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Fun With Numbers
March 11,
2008: In Okinawa, local political
activists have been trying to portray U.S. troops on the island as a bunch of
out-of-control rapists. Okinawa, while part of Japan, is inhabited by people
who remember that Okinawa was forcibly incorporated into Japan in the 19th
century, and would like to get all the foreigners out. This is especially true
of the over 30,000 American troops and dependants, who occupy 18 percent of the
islands. The "rape" campaign is a
masterpiece of misinformation. The activists avoid discussing criminal acts as
a percentage of personnel present, or compared with local crime rate. The rape rate in Japan is 1.48 per 100,000
people per year, so assuming some 100,000 US Personnel (including dependants)
in Japan, the rape rate in most years is zero. The activists cite six cases
over the past eight years, and manipulate to make the claim that US troops can
rape at will. Overall, the crime rate of
US personnel is something like 1 percent that of Okinawa's. In 2007 there were 63 criminal acts by
American military in Japan, committed by 46 individuals. Rape is hardly ever prosecuted in Japan, and
even less often are convictions secured – the country has a rape conviction
rate only 5 percent that of the US.
With all that, the case currently in the headlines (a the 14 year
Okinawan and a 38 year old American), disappeared when the charges were
dropped.
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