'Barack and Yukio:' Tokyo talks today

by Peter Nicholas

President Obama sought today to reassure Japan that he views the country as an equal partner and that the United States will strive to lessen the disruption caused by military forces housed on Japanese soil.

After a private meeting with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, the two leaders held a joint news conference and reaffirmed their commitment to the half-century old alliance.

Hatoyma seemed pleased with the meeting, saying the two men have taken to calling each other by their first names: "Barack and Yukio.''

The bond between the U.S. and Japan has been strained of late. Hatoyama heads a new Japanese government that has signaled the country's future may depend more on other Pacific Rim nations than the United States.

At the same time, residents of Okinawa have called for the banishment of a U.S. Marine base on the island -- a position that Hatoyama supported as a candidate for office.

At the news conference, the two leaders downplayed any differences. They said a high-level working group is trying to resolve the Okinawa dispute. And Obama made plain he views Japan as an equal partner.

Asked about the Marine base, Obama said, "Our goal remains the same and that's to provide for the defense of Japan with minimal intrusion on the lives of the people who share this space.''

Obama sidestepped a question from a Japanese reporter who asked if dropping atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the close of World War II was the right decision.

Obama said it would be "meaningful'' to him to visit the cities, though he said he had no immediate plans to make the trip. He then asked the reporter to remind him of another question he had asked.

The reporter tried again, asking his opinion of the bombing. "No, there were three sets of questions, right?'' Obama said. "You asked about North Korea.''

The president then proceeded to discuss troubles with North Korea.

Obama plainly wanted to avoid question that has bedeviled historians and policy makers for decades: Was the U.S. right to drop the atomic bomb, or was there a way to end the war with less destruction?

Obama's meeting with the prime minister came on the first day of a week-long trip to Asia. On Saturday he will give a speech in Tokyo laying out his broad Asia policy. Later in the day he will fly to Singapore for an economic conference. Then he is to visit China and South Korea before flying home on Nov. 19.

Rather than emphasize their differences, Obama and Hatoyama stressed agreements they had reached on climate change and nuclear non-proliferation. They issued a joint statement calling for "a world without nuclear weapons.'' And they said they "aspire'' to reducing carbon emissions 80% by the year 2050.

Obama also drove home a message he will repeat throughout his tour of the region: That the U.S. is determined to be an active player in Asia, even as China's economic and military influence grows.

"I intend to make clear that the United States is a Pacific nation, and we will be deepening our engagement in this part of the world,'' Obama said. "As I said to Prime Minister Hatoyama, the United States will strengthen our alliances, build new partnerships, and we will be part of multilateral efforts and regional institutions that advance regional security and prosperity.''

Obama's trip comes at moment when his administration is preoccupied with another country: Afghanistan. The president and his advisors have tried to settle on a strategy for the war in that country. Obama is not expected to announce a decision until after he returns home.

Asked about the delay, Obama said he needs to take his time and make the right choice.

"I don't think this is a matter of some datum of information that I'm waiting on,'' he said. "It's a matter of making certain that when I send young men and women into war, and I devote billions of dollars of U.S. taxpayer money, that it's making us safer.''

On another subject, Obama was asked about reports that the alleged architect of the 9/11 attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, would face trial in federal court in New York. He is now being held at Guantanamo Bay.

The president said he would wait until Attorney General Eric Holder made a formal announcement today, but added: "I am absolutely convinced that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be subject to the most exacting demands of justice. The American people will insist on it and my administration will insist on it. And I'm sure we'll have additional things to say after the Attorney General's press conference.''