You might have missed the fact that Japan has been involved in the Iraq conflict as well from the beginning.

But maybe you’re on to something, Elle: Maybe Japan should start passing resolutions against itself. At least, that’s what you seem to be arguing for.

Also, do you know what a ‘law’ is? What’s moving through the US House of Reps is a resolution.

You seem to have missed my point entirely. Did I say the US should be telling Japan what to do?

how is it pouring gasoline on a fire to stand up for themselves?

Certain actions - those mentioned in the post - led to the passage of the referrendum in the Committee. Japan’s lack of PR skills in the international arena is to blame. I was bemoaning this lack of skills.

Ken, how is it pouring gasoline on a fire to stand up for themselves?

What I’m wondering now is whether the government has finally learned a little bit about PR or whether communication and discipline within the government is really that bad. Almost as disturbing as the imprudent comments that so often come from the kantei or various ministers is the disparity among statements by high-ranking government officials. Abe might not ever let go of the wheel of the ship in a storm, but he certainly doesn’t run a tight ship and he certainly hasn’t proven a very capable navigator.

Ken, as we’ve said many times, the government of Japan simply does not understand that there is no such thing as a division between comments for domestic consumption and comments for international consumption. Those in the Japan-really-didn’t-do-anything-bad camp seem to have convinced themselves of their own specious arguments. It’s not surprising, the issues change from country to country, but this is same thing hardcore conservatives in the US did to convince themselves that the US did nothing wrong during the Cold War and that Bill Clinton was the worst kind of criminal.

Robert Dujarric was right that Japan needs a corps of America experts in Washington. In this case, they could have told the LDP that no one outside of Japan even considers the denial arguments arguments. They come off as ridiculous tripe and it’s a shame people high up in Japan have yet to figure that out.