Of all the countries for the White House to put on its enemies list, Japan hardly seems worthy of indignation, especially when it comes to the war. Japan was not only one of the handful of countries to endorse Bush’s decision to invade Iraq, it also sent 600 ground troops to Iraq, and kept the deployed troops there for two years. It sounds like Japan should be one of the White House’s favorites, at this point.
But that doesn’t take Dick Cheney’s unique brand of diplomacy into account. About a month ago, Fumio Kyuma, Japan’s Defense Minister, had the audacity to acknowledge out loud what the vast majority of people on earth have long believed — that the invasion was a mistake. “President Bush went to war on the presumption that there might be nuclear weapons,” Kyuma said. “That decision was wrong.”
Now Cheney wants to deliver a message.
For speaking with honesty and candidness about the decision to go to war, Kyuma will be treated to an official Vice Presidential snub, courtesy of Dick Cheney. The Japan Times reports:
“When U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney comes to Japan this month, he probably won’t be meeting with Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma.
“Government sources said Sunday that the United States has asked that no meeting between the two be scheduled, conveying strong displeasure over Kyuma’s recent criticism of the Iraq war and the realignment of U.S. forces.” (emphasis added)
This seems unusually petty, even by Cheney standards. Japan was part of the “coalition of the willing,” but has now come to see what only the White House chooses not to believe. For that, there will be a high-profile snub?
An ex-pat observer in Tokyo, quoted by The Nelson Report, asks, “Can the US have effective alliance relations only with countries which toe the line all the time, and never question White House wisdom?” If you really have to ask….
On a related note, there’s a perfectly good reason Cheney believes he’s in a position to set U.S. diplomatic strategies: the VP continues to see himself as something of a shadow president.
From an AP article on the Scooter Libby trial:
“What didn’t he touch? It’s almost like there was almost nothing too trivial for the vice president to handle,” said New York University professor Paul Light, an expert in the bureaucracy of the executive branch.
“The details suggest Cheney was almost a deputy president with a shadow operation. He had his own source of advice. He had his own source of access. He was making his own decisions,” Light said.
Alas, Cheney still is. He’s still snubbing allies, he’s still arguing he’s not necessarily part of the executive branch, and he’s deciding to ignore executive orders.
At some point, one has to wonder if the phrase “impeachable offenses” kicks in.