Word: terrorization
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...next week. Instead, Abe put most of the blame on a snub by one man: opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa, whom the PM claimed had refused to meet to discuss a stalemate over whether Japan would continue to refuel American military vessels participating in the U.S.-led war on terror. "Even though I had requested a party-leader talk, Ozawa rejected my overture," said Abe in his resignation speech, implying that this deadlock somehow had the power to derail a prime ministership that had weathered far worse. "Japan must continue its fight against terrorism under a new Prime Minister...
...attempt among more conservative members of the LDP to loosen the bounds of postwar pacifism and forge a true military alliance with the U.S. That change gathered momentum under Abe's popular predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, who committed Japanese forces to assisting the U.S. in anti-terror operations - including in Iraq - and made noises about revising Japan's constitutional restrictions on military activity. (Japanese troops are allowed to act only in self-defense.) When he came to power, Abe made constitutional revision one of his top priorities, and kept the U.S. alliance as the keystone of his foreign policy...
...aging Japanese public was more worried about the state of its economy and failing pension system than the war on terror, which was never popular in Japan, and concerns grew that the country had become too close to the U.S. Abe never adjusted his priorities, and he paid the price at the polls. Though he said that the LDP would still fight to renew the Afghanistan bill, insiders have suggested the party may withdraw the bill in the face of opposition from the DPJ and the public. If that happens, Japan will likely return to the arm's-length relationship...
...Paul Haggis' In the Valley of Elah, both based on true incidents of violence involving U.S. soldiers, have been among the festival's most strident talking points. Gavin Hood's Rendition tossed Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal and Meryl Streep into a story of U.S.-condoned torture of a terror suspect. But documentary films are the main entertainment conduit for leftist antiwar sentiment (the right wing has talk radio), and TIFF 31 has entries from two men with the proper pedigree: Phil Donahue, the liberal who pioneered the issue-based TV talk show, and Michael Moore, the political activist and nonpareil...
...From a U.S. perspective, the choices are grim: Musharraf's tenuous grip on power has eroded his ability to tackle terrorism and extremism, but neither Bhutto nor Sharif would necessarily be a more effective ally in Washington's war on terror. A Bhutto-Musharraf pact would probably further incense militants. Sharif has a better relationship with the religious groups who might rein in the tribal militants, but may be less inclined to do the bidding of the U.S., particularly at a time when being seen to be allied with Washington is a political liability in Pakistan...