U.S. To "Follow Up" On Japanese Rape Case

The United States is supposedly going to "follow up" on a Japanese rape case involving a U.S. military member and a 14 year old Japanese child.

US officials may travel to Okinawa to follow up rape case

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Senior US officials based in Japan may travel to the southern island of Okinawa to follow up on the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl there by a US Marine, a US official said here Tuesday.

"Rape is a horrendous crime and we take these allegations very seriously," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters. "We are working very closely with Japanese officials on the matter."

Japanese leaders have voiced outrage over the alleged rape and warned the case will heighten opposition to US troops inside the country.

"I would expect that there will be some senior level US visitors, not from the United States but from inside Japan, who might make a trip down there to Okinawa," McCormack said.

"This would be a gesture that we took on our own accord," he added when asked if the officials were being summoned by the Japanese authorities.

He declined to say whether the trip would involve the US ambassador to Japan, Thomas Schieffer, who is returning to the country later Tuesday or Wednesday.

He also said he did not know if any lower level US officials had been summoned by the Japanese.

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said Tuesday that the rape "can never be forgiven," a day after the arrest of the 38-year-old suspect who has denied the allegations.

Noting there had been similar cases in the past, Fukuda told a parliamentary committee: "But it happened again. I take this very seriously."

Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura, in unusually blunt remarks, said the alleged crime would inevitably affect government plans on US military relocation.

The United States stations more than 40,000 troops in Japan under a treaty to defend its key Asian ally, which has been officially pacifist since World War II.

The United States is going to follow up on this rape allegation? Sure they are!! How much do you want to bet that if they actually go to Okinawa, there will be no follow up on the allegation? This is what will happen. If they travel to Okinawa, they will go to the home of the rape victim. They will hound, harass, threaten, or torture her and her family to the point where they've had enough, and the rape allegation will be dropped.

The United States doesn't take rape allegations seriously, contrary to what they claim. This is how seriously the United States takes rape allegations. This is how seriously the United States takes rape allegations. This is how seriously the United States takes rape allegations. Yes, they're all about the same thing. However, it is the prime example of how "seriously" rape allegations are taken by the United States government.