Like a shamelessly crude guest that pees in the punchbowl, incompetent sociopath and Kremlin asset Donald "Not Exonerated" Trump told his Japanese hosts while at the G-20 summit in Osaka that the U.S.-Japan defense treaty needs to change because it's "unfair" to the U.S. The treaty obligates the U.S. to defend Japan in case of an attack, but is not reciprocal. That's apparently all Trump knows about the treaty, which also gives the U.S. military bases on Japanese soil, including Okinawa and the Yokosuka naval base, allowing the U.S. to deter potential military action by hostile nations. As the article states,
"An end to the security pact is widely seen as raising the risk of forcing Washington to withdraw a major portion of its military forces from Asia at a time when China’s military power is growing."Put another way, for the tangible bases and infrastructure support provided by Japan, they get a promise to defend them against the very remote likelihood of an attack. Sounds like a good deal for the U.S., but don't tell that to the ignorant Dealmaker-In-Chief.
BONUS: Exhibiting his deference to North Korean tyrant Kim Jong Un, Trump suggests a photo-op with him at the Demilitarized Zone to "shake hands." Always a showman/ conman, he believes that his twisted personality will charm dictators (who already have his number).
2 comments:
This is what comes of having a President who doesn't know anything and refuses to learn anything.
If the US withdrew its guarantee of protection from Japan, Japan would be forced to develop its own nuclear weapons in order to guarantee its own security, since the two main countries threatening it (China and North Korea) already have them.
Aside from the fact that China would go absolutely apeshit if this happened, a country as rich and advanced as Japan, with nuclear weapons added, would become a new superpower. There are nationalistic elements there (to which the present government is somewhat sympathetic) which would eagerly pursue such status. Trump is flirting with potentially the biggest disruption to the global order since 1945, and he probably doesn't even know it.
infidel -- You're exactly right as far as the far-reaching impact of cutting Japan loose from our defense treaty. Nationalistic impulses, an arms race, and the wild-card of an emboldened lunatic in Pyongyang. Trump's folly.
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