Cheney off to Japan, Australia

Posted by Mark Silva at 7 am CST

Vice President Dick Cheney will “rally’’ U.S. troops aboard the USS Kitty Hawk in Japan next week, addressing the crew of the only permanently forward-deployed aircraft carrier, and Cheney will rally troops again at Anderson Air Force Base in Guam en route to meetings with leaders in Australia.

The Bush administration is billing the vice president’s week-long Pacific tour as a mission of friendship, cementing ties with two of this nation’s most important allies, Japan and Australia – both supporting the U.S. war effort in Iraq. Yet, as Cheney meets with the emperor of Japan, the prime minister and many defense officials during his stay there, he has no plans to meet with the Japanese defense minister, Fumio Kyuma, who recently called the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq “wrong.’’ The administration couldn’t work him into Cheney’s schedule.

The Swamp, however, will be traveling with the vice president, who will arrive in Japan on Tuesday and depart from Australia on Sunday. The Tribune has drawn print pool duty.

“There are several kinds of diplomacy,’’ a senior administration official says of Cheney’s trip. “The one people are most familiar with is when diplomats are rushing off and trying to solve problems…. All of that is important,’’ this official says, but “probably not enough time is spent focusing on countries and friends where just about everything is going right.

“That’s the way I think about this trip,’’ the official says. “It is not particularly sexy… but is absolutely essential.’’ It is aimed at “deepening and strengthening alliances that are vital to the ability of the United States to advance our interests around the world.''

After a refueling stop in Alaska, the vice president plans to arrive Tuesday in Japan. He plans to consult privately with the U.S. ambassador there, J. Thomas Schieffer – brother of CBS News’ Bob Schieffer.

Cheney’s official program will start Wednesday with breakfast with his counterpart, the chief Cabinet secretary -- essentially No. 2 to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. And he will pay a call to Emperor Akihito and the empress – Cheney had met the emperor on his last trip to Japan in 2004, and also knew him when he was crown prince and a guest of President Reagan.

Cheney plans to meet with U.S. and Japanese military leaders at the Yokosuka naval base. There, he will appear aboard the USS Kitty Hawk for a troop rally and “short address.’’

The vice president will consult with Japanese officials about the “much more confident Japanese role internationally’’ – with Japan’s military support in Iraq representing the first time Japan has had “boots on the ground’’ in a foreign conflict since 1945. In addition, the Japanese are flying C-130 transport planes in support of troops and refueling ships in the Indian Ocean.

These talks also include an ongoing “alliance transformation and realignment process’’ in which the U.S. is closing and moving some of its own bases in Japan.

Cheney will meet with the Japanese foreign minister – but not with the defense minister who has critized the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Cheney’s office says they couldn’t work him into the vice president’s daylong schedule of meetings in Japan.

And, after meeting with the prime minister, Cheney and his wife will dine with the prime minister and his wife.

En route to Australia, Cheney plans a stop at Anderson Air Base on Thursday for another troop rally and address. This too is one of the Air Force’s “forward-operating bases.’’

On Friday in Australia, Cheney plans a meeting with “the Australian American Dialog,’’ a group of government leaders, journalists and others. He will address an audience of about 300.

There, too, Cheney will be thanking the administration of Prime Minister John Howard for its support of the war effort in Iraq. Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, recently visited Australia, which he notes has been allied with the U.S. in every military campaign since World War I.

The administration has "nothing but deep, deep appreciation for what Australia has done, the kind of contribution -- the kind of contribution it's made historically whenever America has been in a fight,'' the senior administration official tells reporters ready for this trip.

Cheney is a “close friend’’ of Howard, the official adds – while studiously avoiding any comment on Howard’s recent assertion that Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois is offering comfort to terrorists with his call for the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from Iraq by spring of 2008.

Yet Cheney also plans to spend some time with Howard's political rival, Labor party leader Kevin Rudd, as Howard view for a fifth term as prime minister. Howard's comments about Obama and the war in Iraq have been viewed as an appeal to his home auidence as he seeks another term.

During Cheney’s travels, “China invariably will be discussed,’’ the official says. This includes U.S. concerns about “China’s dramatic military growth’’ and its recent firing of an anti-satellite missile.

But this talk is likely to be limited to private meetings – not the vice president’s public addresses – “I don’t think there’s any intention to make it a focus.’’

This is, after all, a mission of friendship.