Ehime Maru tragedy: no rush to judgment

It will be some time before we know for sure what caused the tragic collision between a U.S. submarine and the Japanese training ship Ehime Maru.

During this period of investigation and reflection, it is crucial for the long-term relationship between the United States and Japan that there be no rush to judgment.

Clearly, something went terribly, terribly wrong. It is possible that procedures are insufficient to prevent such an incident from happening or that they were not followed. It may turn out to be a "cascade" of events — none by itself particularly critical — that added up to misfortune.

Eventually, that story will unfold through the investigations of the National Transportation Safety Board, the Navy and other authorities.

A number of additional issues present themselves, including the question of whether submarine training of this nature should take place in active sea lanes, whether additional sonar checks should have been employed and whether there was anything humanly possible that the crew of the submarine USS Greeneville could have done while they waited for the Coast Guard to arrive.

But we must not lose sight of this fact: The activities of the Ehime Maru and thousands of other ships throughout the Pacific are dependent on the blue-water presence of the U.S. Navy as represented by the Greeneville and her sister ships.

In fact, it is fair to argue that the economic progress of Asia over the past several decades is in no small part the result of the security stability created by the presence of American armed forces in the region.

There is no doubt that this presence has created its share of troubles and friction. For instance, Japan is still smarting from recent remarks by a Marine general on Okinawa who called local leaders a "bunch of wimps" in what was supposed to have been a private e-mail. The general has apologized, but his remarks have fueled anti-U.S. military sentiment on the island.

There will be those who use the current incident in the same vein. That would be a terrible misuse of a deeply tragic incident. We mourn for those who appear to have been lost in this tragedy. And we deeply sympathize with the trauma that the students and crew have endured.

But we must not forget that it is the mission of the Greeneville and the rest of the Pacific Fleet to keep the sea secure for vessels such as the Ehime Maru. That mission continues, even in the face of this terrible tragedy.

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