Japan's Defense Minister calls Iraq war a "mistake" and Cheney

[npincus]

won't meet with him-- Darth arrived in Tokyo today. He'll be meeting with the Emperor and Empress, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, but not the official who spoke truth to power.


http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/24/asia/AS-GEN-Japan-Defense-Minister.php
Japan's defense minister calls U.S. invasion of Iraq a mistake

TOKYO: The U.S. invasion of Iraq was a mistake based on a faulty assumption, Japan's defense minister said Wednesday in a rare criticism from Washington's closest Asian ally.

Fumio Kyuma said he has expressed his understanding of the U.S. war in Iraq but has never supported it. "My opinion remains the same," he said.

U.S. President George W. Bush's decision to invade Iraq "based on an assumption that weapons of mass destruction existed was a mistake," Kyuma told a news conference.

Kyuma made the comments hours after Bush implored the U.S. Congress in his annual State of the Union Address to back his unpopular plan to send more U.S. troops to Iraq, saying it represents the best chance in a war America must not lose.





http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/12/asia/AS-GEN-Japan-US-Cheney.php
Report: Cheney to snub Japan defense minister for calling Iraq war 'mistake'

TOKYO: U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney plans to spurn meetings with Japan's defense minister next week in protest over his having called the American-led Iraq war a "mistake," a news report said Monday.

Cheney is to meet top officers in Japan's Self-Defense Forces during a visit starting Feb. 20 but has asked Japan not to schedule any talks with Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma, Kyodo News agency said.

Late last month, Kyuma told reporters the decision to invade Iraq was a "mistake" because it was based on the erroneous assumption that Saddam Hussein's government had weapons of mass destruction.

Kyuma later backtracked, saying he meant that the decision to attack Iraq should have been thought through more cautiously.




http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-02-20-cheney-japan_x.htm
Cheney to talk security on Japan visit, but not with outspoken defense minister

The visit has caused something of a stir because Cheney is not meeting with Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma, who recently said the U.S. decision to invade Iraq was based on dubious assumptions that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction and was thus "a mistake."

The comment generated a flurry of retractions and clarifications from Japan's government, which has been a staunch supporter of Washington's war in Iraq and sent hundreds of non-combat troops to the country to provide humanitarian assistance, such as rebuilding roads and schools and supplying fresh water to an area in Iraq's south.

Kyuma later claimed his remark was misinterpreted, though he said Washington should have been more cautious.

Officials said Cheney was not meeting Kyuma because he did not have time. The Foreign Ministry has also noted that it is not unusual for the two not to meet — Cheney didn't see the previous defense chief when he visited here three years ago.

[LiberalEsto]

1. Cheney's a coward

Five deferments during Vietnam because he had "other priorities."
Willing to send American soldiers to fight and die for Halliburton's profits.
Too cowardly to meet with a head of state who dares to criticize this fiasco of a war.

[npincus]

2. Murray Waas: Cheney may be next on Libby prosecutor's radar

http://news.nationaljournal.com/articles/021907nj1.htm

That demon ought to be plenty worried... if Libby is convicted, and Chimp doesn't pardon him, then the prosecutor may hold out a big incentive for him (Libby) to 'flip' as a witness for the prosecution. Could that have been Fitzy's intent all along?

Cheney has much bigger worries than foreign critics of his disatstrous con job of a war.

If Libby is found guilty, investigators are likely to probe further to determine if Libby devised what they consider a cover story in an effort to shield Cheney. They want to know whether Cheney might have known about the leaks ahead of time or had even encouraged Libby to provide information to reporters about Plame's CIA status, the same sources said.

Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and defense attorneys for Libby are expected to begin their closing arguments in the case as early as Tuesday morning. Defense attorneys for Libby had said for months that they were going to call Cheney as a defense witness, but informed Federal District Court Judge Reggie Walton, who has presided over the Libby trial, at the last minute that they were not going to call him after all.

Had Cheney testified, he would have been questioned about whether he encouraged, or had knowledge of, the leaking of Plame's CIA status. Sources close to the case say that Cheney would have also been sharply questioned as to why, when presented by Libby with what prosecutors regarded as a cover story to explain away Libby's role in the leak, Cheney did nothing to discourage him.

<snip>

"If Cheney was merely showing surprise and interest at what Libby indicating to him he was going to tell investigators, then the vice president is innocent in the exchange," Richman said. "But if he had reason to believe, or personal knowledge, that what Libby was planning to say was untrue then there is good reason to view Cheney's conduct in an entirely different light -- an obstruction interpretation."

[madokie]

3. and he does what cowards do, run

[zippy890]

4. kick

hoping that mofo goes down