Recent scandals involving US military personnel have been widely covered by the international media.
Instead of being the "bulwark of American democracy" and the "defenders of peace and security" American bases and their occupants are rapidly becoming a symbol of lawlessness and crime, as evident by the vocal criticism that has been voiced by various members of the international community in various countries around the world and numerous protests local residents have held in a
desperate bid to have these bases removed.
Less than a week ago a new wave of protests swept the US embassy in Japan, after the arrest of yet another American soldier who was driving a car while drunk on Okinawa.
It should be remembered that it's been only a short while since US military commanders introduced prohibition on military bases on Okinawa after a US soldier injured two local residents in a car accident.
Okinawans have been demanding the closure of US military bases on the island for years. The latest string of incidents resulted in the largest anti-American protest of the last two decades. The demonstration was attended by tens of thousands of people that demanded the military bases be shifted to a deserted part of the island to avoid the continuation of numerous criminal deeds committed by US servicemen. Similar demands are being voiced by the residents of pretty much all the islands of Japan.
Okinawa witnessed the bloodiest skirmishes between American and Japanese soldiers during the Second World War, and has been forced to live under total US occupation until 1972. Beginning in the 1950s the so-called "red threat" was used as a pretext for the continued occupation,
though nowadays there's no certainty from whom the US is trying to protect Okinawa, all while victimizing its citizens.
Comment: Yet another horrifying and tragic example of what policing means today in the land of freedom.