-Caveat Lector-
http://www.smh.com.au/news/0102/17/world/world1.htm
Sydney Morning Herald
February 17, 2001
Sub civilian was top Republican
By Michael Millett, Herald Correspondent in Tokyo
Japan has sent an envoy to the United States to demand
a full explanation for the sinking of a Japanese
trawler by a US nuclear submarine, as news reports
confirmed that at least one member of a guest party on
board was a senior Republican Party figure.
Senior Vice-Foreign Minister Sishiro Eto will demand
that search operations continue for nine people who
were on board the Ehime Maru and are still missing,
presumed dead. Japan has condemned the US Navy for
allowing civilians to be at the control stations of
the submarine, which was hosting 16 civilian guests.
One of the guests of Commander Scott Waddle, the
submarine's captain, was what one US newspaper called
a Republican "fat cat" with connections to President
George Bush. Fourteen of the 16 were donors to a
private, non-profit foundation that is restoring the
World War II battleship Missouri and whose honorary
chairman is the former president George Bush.
It was on the deck of the Missouri that Japan's
leaders surrendered on September 2, 1945, marking the
end of the war in the Pacific. The trip was,
apparently, to thank them for their support.
"It is outrageous. [The US Navy] is slack," the chief
of the Japanese Defence Agency, Toshitsugu Saito, said
at a news conference, of the civilians' presence at
the controls.
President Bush ordered a review of all policies on
civilian activity during military exercises after USS
Greeneville surfaced rapidly off Hawaii, hitting and
sinking the Japanese trawler, which was carrying high
school fisheries students.
The manoeuvre was apparently performed for the
entertainment of the guests, two of whom were seated
at controls on the submarine's bridge deck.
Five of the 35 crew on the trawler drowned. Four
17-year-old students on a study trip were among those
missing and presumed drowned.
In Tokyo, the Prime Minister, Mr Yoshiro Mori, is
clinging to office by his fingertips, with some senior
figures in his Liberal Democratic Party openly calling
for a leadership vote next month. A junior coalition
partner, New Komeito, yesterday refused to rule out
support for a no-confidence motion.
Mr Mori was roundly criticised for staying on the golf
course after being informed of the trawler's sinking.
His stock sank further yesterday after it was revealed
that a businessman had bankrolled his 40 million yen
($650,000) golf club membership.
Navy officials have confirmed that at the time the
Greeneville pierced the hull of the Ehime Maru,
sending the trawler and nine of its crew to the ocean
floor, two civilians were in the main control
positions of the sub.
They are adamant that while the VIPs may have had
their hands on the controls, they were in no way
responsible for the emergency ballast blow that sent
the Greeneville rocketing to the surface, or for the
crash that followed.
The navy has refused to release the names of the
civilian guests, citing privacy concerns, although two
of them have appeared on US television recounting
their version of the events leading up to the
collision.
One, Mr John Hall, said he had accepted an invitation
from the Greeneville's commander to pull the levers to
begin the surface drill.
The nearest crew member was seated right next to him
"elbow to elbow". "I mean, what's important to know
here is you don't do anything on this vessel without
someone either showing you how to do it, telling you
how to do it, or escorting you around," Mr Hall told
NBC's Today show.
Both men said Commander Waddle had carried out
numerous safety checks, including a periscope sweep,
before beginning the dive and subsequent
ascent.
Mr Hall said he distinctly remembered a loud bang and
the submarine shuddering, followed by Commander
Waddle's exclamation: "Jesus, what the hell was that?"
Speaking before a budget meeting in Washington,
President Bush said the Hawaiian tragedy had made it
necessary for the Pentagon "to review all policy
regarding civilian activity during military
exercises".
Rear Admiral Steve Pietropaoli said that it had been
navy policy for decades to allow civilians to visit
bases and view manoeuvres as a way of bolstering
public appreciation of and support for the armed
forces.
Pentagon officials said Commander Waddle could face a
court martial if he was found to have caused the
accident.
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