A few years ago, I saw the U.S. drama film “Vice.”   I remember a scene where Secretary of State Colin Powell, in the presence of President George W. Bush, is vilified by a fellow Cabinet secretary as a “chicken” and a “wimp.”   Hearing of Powell’s demise on Oct. 18, I reread his memoir and critical biography.   For….Read more

Nikkei took up the arrival in Japan yesterday of 88 Afghans, including those who worked for the Japanese Embassy in Kabul and their dependents, saying this brought the total number of Afghans who have fled the country to Japan to almost 300, including about 100 who departed the war-torn country by land without the Taliban’s approval. As Japan plans to evacuate some 500 Afghans, the GOJ is reportedly continuing to coordinate with the Taliban to….Read more

The question is how to deliver aid to the people in Afghanistan amid their hardships while maintaining a certain distance from the Taliban’s interim administration.   Now is the time for the United Nations to take the lead in addressing this issue. The cooperation of the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia — the U.N. Security Council’s permanent members….Read more

Naito Masanori, professor at Doshisha University Graduate School of Global Studies Interviewed by Ikeda Shinichi   The 9/11 attacks that took place 20 years ago were orchestrated by Al-Qaeda under the leadership of Osama bin Laden. Having fought together with bin Laden in the past, the Taliban refused to hand him over to the U.S. Because of this, he was….Read more

All national dailies reported on an online meeting of the G20 leaders on Tuesday, during which the participants agreed on the need for the international community to work together to address the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and promote human rights in the country. Prime Minister Kishida said at the virtual meeting that Japan will provide a total of $200 million in….Read more

All national dailies wrote that Foreign Minister Motegi told reporters on Tuesday that Japan has helped evacuate a total of more than 300 Afghans who have worked for the Japanese Embassy in Kabul and for JICA and their families since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in mid-August. Motegi said that 118 evacuees have already arrived in Japan and about 140 evacuees are currently….Read more

All national dailies wrote over the weekend that 27 additional local JICA staff members and their dependents from Afghanistan arrived at Narita Airport on Friday night, bringing the total number of Afghan allies evacuating to Japan to 53. All of them traveled to a neighboring nation over land before heading to Japan.  

NHK reported that 16 local staff members of JICA and others who had been unable to evacuate from Afghanistan by plane traveled to a neighboring nation over land and arrived in Japan on Sept. 30. According to MOFA, they consist of 15 Afghan staff members of JICA and their families and one person who had been admitted to a Japanese….Read more

NHK reported early this morning that Foreign Minister Motegi, who is currently visiting New York, held talks with his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani early Friday morning Japan time. According to the network, the two ministers exchanged views on Afghanistan in light of the fact that Qatar has been building relations with the Taliban that regained control of….Read more