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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Japanese hostage files lawsuit against government |
| 2004-06-11 |
| EFL - as every culture seems to have these types of guys, is it possible for us to collude is replacing their passports with those of an African nation that we can payoff to approve their extradition. Then they can all protest the actions of each other. A Japanese activist who was briefly held captive in Iraq has sued his own government, saying its decision to send troops to the region angered his kidnappers and was to blame for his ordeal. Nobutaka Watanabe, 35, is seeking the equivalent of $46,000 for mental and physical hardship he suffered during his four days as a hostage, his lawyer Masatoshi Uchida told The Associated Press Wednesday. I think his mental state was damaged long before his captivity. ``Mr. Watanabe believes his kidnapping was the result of Japan’s military presence,’’ said Uchida. ``His captors told him that he had been taken because he was from a country that had sent troops to Iraq.’’ Outrageous, I call for his captors to come forward and corroborate his story. Watanabe, who filed the suit Tuesday, had earlier written dispatches for his activist group from the southern city of Samawah, protesting Japan’s deployment of some 550 troops there on a humanitarian mission to rebuild infrastructure. "I protest this blatant and irresponsible humanitarian action." He was taken hostage along with freelance journalist Jumpei Yasuda while traveling near the besieged city of Fallujah on April 14. The dispatch is Japan’s first to a combat zone since World War II. Echoing many critics here, Watanabe claims that the decision to send troops was illegal because it violates Japan’s pacifist constitution. "Our troops don’t belong in combat zones. I declare that for the Japanese, combat zones shall be the exclusive purview of correspondents and free lance photographers." -snip- idiocy continues. Luckily he has returned to Japan so that his village will no longer be deprived of its idiot. |
| Posted by:Super Hose |
| #5 Wasn't there a lot of speculation about the three 'victims' having been in on their 'kidnapping' and it all being an attempt to force the Japanese to withdrawl their troops? If so then perhaps they should face treason charges. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-06-11 1:58:19 PM |
| #4 In contrast to our media, their media trashed the three for hurting Japan's "prestige" (more like practicable leverage, due to having captives in enemy hands) ... |
| Posted by: Edward Yee 2004-06-11 1:03:20 PM |
| #3 Officials publicly reproached the hostages for ignoring government warnings to stay out of Iraq. All were billed by the government for part of the costs of their travel home. Dumbass... I guess America doesn't have a monopoly on LLL moonbats after all. |
| Posted by: Dar 2004-06-11 11:34:28 AM |
| #2 Yes, they were. The Government even billed them for their airfare back to Japan. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2004-06-11 11:22:42 AM |
| #1 Weren't these people treated like scumbags when they got back to Japan? Gee, I wonder why. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-06-11 10:21:07 AM |