Be Very Afraid!!
My mouth slowly fell open as I read this article on the BBC today. It seems that Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama attempted to justify the introduction of compulsory finger-printing, from this Summer, of all foreigners entering Japan by claiming that he knew of an Al-Qaeda member who had entered Japan several times in the last few years.
What unusual company he keeps - a friend of Al Qaeda members?? He claimed that this undesirable was a friend of a friend and that he had had knowledge of the Bali bombings before they happened. Later, when questioned about these claims, he admitted that he had never met the supposed-Al Qaeda member himself, and that he had no way of knowing whether what his ‘friend’ had said was true.
What a totally ridiculous situation! He is so blatantly just trying to stir up public fear of terrorists with outrageously vague claims which can only lead to greater public paranoia about foreigners. I mean, if I went round saying a friend of a friend was a member of Al Qaeda and so we should all be really scared, I would either be the butt of universal ridicule, or a focus of counter-terrorism operations in Japan. Fear is NOT the answer, it doesn’t even help.
It makes me angry that politicians can play on Japanese people’s general tendency to panic and worry about things that it does no good to worry about, for the benefit of their own political projects. I can’t decide whether Hatoyama is a fool, or just a run-of-the-mill, media-spinning politician.
Much the same is said of the Bush regime’s strategy after 9-11; create a palpable sense of fear among the populace about terrorist activities and then take advantage of that fear to push through new laws which undermine the individual human rights which are supposed to be the pillars of a democratic nation.
“A friend of a friend was a member of Al-Qaeda and he entered Japan several times over the last few years and that is why any foreigner could be a terrorist.”
- “Did you ever meet that man?”
- “No.”
- “Can you prove what you are saying?”
- “Err, no.”
- “So, what are you trying to say?”
- “Be afraid!! Be very afraid!! Whoooooo!”
It’s a sad thing, but weak people need protecting from fools like this man.
Dromiceius wrote:
Well, that tears it. I’m ditching the ninja costume and dressing up as a republican for Halloween.
WoOoOoO!
Posted on 31-Oct-07 at 1:48 am | Permalink
bamboo4 wrote:
The basic problem with Hatoyama as a member of butterfly club is that he does not have the butterfly in his stomach, but he’s got one fluttering in his brain!
Posted on 03-Nov-07 at 1:01 am | Permalink