We expect Japan to work hard to have good relations with Japan

Wednesday, Bush gave an interview to members of foreign, mostly Japanese, media in advance of the G8 summit.

HE’S THE CLEARERER: “And it’s very important for me to make it clear to him and the Japanese people that I value the bilateral relationship with Japan.”

A BRIEF HISTORY OF RECENT JAPANESE HISTORY: “The first Prime Minister I dealt with wasn’t around very much, he was -- he spent more time with my predecessor, obviously. And then Koizumi, and then obviously Abe and the current Prime Minister.” You might wanna memorize that name before you get there. And, indeed, learn how to say “Fukuda” without giggling.

WHAT GEORGE IS CONFIDENT ABOUT: “I’m confident people will be concerned about food prices and energy prices. We’ll discuss those.”

WHAT PARTS OF THE WORLD SHOULD BECOME: “But we can do a better job of selling seed and fertilizer -- or giving seed and fertilizer to help others grow crops. I mean, it is -- parts of the world should become sufficient in food, and they’re not.”

IN OTHER WORDS: “It turns out that energy independence and climate change can go hand in hand. In other words, the technologies that free us from dependence on hydrocarbons will be the very technologies that enable us to improve the environment.”

GEOGRAPHY IS NOT HIS THING: “such as your [Japan’s] cross-straits neighbor, China.”

WHAT WILL BE ON GEORGE’S MIND: “On my mind, of course, will be human rights and human dignity.” Because when you think George W. Bush, you think human dignity.

WHAT WE GOT TO REMEMBER AND WHAT WE GOT TO MEAN: “And we got to remember that there is suffering in the world and that when we speak, when we make pledges, we got to mean what we say.”

WHAT THE LAST G8 PEOPLE SAID: “And the last G8 people came to the table and said, okay, we hear you, now we’ll all pledge.”

WHAT THE QUESTION IS: “And the question is, have people written checks?”

HE’S THE GENTLE REMINDERER: “And I will gently remind people, to the extent I can be gentle, that it’s important for people, when they hear us talk, to know that there will be results.” Okay, in George’s case, that result is usually be nausea...

WHAT GEORGE CAN UNDERSTAND: About Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korea: “I can understand the mom’s concerns. I got to see firsthand in the Oval Office how -- her sense of anguish and hurt that her sweet daughter had been abducted. So I understand the emotions of the issue. As a matter of fact, I invited her to come because I wanted to -- I wanted her and others to see firsthand my personal concern....” Because it’s all about you, George. “...The truth of the matter is, if I wasn’t concerned about the issue and didn’t think it was a priority, I wouldn’t have invited her to the Oval Office.” Quod erat demonstrandum.

WHAT HE SAY AGAIN: “But I will say it again, like I have said it time and time again, this is the beginning of our concern and it’s a framework to help solve the concerns of the parents, the people of Japan and the Japanese government.”

WHAT THE FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION IS: “And the fundamental question is how do you solve the problem of North Korea; that’s the question. That’s what the six-party talks were aimed to address. The history of this issue was at one point in time it was really only the United States that was dealing with the issue, others were kind of there, but they weren’t that -- they basically said, here, go solve it.”

WHAT NORTH KOREA IS: “But first of all, this regime is highly sanctioned. ... And we of course will consult with our partners to deal about -- I mean, step one is no change in the current status, which means highly sanctioned -- probably the most sanctioned nation in the world.”

THE ESTIMATE: A LOT. “it’ll make any international agreement ineffective if they’re not a part to it, because, you know, it is estimated that -- well, China is creating a lot of greenhouse gases and will continue to do so.”

IN OTHER WORDS: “In other words, if you can get nations to commit to a goal, you’ve got them committed to a process.”

WHAT THE WORLD IS NOW BEGINNING TO WAKEN UP TO: “the interesting thing is, is that the world is now beginning to waken up to the beauty of nuclear power.”

A COMPLETE DECLARATION: “One thing is for certain is they did collapse their cooling tower on the plant that had been used to manufacture plutonium. I mean, that is a complete declaration, at least of that aspect of what they said -- when they said they would dismantle -- or disable and then dismantle. And so we’ve got -- you know, there’s a process. Things are going on.”

WHAT GEORGE WOULD ASKS HIMSELF IF HE WERE SOMEONE ELSE: “Now, one thing that’s interesting -- I think I’ll you find this interesting, at least you’ll play like it’s interesting -- is this: Should the Iranian regime -- so I’m the guy who just talked about nuclear power, right? Should the Iranian regime -- do they have the sovereign right to have civilian nuclear power? So, like, if I were you, that’s what I’d ask me. And the answer is, yes, they do.”

AND WE KNOW HOW MUCH THE JAPANESE LOVE YOUNG SCHOOLGIRLS: On Japanese aid to Afghanistan: “It also ought to make the Japanese people feel good to know that they’re helping young girls go to school...”

PUTTING THE PAST BEHIND US: Asked about a suggestion evidently making the rounds in Japan that the Japanese prime minister visit Pearl Harbor and the American president visit Hiroshima, he said, well, no, of course, and that the reason he got on so well with Koizumi was “because we put the past behind us and focused on the future.”

OUR RELATIONS ARE STRONG: “First of all, the cornerstone of U.S. policy is good, strong relations with Japan. So, as far as the Bush administration goes, that has been our policy and we’ve acted on it. That’s not to say we can’t have good relations with China, nor Japan can have good relations -- I mean, Japan should have good relations with China. And we expect Japan to work hard to have good relations with Japan, just like Japan ought to hope that we have good relations with China, which we do. Our relations are strong, and some say have never been better. I’ll let the experts judge that.”

IN OTHER WORDS: “And so I don’t view the world as zero sum -- in other words, if you got a good relationship -- strong relationship, you can’t have a good relationship with China; quite the contrary. In good foreign policy and good diplomacy, a good relations with one makes it easier to have a better relations with another country. And that’s how we’ve conducted our policy.”

IN OTHER CONSEQUENTIAL WORDS: “Diplomacy -- in order for diplomacy to be effective, it has to be consequential. In other words, when five people say, here’s the way forward, and if you choose not to do so there will be consequences -- or if you choose to do so, there will be consequences, it is much more effective than one nation sitting there saying, please change your habits.”

WHAT THE VOICES IN GEORGE’S HEAD ARE SAYING NOW: “I think people would say that the Japanese autos and the Japanese R&D is very advanced on battery technologies, which is good. People say, well, doesn’t that upset you? And my answer is, absolutely not.”

IN OTHER WORDS: “In the meantime, we better transition to this period. In other words, evidently our Congress must have thought that there will be instant technology on the market, because they prevented us, since 2001, from exploring for known oil and gas reserves that we can do in environmentally friendly ways.”

WHY WE SHOULD CARE ABOUT AFGHANISTAN: “This is back to this man’s question down here about, why should we care about Afghanistan. The answer is, is because safe haven is a risk.”