Prime Minister Hatoyama has been apologizing to anyone in earshot down in Okinawa over the weekend. But so far, the United States has neither received or sought one for ourselves.
I notice on Japan Today, Kyodo is reporting that Mrs. Clinton has made a statement about the ruling party’s decision here. Mrs. Clinton said:
‘‘I know how hard Prime Minister Hatoyama’s decision was, and I thank him for his courage and determination to fulfill his commitments,’’ Clinton told reporters in Beijing, where she is visiting for the two-day U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Beijing through Tuesday. ‘‘This is truly the foundation for our future work as allies in the Asia-Pacific region.’’
Back on May 9th, before any of this broke, I said the response would come from the Embassy, and sound something like this:
“We thank our allies for their speedy resolution to this matter, and look forward to close ties in the future.”
But I said it would probably be said in a way that still makes us seem like the Japanese had a credible claim to paint us as interlopers, rather than valued allies. Mrs. Clinton, though, is someone with a reputation for straight-talk and no-holds-barred, so the statement coming from her probably means she stuck it to both Hatoyama and Ozawa about the anti-Americanism that both those gentlemen encouraged in the last ten months.
I just wish someone had caught her on mike, when after the event was over, going, “hey buddy, where’s our apology?”
Hoofin 