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The World
Hatoyama’s successor must decide future of Okinawa air base
by Chico Harlan
tokyo — Japan was poised to receive a new prime minister Fri- day to succeed Yukio Hatoyama, who resigned Wednesday after a disastrous eight-month term in which he failed to deliver a prom- ised get-tough stance toward the United States. Finance Minister Naoto Kan, 63, was widely reported to be the front-runner to become Japan’s fifth leader in four years. He would assume responsibility for a country facing nagging debt, questions about its alliance with the United States and a recent history of hapless, quick-cycling
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Ruling party picking new Japanese prime minister
leadership. Japan’s Cabinet cleared the
way for Kan’s anticipated eleva- tion by resigning en masse Friday morning. The Democratic Party of Japan, which holds a majority in the Japanese parliament, was to meet later in the day to pick a new party chief and prime min- ister.
Kan has spent his career large-
ly focused on domestic issues, and if he is the party’s choice, it was not immediately clear how he might handle relations with Washington, particularly over the U.S. Marine base on Okinawa that contributed greatly to Ha- toyama’s demise. Analysts in Japan said Kan would have to act quickly. Within hours, he would have to select a cabinet. Within weeks, ahead of a critical July election, he would need to stabilize his reeling party. And during the next months, he
would have to articulate his posi- tion on the Okinawa issue, which has dominated Japanese politics and U.S.-Japan relations for months. In Hatoyama’s final major pol-
icy decision, he acceded to U.S. pressures and upheld a 2006 res- olution that transferred the Ma- rine air base to a less-populated spot on Okinawa. Hatoyama cam- paigned on a promise to reverse that deal and close the base. U.S. officials said they expect
the next prime minister to re- spect the agreement, though it re- mains unpopular in Japan. Ha- toyama left office with an approv- al rating below 20 percent. Kan rose to prominence in the
mid-1990s when, as health min- ister, he conducted a bold in- vestigation that revealed how his own ministry had promoted the use of HIV-tainted blood for transfusions.
Shinji Tarutoko, 50, who chairs
the party’s environmental panel, has also expressed interest in the prime minister’s job, but he is not as well known by the public. Ac- cording to some news reports, Ta- rutoko has the backing of young- er DPJ members. Tarutoko also figures to draw the support of Japan’s most adept, and scandal-tainted, pow- er broker, Ichiro Ozawa. He re- signed as the government’s No. 2 leader in tandem with Hatoyama, but Ozawa, the former secretary general, remains a force of be- hind-the-scenes dealmaking, though his support now comes as both a blessing and a curse. Speaking late Thursday, Kan tried to create distance between himself and Ozawa. “In a sense, he invited distrust among the public,” Kan said. “I think it would be good for him, the DPJ and Japanese politics if
he remained quiet for a while.” “Kan is Mr. Clean. Kan is the citizen-activist — he’s come to politics in that route,” Sheila Smith, a senior fellow for Japan at the Council on Foreign Rela- tions, said in a telephone inter- view. “He took on the bureaucrats in the mid-’90s,” she said. “And I think, frankly, he’s proven him- self to be a thoughtful policy guy. And Kan, in the last six months or so in the cabinet, has looked very thoughtful and very steady.” Hatoyama’s resignation pro- vided the DPJ a chance to regain popularity before the July 11 elec- tion for the upper house of parlia- ment, where the party will try to maintain its commanding major- ity.
harlanc@washpost.com
Special correspondent Akiko Yamamoto contributed to this report.
FRIDAY, JUNE 4, 2010
Burma seen on the path to nuclear weapons
Report cites materials provided by military officer who defected
by Joby Warrick
Burma has begun secretly ac- quiring key components for a nu- clear weapons program, includ- ing specialized equipment used to make uranium metal for nuclear bombs, according to a report that cites documents and photos from a Burmese army officer who re- cently fled the country. The smuggled evidence shows
Burma’s military rulers taking concrete steps toward obtaining atomic weapons, according to an analysis co-written by an inde- pendent nuclear expert. But it also points to enormous gaps in Burmese technical know-how and suggests that the country is many years from developing an actual bomb. The analysis, commissioned by the dissident group Democratic Voice of Burma, concludes with “high confidence” that Burma is seeking nuclear technology, and adds: “This technology is only for nuclear weapons and not for civil- ian use or nuclear power.” “The intent is clear, and that is
ANDREA BRUCE FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
Omar Abu Marwa Dulaimi sells used U.S. items in Fallujah. “These are our things,” said one trader. The occupation “took these things from us, and now we are selling them back.”
U.S. military’s castoffs find a market among Iraqis
Bargain hunters seek out abandoned generators, trailers and latrines at yard sales and auctions across the country
by Leila Fadel
fallujah, iraq — The rem-
nants of the U.S. occupation of Iraq are being sold to the highest bidders in yard sales across the country. The outskirts of cities like Baghdad, Fallujah and Ramadi — once bastions of the Sunni in- surgency — are now destinations for bargain hunters interested in items such as generators and trailers. As the U.S. military draws down to 50,000 troops by the end of the summer, the junk left be- hind is quickly becoming part of the Iraqi landscape. Just outside Fallujah, Iraqi merchants Mohammed Issawi and Abu Saif sat recently on plas- tic chairs in the blistering sun. Broken generators, trailers, dumpsters and air conditioners graced the dirt lot behind them. Some of the items were embla- zoned with the red, white and blue flag of the United States. After all that the U.S. occupa- tion has taken from Iraq, Issawi said, Iraqis deserve to get some- thing back — even if it’s just a low price on a laptop. “These are our things,” he said. “They took these things from us, and now we are selling them back. They occupied our country by force.” Families buy $1,000 trailers once fashioned into sleeping quarters for soldiers and Marines. Base latrines have become cheap- er alternatives to traditional dwellings made of brick and con-
len. Under federal law, U.S. agen- cies must show that no other divi- sion in the government needs equipment before it can be donat- ed or left behind. American com- manders in Iraq received a waiver from the regulations in 2005, when they started closing bases and donating equipment to the Iraqi government. At the time, the Pentagon set a cap of $2 million worth of equipment per base that could be earmarked for donation. In recent years, commanders
ANDREA BRUCE FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
Merchants say the equipment, much of it broken, ends up in their hands in various ways. Some is found, some stolen, some given away.
crete. Air-conditioner units and large generators that can stave off Iraq’s blistering summers are sold at half-price. Merchants say they come across the loot in different ways. Some was found, some was stolen and some was sold to them. Much of it, they say, was just given away. At Ahmed Adnan’s auction just outside Balad, north of Baghdad, the enterprising 20-something re- cently showed off his hodgepodge of merchandise. He sells blast walls to the provincial govern- ment in northern Iraq’s Nineveh province, where explosions re- main a threat. Merchants from Baghdad travel to his junkyard to supply their shops for cut-rate prices. Civilians search through the goods for little treasures like
iPods and laptops. Entire villages pitch in to buy
large generators and water purifi- ers, which are then shared. Many Iraqis still lack reliable running water and electricity, which is es- pecially scarce during the sum- mer. Iraq’s neglected infrastruc- ture, already in poor shape when U.S.-led forces invaded in 2003, has been further devastated by the past seven years of war. As Adnan dealt with customers on a recent day, a truck of Iraqi soldiers drove up with laptops and flat screens to sell to him. The goods were likely looted. U.S. officials worry that much of the tens of millions of dollars worth of U.S. equipment being handed over to the Iraqi govern- ment is neglected or quickly sto-
have sought and received more latitude, citing the importance of leaving the Iraqi armed forces with functional bases. The policy has sparked a debate at the Penta- gon over whether it makes sense to leave so much behind, but offi- cials say that in many cases, it would cost more to ship items out than to buy new ones elsewhere. The new rules allow command- ers to donate equipment worth up to $30 million at each base they hand over. Some of the items — such as passenger vehicles and generators — are being donated despite the fact that they are in demand in Afghanistan, where the U.S. is increasing its forces. Religious authorities in Fallu-
jah have condemned the sale of any goods that originate on U.S. bases, since the material was once used to support a military occupa- tion. Most equipment on the bas- es was shipped in from outside Iraq, but many Iraqis believe it was stolen from them. “These materials are question- able and include forbidden and
ill-gotten things,” said Abdullah Hussein al-Qobaissi, a senior cler- ic in Fallujah. “Their sources are unknown. Did they come with the occupiers? Did the occupiers steal them from Iraq? Everyone should stay away from them even if they are sold cheaply.” Fallujah was the scene of some of the most intense battles of the war, ones in which thousands of civilians died and countless homes were flattened. Now the situation has calmed, many of the U.S. bases are gone and what’s left behind will soon be woven into the tapestry of the nation. Rukaya Abdul Aziz, 32, recently held her youngest child inside her new home. Her past two houses were destroyed in U.S. attacks, she said. Two of her cousins and her brother-in-law were killed in the war, and she eagerly awaits the fi- nal departure of U.S. forces. “We hope they leave today, not tomorrow,” she said. “Our sons are gone because of them.” The only shelter she and her husband, Munir Ibrahim Ismail, could afford to replace their homes was a trailer once used as a latrine. They scrubbed it clean, took off the back and used con- crete to build an extra room. “We wanted something that
wasn’t American, but this was the biggest we could afford,” she said. “We had no choice.”
fadell@washpost.com
Special correspondents Aziz Alwan and Uthman al-Mokhtar contributed to this report.
China’s military, political leaders split on ties to Pentagon, Gates says
People’s Liberation Army does not want to engage, he contends
by Craig Whitlock
singapore — Defense Secre- tary Robert M. Gates accused Chi- na’s military on Thursday of im- peding relations with the Penta- gon, taking exception to its unwillingness to invite him to Bei-
jing during his trip to Asia this week. Gates told reporters that there is a clear split between China’s po- litical leaders, who he said want a stronger military connection with Washington, and the People’s Lib- eration Army, which he said does not.
“I think they are reluctant to
engage with us on a broad level,” he said. “The PLA is significantly less interested in this relationship than the political leadership of China.”
Beijing’s political and economic
relations with Washington have gradually improved in recent years, as the emerging global su- perpower and the established one have tried to come to terms with each other. But military coopera- tion has lagged, a source of frus- tration for Pentagon officials. They say that communication with the People’s Liberation Army needs to improve to deal with re- gional crises, such as South Ko- rea’s accusation that a North Ko- rean submarine torpedoed one of
its warships in March, to broader strategic issues, such as the long- term buildup of China’s military forces. Washington also has been seeking China’s support — with- out much success — in trying to deter Iran from developing nu- clear weapons. Gates visited Beijing in Novem- ber 2007 as defense secretary in George W. Bush’s administration. Shortly afterward, the Pentagon announced that it would sell Pa- triot missile upgrades to Taiwan, which China considers a break-
away province, prompting China to cancel a port call by a U.S. air- craft carrier and cut other mili- tary ties. Following a gradual warming period, Gates had been hoping for a return visit to China this sum- mer. But after Washington an- nounced in January the sale of an- other arms package to Taiwan, this one worth $6.4 billion, Bei- jing objected again and decided to give Gates the cold shoulder on his Asia trip.
whitlockc@washpost.com
a very disturbing matter for inter- national agreements,” said the re- port, co-authored by Robert E. Kelley, a retired senior U.N. nu- clear inspector. Officials for the dissident group provided copies of the analysis to the broadcaster al-Jazeera, The Washington Post and a few other news outlets. Hours before the report’s re- lease, Sen. James Webb (D-Va.) announced that he was canceling a trip to Burma, also known as Myanmar, to await the details. “It is unclear whether these allega- tions have substantive merit,” Webb, who chairs a Senate For- eign Relations panel on East Asia, said in a statement released by his office. “[But] until there is further clarification on these matters, I believe it would be unwise and potentially counterproductive for me to visit Burma.” There have been numerous al-
legations in the past about secret nuclear activity by Burma’s mili- tary rulers, accounts based largely on ambiguous satellite images and uncorroborated stories by de- fectors. But the new analysis is based on documents and hun- dreds of photos smuggled out of the country by Sai Thein Win, a Burmese major who says he vis- ited key installations and attend- ed meetings at which the new technology was demonstrated. The trove of insider material
was reviewed by Kelley, a U.S. citi- zen who served at two of the En- ergy Department’s nuclear lab- oratories before becoming a sen- ior inspector for the International Atomic Energy Agency. Kelley co- wrote the opposition group’s re- port with Democratic Voice of Burma researcher Ali Fowle. Among the images provided by the major are technical drawings of a device known as a bomb- reduction vessel, which is chiefly used in the making of uranium metal for fuel rods and nuclear- weapons components. The defec- tor also released a document pur- porting to show a Burmese gov- ernment official ordering produc- tion of the device, as well as photos of the finished vessel. Other photographs show Bur- mese military officials and civil- ians posing beside a device known as a vacuum glove box, which also is used in the produc- tion of uranium metal. The defec- tor describes ongoing efforts on various phases of a nuclear-weap- ons program, from uranium min- ing to work on advanced lasers used in uranium enrichment. Some of the machinery used in the Burmese program appears to have been of Western origin. The report notes that the Bur- mese scientists appear to be struggling to master the technol- ogy and that some processes, such as laser enrichment, likely far ex- ceed the capabilities of the impov- erished, isolated country. “Photographs could be faked,”
it says, “but there are so many and they are so consistent with other information and within them- selves that they lead to a high de- gree of confidence that Burma is pursuing nuclear technology.” A Washington-based nuclear weapons analyst who reviewed the report said the conclusions about Burma’s nuclear intentions appeared credible and alarming. “It’s just too easy to hide a pro- gram like this,” said Joshua H. Pol- lack, a consultant to the U.S. gov- ernment.
warrickj@washpost.com
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