Before Graceland, A Less-Publicized Stop At Walter Reed [Classy Japanese PM}

The Washington Post ^ | July 7, 2006 | By Nora Boustany

[YaYa123]

Japan, India, AND Australia, don't forget Australia.

[Ruth A.]

I think there was no prior reporting on the Walter Reed visit, because of the man's class. It was not a photo op for him, but a heartfelt visit. The photos were for the soldiers, he didn't disinfect so that no one could claim that he was afraid of catching from the soldier's. I liked him for being comfortable enough to enough his hobby (Elvis) and I respect him for privately doing what he can to honor the soldiers.

[onyx]

Thank you for the ping. I haven't seen any pic of them at Walter Reed either.

[rogue yam]

Shame on FOXNews especially, but all the other networks too, for not reporting this on the day of the Graceland visit.

Did they know? Were they allowed to cover the visit?

[rogue yam]

Japan, India, AND Australia, don't forget Australia.

...AND Poland, our brothers in Christ.

[aculeus]

Japan, India, AND Australia, don't forget Australia.

Right!

Three countries the Euro-snob-jerks consider inferior.

[lizol]

[pollyannaish]

We CAN change hearts and minds. It may have taken 60 years, but Japan is a phenomenal ally.

What a classy guy. Wow.

[aculeus]

What a classy guy. Wow.

Wow-worthy indeed.

[pollyannaish]

I agree with you that the press is not to be trusted. And you absolutely may be correct that some of the information is screwed up. (In fact, I would be shocked if it wasn't)

But—you do not throw an entire article out on the basis of unrelated facts. That is true when it is a positive story and when it is negative. You only toss the thing when it messes up facts ESSENTIAL to the premise of the story.

In this case, the point is he made a visit. Unless there are factual misstatements about that, the article stands, imo.

[tarheelswamprat]

Yep. Not Airborne qualified. Perhaps he ment 'repels' instead of jumps. The article is a fraud.

The word is "rappels" - descending a rope. On a more important note, the only thing discernable for certain from the available evidence is that the article is riddled with errors relating to military unit and MOS minutia. There is no evidence that the Prime Minister's visit to Walter Reed Hospital did not occur - the fact is, it did.

Yet you pronounce it a "fraud". The word fraud connotes a deliberate intent to deceive - there is absolutely no evidence of this. An accurate statement would be that the premise of the article is truthful, but the article is somewhat flawed by the carelessness of the author. So, why did you use the word?

[Marius3188]

I'm sorry that I implied that as a whole the article was a fraud.

I did not dismiss the PM, rather the information the reporter put out was inaccurate, or was fiction.

I'm glad the PM visited, but I'm disturbed that the author could not get basic Military facts correct. And, I find that anything she will report and has reported is not accurate.

[rogue yam]

LOL! Great graphic!

[tarheelswamprat]

I'm sorry that I implied that as a whole the article was a fraud.

You didn't "imply" it, you stated flat out "the article is a fraud". That statement is semantically equivalent to stating "the article is a lie".

re:I'm glad the PM visited, but I'm disturbed that the author could not get basic Military facts correct. And, I find that anything she will report and has reported is not accurate.

If you had just said this there'd be no problem with your statement. However, your use of the word "fraud" was simply incorrect in both a definitional and in a contextual sense. I notice you're in Indonesia, so perhaps English is not your native language. If so, this makes your mistake more understandable. "Fraud" is one of those loaded words that carries much more serious implications and consequences than merely being mistaken, however. Please try to use it more carefully.

[snowsislander]

Source: Website of the Japanese Prime Minister

As the article mentions on page 2 ("The prime minister also visited Arlington National Cemetery, where he laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns."), Prime Minister Koizumi also visited Arlington.

[MattinNJ]

Agreed. W bringing India into the fold is probably his most unrecognized accomplishment-and it's huge.

[MattinNJ]

Koizumi, Berlusconi, and Aznar were steadfast allies. Thank God Howard will still be in office.

[ohioWfan]

Prime Minister Koizumi is truly a man of class and honor.

That's why he and our classy, honorable President get along so very well.

[firewalk]

.

[Phsstpok]

Koizumi was one of the first, if not the first, world leader to meet with Bush after 9/11.  In their previous meeting at Camp David in June they had discussed their mutual admiration for the movie High Noon, including their feeling that they were both living out similar roles to Marshall Kane.  In the later meeting in October Bush presented the Prime Minister with a poster from that film (could be this one)

 

They are both men of honor, just like Will Kane.  And our European "allies" are the townspeople who turned their backs on us in Iraq.  Of course, continuing the analogy, that makes Tony Blair out to be Grace Kelly, which is really disturbing...