US State Secretary John Kerry was the one who wanted to mete out "shock and awe"-like military attacks on a small country in Middle East back in August based on Youtube videos, and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was going along with Kerry until Kerry put his foot in his mouth.
The two look very eager to please Japan's Abe administration, as shown in the photos below, taken during their recent visit to Japan.
Back in February this year, President Obama treated Mr. Abe rather shabbily when the latter visited the US, with only a brief working lunch and no press conference. I guess the US administration needs some allies now.
Chuck Hagel, John Kerry, Shinzo Abe, Fumio Kishida (Minister of Foreign Affairs), Itsunori Onodera (Minister of Defense), from freebeacom.com (10/4/2013):
From freebeacom.com:
The United States and Japan announced on Thursday that defense relations are being strengthened for the first time in 16 years, including new force deployments and greater cooperation against missile and cyber attacks.
The closer military and defense relations come amid growing tensions in Asia over China’s maritime encroachment in the region, which military officials fear could trigger a future conflict.
New missile defenses, the addition of two squadrons of MV-22 tilt rotor transport aircraft, and deployment of three Global Hawk long-range drone aircraft are key elements of the new ties. New P-8 anti-submarine warfare aircraft and advanced F-35 jets also will be deployed in Japan.
"MV-22 tilt rotor transport aircraft" is trouble-prone Osprey.
Kerry and Hagel laid a wreath at the Chidorigafuchi Cemetery where the war-dead (including unnamed soldiers and civilians who died, but not those judged as "war criminals" in the Tokyo Tribunal) are buried, in Tokyo, from AFP (10/3/2013). The only other foreign high-ranking official who did the same was the Argentinean president in 1979; there had been no US official who had done so, until Kerry and Hagel on October 3, 2013:
30-Day free trial by following the link.
Tokyo Time
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6 comments:
Friends till the bitter end, eh?
Many defense attaches from several countries have paid respects at Chidorigafuchi Cemetary in official ceremonies....put there has been scant reporting of it in Japanese media over the years. So, this is the not the first time a US official has done so.
Dumb and Dumber.
In other "un-important" news:
Bretton Woods Committee:
"2013 International Council Meeting
Date: Thu, Oct 10, 2013 12:00pm - 6:00pm
Location: Willard Intercontinental Hotel, Washington DC
As the world marks five years since the economic collapse of 2008, a shared roadmap to lead the international community toward its desired destination – global growth with systemic stability – remains elusive. Economic, regulatory, and financial sector reforms are progressing, but may be taking divergent paths.
The 2013 Bretton Woods Committee International Council Meeting will explore the road to global financial stability. We will consider whether the actions and incentives driving monetary and fiscal policies, regulatory reforms, and financial market participants are sufficiently aligned to sustain global growth.
Speakers include:
Fahad Almubarak, Governor, Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency
Mohamed El-Erian, CEO and co-CIO, PIMCO
Stefan Ingves, Governor, Sveriges Riksbank
Colm Kelleher, Chairman, Morgan Stanley International
Haruhiko Kuroda, Governor, Bank of Japan
Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
Brian T. Moynihan, Chief Executive Officer, Bank of America
Raghuram Rajan, Governor, Reserve Bank of India
Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Singapore
Daniel K. Tarullo, Governor, Federal Reserve System of the United States
Sir David Walker, Chairman, Barclays
And other global leaders.
The Committee is grateful to the following organizations for their generous support of this event:
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Registration for this event is now closed."
Anon at 2:14AM, you missed the key word - "High-ranking". Defense attaches are not considered "high-ranking". The article at AFP link is based on the Japanese reporting that said Kerry/Hagel visit was only the second visit by foreign high-ranking officials.
Don't you just want to punch all the faces in the first pick and kick some ass in the second. I do.
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