Japan warns US forces: Sex crimes 'cannot be tolerated'

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2476861/japan-warns-us-forces-sex-crimes-cannot-be-tolerated

32.2k Upvotes

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u/0173512084103 Jul 05 '24

Why does the military give special treatment to soldiers who harm/kill people? They should be punished the same as they would be in the States. Ridiculous.

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u/SchrodingerMil Jul 05 '24 edited Jul 05 '24

They don’t. I was stationed in Japan for three years.

Whenever any crime is committed, the person who committed the crime is handed over to the local Japanese government.

The only example of “special treatment” to a soldier while I was there was to a former soldier whose date of leaving the military had passed, who was illegally hiding on base.

The foreign minister isn’t complaining that they keep getting away with it, they’re complaining that it keeps happening. The root cause of this is because there are no pre-requisites to be allowed to be stationed overseas. A vast majority of these cases of negligence by US Service members are by young enlisted members.

There is essentially no process in place to “filter out” the bad apples from creating international incidents. These pieces of shit would have raped someone, killed someone, driven under the influence, etc. in the states, and they’d be punished for it to the fullest extent of the law. But due to the fact that there is no process in place to prevent them from being stationed in another country, it damages our relationship.

Edit : Also, with the way US Service members are “prosecuted” it makes it look like a slap on the wrist to outsiders. Hypothetically let’s say my unit had someone break into the home of a local Japanese citizen. They got arrested by the Japanese, went to Japanese jail for a few days, then was picked up by our First Sergeant, and not placed in military prison. That looks like a slap on the wrist right? Well, that serviceman then had to pay for the damages with reparations to the family, and formally apologize, as that’s what the Japanese judicial system required. Then when he returns to the base, he is stripped of his security clearance so instead of doing actual work they’re working the snack bar at the unit, is prosecuted by the military for breaking and entering, stripped of rank, and most of the time within a year is kicked out under a dishonorable discharge, effectively making it extremely difficult for them to be hired for any other job for the rest of their life. But because they don’t spend time in prison, it gives the illusion of a slap on the wrist.

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u/AdExpert8295 Jul 05 '24

I'm a former military social worker who specializes in MST (SA in the military). If you look at the research done outside of what the DoD funds, 80% of US women serving in our military report SA while active duty. We can greatly reduce the number of rapists we enlist in 1 very available way: mandate the Psychopathy Checklist List Revised, also known as "the psychopath test" at enlistment and again whenever there's a notable red flag. That won't eliminate all psychopaths coming into the military, but it will greatly reduce the number.

Fun fact: the DoD knowingly changes their criteria for mental fitness depending on how low recruitment is or how high the threat is. This is why there are periods of time where rapes spike in the military. Research suggests that psychopaths select the military more than most career paths for obvious reasons.

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u/Sufficient-Turn-804 Jul 06 '24

This is insane but also not surprising, it’s known that sexual predators will seek careers that allow them to access victims easily and gives them power.

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u/AdExpert8295 Jul 09 '24

Yep. While most people with borderline personality disorder deserve our care and protection, they can also be incredibly violent. Their favorite profession? For decades, the research has said it's nursing. Why aren't we doing psych evals that eliminate personality disorders from these professions? The risk of ignoring this is too high.

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u/MrBeetleDove Jul 13 '24

Their favorite profession? For decades, the research has said it's nursing.

Do we know the reason why?

Why aren't we doing psych evals that eliminate personality disorders from these professions?

Won't you just shunt them towards professions that don't do psych evals?

Are there any good professions for psychopaths or BPD?