Ozawa tells McCain he opposes Obama's policy on Afghanistan

Friday 10th April, 02:19 PM JST

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Seiharinokaze at 04:30 PM JST - 10th April

I don't think what Ozawa says is so irrelevant. It's fairly significant. The British Empire toppled a government in Afghanistan in 1800's but they couldn't govern the people. The Soviets repeated the same error. And both times the invaders fell from their glorious position before long afterwards. It's a historical lesson. Sending and stationing troops cannot bring under control anti-government forces like Taliban whose main cause is, unlike that of Al-Qaeda, kind of an attempt to make the country a better place in their own way. It also means the Pashtuns that make up 42% of the population are trying to right themselves again. The U.S. should know better.
supercub at 04:31 PM JST - 10th April

I don't think his "topple a government comment" is a specific reference to the objectives of the U.S. military in Afghanistan, but is rather a rhetorical statement designed to show the limitations of military power.
soothsayer at 06:07 PM JST - 10th April

Obama's aim,at a guess, is to create a breathing space to give moderate Afganistanis a chance to create a democratic culture strong enough to withstand the iconoclastic Taliban (Don't we all still weep over Bamiyan?). This probably wasn't the objective of the British, and certainly not the Russians, Seiharanokaze.

I hope that Ozawa's full statement took Obama's rationale, whatever it was, into account. I'm not too hopeful on that point, though.
tjfrancis at 07:38 PM JST - 10th April

he's complaining to the ex-candidate that would have probably had 3 surges already.
Seiharinokaze at 07:42 PM JST - 10th April

soothsayer

I'm not sure how Taliban is different from Afghan tribes of 130 years ago. And I'm not sure either why a democratic culture hasn't taken root in the soil there since the third Afghan War ended in 1919. I hope I'm wrong to judge it has nothing to do with the nature of the objective of the invaders.

Perhaps Ozawa's statement took some kind of intuition into account. He may be taking precautions from the humble view point of a protectorate against his country being involved in Obama's or world leader's grand rationale, whatever it was.
Hotbox08 at 07:55 PM JST - 10th April

There is some truth to what Ozawa has said. After all, sending in more troops can't fix the problems that exist in the current government itself. Didn't they just pass a law in Afghhanistan making it legal for men to rape their wives? Of course, a review of the new law has been issued, but the fact that these "abhorrent" rules exist, makes one think if this is the right type of government to rule.
Yuki_51 at 07:57 PM JST - 10th April

Ozawa is nothing but a politician, but he's a very shrewd and cynical politician, if that's not redundant times two.

He senses the lack of political support in Japan for sending troops to Afghanistan, so that's where he is at right now. If he sensed that Japanese were hell-bent-for-leather to crush Taliban, he'd be ready to send his mother over there.

This is called 'leadership', in some circles. It's called pandering in others.
memyselfI at 09:34 PM JST - 10th April

Afganisthan has a huge OIL RESERVE Do you really think Obama will abandon the campaign ??? Ozawa will pucker up when Obama comes to Japan ozawa has two faces.
unscrejects at 11:20 PM JST - 10th April

I think he prefers Nishimatsu to 'build' a bridge between the Taliban and himself. Ozawa spelt backwords is Awazo - meaning "dufus" in Urdu.
WilliB at 12:31 AM JST - 11th April

A case of being right for the wrong reasons.
ca1ic0cat at 02:29 AM JST - 11th April

Though military force can topple a government, it cannot govern people.

Ozawa seems to have forgotten the US occupation of Japan after WWII. Of course the Army did need the connivance of the Emperor to pull it off.

Afganistan is a bit different but if it was possible to keep the Taliban from coming in from Pakistan there might be a chance for the Afghans to set up a government of their own choosing. That is going to be difficult.

On the other hand, I note that Ozawa has no alternatives to a troop build up. It's one thing to criticize. But unless he has a better idea to offer then he's not going to get very far.
caribjustice at 03:03 AM JST - 11th April

“Though military force can topple a government, it cannot govern people. I cannot agree with it,’’

Uhm...Afganistan has a functioning government. Does President Hamid Karzai not ring a bell? The military force is not there to govern the are seeking to rout the Taliban.
tclh at 05:58 AM JST - 11th April

Why does he oppose Obama 's policy on Afghanistan? Strong military force to destroy AQ and Taliban ( there may be a political solution for Taliban) on one hand and aid ,construction ,education to rebuild the country on the other. What else can be done? With military force alone ,you can not govern a country ; but without military force you DO NOT have acountry to start anything. As a politician he should know this very basis ...or he knows something so secret that ordinary people like myself never heard about?
TheMarion at 07:03 AM JST - 11th April

Ozawa one of the most people oriented politician in Japan and I agree with what he is saying. I feel we should move out of this entire area and let this headache belong to the USSR. I would applaud Mr. Ozawa
Sarge at 11:03 AM JST - 12th April

"Afghanistan has a functioning government"

Some would disagree with that one.

"I feel we should move out of this entire area..."

That would be so nice.

"... and let this headache belong to the USSR"

The USSR dissolved like a couple of decades ago, and Russia proved incompetent in taming the place.