21st century, or Korea for that matter. Let these countries defend themselves, and if they need help, they'll ask for it.

TOtally agree. It costs billions of dollars to maintain such a large standing army all over the world. But that's what empires do and this one is no different.

quote:

Originally posted by Chryz707 Its not thinking that they wont, its a matter of When? Tiawan is a hot bed of Tension. The way China is aiming is to be the next if not already to be a superpower. Financialy, they are unstoppable, but there are still divisions in China with its people and also the Communism issue too. The U.S. leaves there is a Vacuum to fill.

You clearly don't understand Chinese politics or history so don't pretend you do. China will not invade any countries because the rest of the world will stop trade with them and their strong growth will not only end but decline. Blow the dust off your history books and point out an instance where China invaded a foreign nation. If you say Tibet, let me remind you Tibet was under Chinese sovereignty before the US was even a country. Also China is not a communist state. It is a single-party socialist republic. A true communist state would not have the grown difference in wealth as China has. Other socialist states can be found in "democratic" countries like Germany.