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Top U.S. Marine General Apologizes to Okinawa Governor
The top U.S. Marine general on Okinawa personally apologized to the governor here Thursday for calling local leaders "a bunch of wimps" in an e-mail to his staff.
"I deeply apologize for the inappropriate remarks which were in my e-mail," Lt. Gen. Earl Hailston told Gov. Keiichi Inamine at a news conference called to discuss the e-mail, which was published in a major Okinawan newspaper earlier this week.
Hailston said that he had "no excuse," and the message "certainly did not reflect my true feelings."
Inamine called the incident "very regrettable" and said it showed a "lack of understanding and consideration toward the historical development of Okinawa and the sentiments of the Okinawan people."
The article set off a firestorm of criticism on this small island on Japan's southern fringe, which has been the key U.S. military outpost in the Pacific for decades.
It prompted assembly members in one city near Marine bases on the island to unanimously pass a resolution calling for Hailston's resignation, the first time a local government here has called for the removal of a senior U.S. military officer.
According to the newspaper report, Hailston, responding to the arrest of a Marine last month for lifting a schoolgirl's skirt, urged his staff to crack down on crimes committed by military personnel. But he also criticized Okinawan leaders' failure to stand up to Okinawans who want to reduce the U.S. military presence here.
"I think they are all nuts and a bunch of wimps," the paper quoted him as writing in the e-mail.
Military officials have not disputed the report, but have refused to confirm the contents of the e-mail, saying it was intended as a private communication. In a statement, Hailston quickly apologized for the "misunderstanding" caused by his choice of words, insisting he had only respect and admiration for local Japanese officials.
Still, many Okinawans saw that as an evasion. Okinawans were further angered by the Pentagon's announcement shortly after that it planned no punishment for the three-star general.
Hailston's meeting with Inamine on Thursday was seen as an attempt to calm the storm.
But the story continued to dominate the front pages of local newspapers, and received prominent coverage in national media.
Under a mutual security treaty between Japan and the United States, about 47,000 U.S. military service people are stationed in Japan. Nearly two-thirds of them, including the largest contingent of Marines outside the United States, are on Okinawa Island, 1,000 miles southwest of Tokyo.
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