Refueling mission not to be extended: Hatoyama

Tuesday 03rd November, 03:11 AM JST

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Katsuro1000 at 01:42 PM JST - 3rd November

America has it's own gas and they don't use em....WTF?? this is stupid.
japaneseno1 at 05:50 PM JST - 3rd November

usa respects any country who respects agreement which is still valid.
Azrael at 06:31 PM JST - 3rd November

I just hope the US won't find (ahem, make up) an excuse to "liberate" Japan in the future.
Sarge at 06:33 PM JST - 3rd November

Yeah, there's no need to thwart terrorists any more, lol.
pathat at 10:11 PM JST - 3rd November

As time passes with Yukio Hatoyama at the helm of Japan, the Japanese people will find that the election campaign commericial of a few years ago with him and other DPJ "stalwarts" navigating Japan through stormy seas ends in a shipwreck.

The fact that Japan will discontinue the refueling operations in the Indian Ocean is not such a big deal.

But Hatoyama should take into careful consideration the overwhelming supply of oil that Japan gets from the Middle East and know who protects said supply for Japan-senior partner the United States of America. If junior partner Japan still thinks after decades of failure that it is going to secure a different energy supply lifeline in Siberia or the East China Sea, it had better wake up before crashing into the reef ahead.
shanabelle at 10:30 PM JST - 3rd November

A long overdue middle finger at that! I like the new government thus far!
teck at 11:30 PM JST - 3rd November

They are shifting the refuelling mission to support anti-piracy ops off Somalia instead, right? Guess that still means they will be deployed away from home, just for a different cause.
mushroomcloud at 11:34 PM JST - 3rd November

Gotta admit, the DPJ under Hatoyama has shown that they indeed have some balls, with Japan finally acting like an independent nation.

Japan's respect level in the eyes of the international community has gone up considerably.
JHansen at 04:41 AM JST - 4th November

panzerkampwagen at 09:49 AM JST - 3rd November

Great! well done and this is what a responsible country should be! America's wars in afghanistan was nothing holy but an attempt to steal the natural gas and oil in central asia those former soviet states! If any countries keep helping america's war of deceptions will be dragged into a further escalation of conflicts.America using Georgia to steal oil in Caspain sea that triggered the war Georgia war last conflict!

Funny I seem to remember the US going into Afghanistan in response to the attacks of 9-11-01. I guess Herr panzerkampwagen must be one of the nut jobs who thinks that 9-11 was some inside job. One has to be naïve to think that the Taliban government controlling Afghanistan and giving open shelter to Al Qaeda had nothing to do with 9-11. That a pipeline that doesn’t exist that carries a resource that is booming in the mainland of the USA, natural gas, is the real reason the USA, England, Germany, Italy, Spain, etc etc etc are in Afghanistan is simply sophomoric and illogical reasoning. Perhaps Herr panzerkampwagen you have the Iraq and Afghan wars mixed up in your head?
sfjp330 at 05:05 AM JST - 4th November

Bad decision by the Japanese govenment. Japan imports over 90 percent of oil from the Middle East and gets 13 million barrels of oil from Japan's friendly oil buddy Iran with potential nuclear weapons paid by the Japanese. They are the largest importer of oil from Saudi Arabia and U.S. protects the sea lanes for Japan oil destination. Maybe it's time for Japan to send their own troops to protect their own interest, the Nippon Oil company refineries in Iran, middle east and sea lanes for destination to Japan.
yabits at 05:57 AM JST - 4th November

Great! well done and this is what a responsible country should be! America's wars in afghanistan was nothing holy but an attempt to steal the natural gas and oil in central asia those former soviet states!

I agree with Prime Minister Hatoyama's decision not to assist the U.S. any further with its adventures in Afghanistan and Iraq.

To say that the U.S. was trying to "steal" the natural gas and oil in the region is overly simplistic. Here is now a typical "deal" operates:

Help install or otherwise buy corrupt governments in the countries of interest. Next, get the governments to apply for "development loans" from the World Bank or IMF in order to fund a large infrastructure projects that will tap into the nations' resource wealth (or be a conduit for some neighboring country's wealth). Bribes work exceedingly well to this end.

The loan money will go to Western construction and project firms such as Bechtel, Fluor, Halliburton, etc. Of course, much will be skimmed off the top as payback to the countries' elites. (So they can buy weapons from countries like the U.S. to keep their people at bay.) Since most nations will not be able to pay back the large loans according to schedule, other "deals" are made for them to sell the resource in question at bargain rates. Often, these sales will be made to other nations, such as Japan, in exchange for other deals that the U.S. and Japan can arrive at...

Such as refueling U.S. warships.
mikihouse at 06:52 AM JST - 4th November

China gets its oil also from the middle east and they don't need the US
yabits at 07:41 AM JST - 4th November

China gets its oil also from the middle east and they don't need the US

au contraire... China doesn't need access to US markets? They don't have an interest in the value of the dollar, with as many dollars as they hold?

When China goes to buy oil in the Middle East, they pay for it in _____. (Yes, that's right.)

So, while China is not as beholden to the U.S. as most other nations, to claim that don't need the U.S. at all is not true. However, what we have been seeing over past decade or so is China chipping away at the U.S. model of how to do business with other nations. We will see rapid further growth and development of Chinese infrastructure project companies who will come in and offer a much better deal to a given nation for its resources than the U.S. and its Western allies ever did.

This has a tie to the story about Japan setting up to give Afghanistan aid, as well as not extending the refueling mission. Slowly, surely, the Japanese are putting a bit more distance between themselves and the Americans. As with China, Japan appears to be focusing more on "soft power" approaches to dealing with the other nations of the world.
sfjp330 at 08:04 AM JST - 4th November

When China goes to buy oil in the Middle East, they pay for it in _____. (Yes, that's right.) Yabits:

Yes, that's right. As China becomes increasingly dependent on imported fuel, there is also concern that the country could become a major arms supplier to countries in the Middle East, trading weapons for access to oil.
ninjohitokiri at 06:21 AM JST - 7th November

politics and the agreements between govts is indeed tricky. mutual interests have to be served but i'd say ditch afghanistan and pakistan. these two countries are a waste of time. its high time japan protect her interests her way. bravo to the discontinued refuelling mission. thats an insult to the MSDF anyways.