Harsh punishment after a tragic accident needs a bilateral solution.

Japan’s new defense strategy warns that Asia is facing the most challenging security environment since World War II. Tokyo and Washington have to work together to deter China, and Beijing would benefit from cracks in the alliance. So it’s worth asking for Tokyo’s help in mending a growing rift by returning a U.S. Navy lieutenant locked up in a Japanese prison.



Lt. Ridge Alkonis, assigned to the guided-missile destroyer the USS Benfold in Yokosuka, was driving his family back from a trip to Mt. Fuji in May 2021 when he fell unconscious. Two Japanese nationals died in the resulting wreck. No one alleges drugs or alcohol were involved. Lt. Alkonis is a Mormon and doesn’t drink, and his wife and young children were in the car in broad daylight. Jonathan Franks, a spokesman for the family, says a Navy neurologist said that Lt. Alkonis had suffered acute mountain sickness.

The tragedy has cascaded into a larger fiasco. Lt. Alkonis was arrested and held in solitary confinement for more than three weeks, his family says. He wasn’t given a medical exam that might have exonerated him.

An October letter to President Biden from more than 30 Members of Congress expressed “deep concern” that Japan had refused the lieutenant basic due process and abrogated the agreement that governs U.S. troops in the country. A spokesman for the Embassy of Japan says the government “adhered to the Status of Forces Agreement and its agreed minutes” during the process.



Lt. Alkonis pleaded guilty to charges of negligent driving, on the hope that he would receive a suspended sentence. Lt. Alkonis had no criminal history and had served multiple tours in Japan without incident. He also spent two years in Japan on a Mormon mission, teaching free English classes and doing other volunteer work.



Lt. Alkonis repeatedly expressed remorse, paying $1.65 million in restitution to the families of the victims, a significant sum cobbled together from insurance, savings and donations from friends and family. Junior officers aren’t paid handsomely and Lt. Alkonis is the son of a California fire chief. His wife, Brittany, devotes her time to raising their three children.

A Japanese judge nonetheless sentenced Lt. Alkonis to three years in prison, which he began serving in July. His pay and benefits were set to lapse in December. Utah Sen. Mike Lee, who has visited Lt. Alkonis in prison, prodded the Pentagon to make an exception so the officer’s family wouldn’t lose the household income and health insurance. Mr. Lee ended up forcing the Biden Administration’s hand by attaching an amendment to the omnibus spending bill that requires the Pentagon to keep paying Lt. Alkonis. It passed by voice vote.

But Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Mike Gilday said at the Naval War College last year that while “it’s very tough” for Lt. Alkonis’ family, “you have to balance that against justice.” It’s “not an easy problem,” he said, and U.S.-Japan negotiations are “way above” his “pay grade.”

Would Adm. Gilday have sounded off so casually if a case involved a woman service member detained in Saudi Arabia? This isn’t a rhetorical question: Thousands of Navy sailors stop at ports in the Middle East, and the U.S. has an interest in ensuring none are perceived as vulnerable to the whims of local justice.

Military officers don’t have license to behave with impunity, and crimes by U.S. personnel on Okinawa have eroded Japanese support for hosting U.S. troops. The Pentagon is no doubt nervous about the fragile politics. But also in decline is American public support for stationing troops around the world, and Americans see in this case a U.S. officer treated unfairly by a country he was helping to defend.

Sen. Lee tells us the “military is facing unprecedented challenges in terms of personnel, morale and recruiting,” and this debacle sends a bad message to would-be volunteers. Service members may wonder if they are one tragic day away from personal and financial ruin. Lt. Alkonis’ performance records, which we’ve reviewed, suggest he was on track to command a destroyer. Why cart your wife and kids all over the world and spend at least half your time deployed at sea, if the U.S. government might one day toss you overboard?

***
Lt. Alkonis has served several months of his sentence—hardly light punishment—and Tokyo would be wise to seek a swift end to this episode and return him to U.S. custody. U.S. lawmakers will continue to press the case, and better to solve this between allies before it becomes a bigger bilateral irritant.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visits Washington this week at an important bilateral moment. President Biden can help by asking the Japanese delegation to bring the American lieutenant with them when they come to town.

LIST: https://www.wsj.com/articles/t...02?mod=hp_opin_pos_1

If I were suffering from an unforeseeable medical condition, I would never have pleaded guilty to anything.

Sorry for the Lt. there is nothing for the Potatus to gain from this, he's not an America hating, lesbian, woke, socialist who can bounce a rubber ball and smoke weed. A military officer, who is a Mormon and has never been in trouble, Brandon wants some ice cream and to sniff some hair.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
If I were suffering from an unforeseeable medical condition, I would never have pleaded guilty to anything.

Hopefully, a JAG lawyer didn't give him that advice.

That's tough especially considering it wasn't apparently negligence or misconduct on his part.

I feel like there is something missing from this story. But if these are the facts, I really hope the JSDFs are feeling really healthy when they do port calls in the US and our territories.

quote:

Originally posted by ulsterman:

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
If I were suffering from an unforeseeable medical condition, I would never have pleaded guilty to anything.

Hopefully, a JAG lawyer didn't give him that advice.

I’d bet a case of fine scotch whiskey that if he received any advise from JAG-they told him to cop a plea.

I got wrapped up in some severe bullshit once and the legal advise I got from them was less than stellar…once they heard that it hadn’t gotten to a Courts Martial yet-they wouldn’t talk to me anymore.

My understanding from reading about the case was that in the Japanese culture they value contrition and personal responsibility, and that in their court system a plea of "not guilty" is much less common than in the U.S. As a result, he followed what he thought was solid advice that would make this go away with the least issue. Now look where that got him.

quote:

Originally posted by slabsides45:
My understanding from reading about the case was that in the Japanese culture they value contrition and personal responsibility, and that in their court system a plea of "not guilty" is much less common than in the U.S. As a result, he followed what he thought was solid advice that would make this go away with the least issue. Now look where that got him.

Well, he is not Japanese and therefore not afforded the same consideration a native would get. The Japanese are extremely nationalistic and with some open minded exceptions, a bit on the xenophobic side. I too would like to know the entire story before I pass summary judgment; was he actually driving negligently? I don’t care where I was or what the charges were- I wouldn’t enter a guilty plea if I wasn’t actually doing what I was accused of doing. I don’t care who was giving the advice if I wasn’t walking from the courtroom to the plane taking me home.

He had a grand mal seizure and killed a pedestrian according to what I read. Hardly driving recklessly.

One reason the Nissan executive was smuggled out of Japan was the certainty of conviction and the horrible condition of Japanese prisons. The prison system is harsh, unforgiving and borders on inhumane. You would think his attorney would have known that. Would like more information.

Talking is allowed only during exercise and free time, and inmates are only allowed to speak Japanese.

For those of y’all that remember my delay in leaving Korea, shit can turn South in a HURRY!

What I realized in my situation is that the Navy and USFK had my back with only words…no action.

For the three years I was in Okinawa, we were always reminded that, as far as Okinawa was concerned, “we“ were automatically at fault for any trouble that may have happened in town because if we hadn’t been there, we would not have gotten into the issue.

We were warned so many times that I still remember it, don’t get picked up by the JPs, because if you do, you might spend the next 20 years in a Japanese rice prison and there’s nothing we can do to get you out.

quote:

Originally posted by IrishWind:
I feel like there is something missing from this story. But if these are the facts, I really hope the JSDFs are feeling really healthy when they do port calls in the US and our territories.

Agreed. There are a lot of actual facts missing here. How can you know what to think without them?

Lots of information not available.

I just know that when you're over THERE, you're the OTHER. Regardless of country and their relationship with the US, if you're at the center or, even periphery of an incident, especially if a death is involved, you will be fingered as the culprit. Don't get involved, and don't screw up. I feel for the wife, and this may very well be an issue of an over zealous judicial system but, there's got to be more to this case than what's been provided.