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Taro Aso & the Syrian flag

Was I the only person out there who noticed that Taro Aso wore a “Syria” cap when he went for a walk yesterday morning?

Isn’t it kind of strange that he’d choose to wear a hat depicting the national flag and name of a state sponsor of terrorism? Was it supposed to be some sort of message, or does he just think the Syrian flag looks cool?

Update: More screen captures can be seen in this gallery set up by Julián Ortega Martínez.

Update 2: For his walk this morning, Aso wore a hat without a national flag on it.

Not a flag hat

62 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - September 25, 2008 at 6:30 am

Categories: Politics Tags: syria, taro aso

http://halfaloafoftofu.com archie4oz

Why are you using U.S. foreign policy designators w/regards to a Japanese official? Japan generally has amicable relations w/Middle Eastern countries and hasn’t designated any of them as state sponsors of terrorism…

http://www.japanprobe.com James

I am aware of that, but Japan also lobbies for the United States to keep North Korea on its official list of state sponsors of terrorism and regards the North Korean nuclear problem a major issue. It is claimed that North Korea helped a Syrian nuclear weapons program. Even if Japan wants to maintain somewhat friendly diplomatic relations with Syria, it seems odd that the Prime Minister would wear a Syrian flag hat.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24381116-2703,00.html
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/18/2367642.htm?section=world

nigelboy

http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/area/syria/kankei.html

In regards to Syria

わが国との二国間関係は伝統的に良好。

“Our country’s bilateral relations have traditionally been good.”

Level3

Huh?

Japan also tends to be extremely anti-nuclear proliferation, or did you just conveniently forget the whole Hiroshima thing?

What the hell does the USA have to do with this at all, of any country’s freedom to decide who to like/dislke? It seems like just a knee-jerk reflex “The USA sucks” response by the type of people who think 9/11 was a Bush conspiracy.

Wonder what archie4oz’s feelings are about the US-Japan missile defense cooperation.
usama

thank you!

inuZ

i have to admit that the cap doesnt look bad at all
illuminat

i think he didn’t even recognized the cap as a “syrian-cap” ^^
otherwise it would be very strange….

http://www.japanprobe.com James

It’s not visible in that picture, but the cap had “SYRIA” written on it in big letters.

weirdo

English letters = Cool, people usually don’t care what’s written on their clothing in other languages as long as it looks good.

http://www.victorymanual.com Alex

Except that Aso Taro has a lot of confidence in his English ability. He’s not just 22-year-old Yoshi Tanaka, host-wannabe enthralled with bleached hair and blue-eye contacts. He’s the national leader of Japan. He studied at the London School of Economics only after his family had pulled him out of Stanford because of a “fear that he was becoming Americanized.”

http://en.equinoxio.org/ Julián Ortega Martínez

James is completely right. I took some screen captures:
http://www.zooomr.com/search/photos/?s=awe&w=92514%40Z01&q=aso

Jack Elliot

Syrian cap, Persian sunglasses, and classic video clips of him shooting off a shot gun in Saddam Hussein fashion. The man is going through a mid-life identity crisis. Joking, of course, but how awesome would it be if the Japanese came out as Hezbollah supporters?! Then Aso would REALLY be THE MAN.

But I agree with @archie4oz.

Your initial presentation reads as if US policy is Japanese policy.
MOFA: Japan-Syria Relations (linked for fun)

On the point of N. Korean nuclear proliferation, I will again state that fear is completely over-blown and solely a point of political negotiation over natural resources. Who does Korea thinks is going to give them aid after the north finally disarms and the peninsula is reunified?
Beau

@Jack Elliot, please tell me you are not denying Syria’s involvement in terrorism.
The Boggart

Weird – and not just because middle aged men in baseball caps = all dignity out the window. It’s highly doubtful his (tacky) choice of headgear has any real political significance, although I’m left wondering how, in these image conscious times, he could have possibly been unaware which nation the hat represented?
lmshea

The Japanese are rather nieve when it comes to what they wear. If it looks cool, they wear it. Regardless of how it makes them look to others (read “non-Japanese).

http://www.victorymanual.com Alex

You’re saying that the psychological self-projection of 20-year-olds roaming Shibuya is the same as public government figures who play a role on the international stage?

http://www.japanprobe.com James

And we’re talkin’ about a very knowledgeable and experienced former foreign minister here, not some Sarah Palin-esque newbie.

http://www.japaneconomynews.com/ Ken

Ha! But who’s closer to Russia?
http://www.victorymanual.com Alex

You piqued my curiosity! Alaska or Hokkaido? Turns out Hokkaido is much closer than Alaska, and you don’t even need to sail out to some obscure island – You can drive right up to the tip on National Route 40. Everyone in Hokkaido is more qualified to be president of the U.S. than Sarah Palin based on “foreign policy experience”.

Actually, this seems like a very good time to announce my intentions to join NASA – I believe I’m qualified for the job because I can see the moon from my house.
http://www.victorymanual.com Alex

Retraction – From a tiny island off the coast of Alaska, another tiny island off the coast of Russia is only 2.5 miles away. From the landmass of Hokkaido, an actual inhabited peninsula of Russia is 4 miles away. Darn you uninhabited tiny Russian island!
http://www.japaneconomynews.com/ Ken

2.5 miles! Well, well, that settles it! Palin must be more qualified, even if her name is underlined in spellcheck!

Thanks Alex, I honestly thought that Japan was closer. Only 2.5 miles…humanity has so far to go!

Level3

And we’re talkin’ about a very knowledgeable and experienced former foreign minister here, not some Barack Obama-esque newbie.

The hypocrisy on “Palin is inexperienced” while Obama is not? And “McCain is old and out of touch” while Biden is not?
At least the Republicans have the less experienced one in the VICE Presidential slot.

Seriously. How do Democrats wrap (or warp) their brains around such hypocrisy?

http://www.japanprobe.com James

Level3:

Once again you have responded with an attack on enemies of your own creation. My comment compared Aso to Palin, and did not mention Obama or Biden. I don’t really want to make this comment thread about the US election, but I’ll go ahead give you a short response.

I am a Republican. I don’t find Obama to be highly experienced, but given the interviews and speeches I’ve seen from him, I can at least admit that he is knowledgeable about the world outside of America. I don’t have to agree with his policies to acknowledge that fact.

Sarah Palin has no foreign policy experience. She didn’t even have a passport until a couple years ago. Her performance in the few interviews she has given so far has shown her to be lacking knowledge of foreign policy. We’re expected to vote for the McCain ticket, believing that Sarah Palin would be able to take over the presidency if something happened to McCain, yet she can’t even take over his campaign activities while McCain flies to Washington for a bailout photo-op. It’s almost as if McCain (who I supported in 2000), deliberately picked the worst possible vice presidential candidate.

If it came down to an issue of flag hats, I wouldn’t be surprised if Obama could identify a Syrian flag and even know some of the existing foreign policy issues with that country. In Palin’s case, I doubt she would know what a Syrian flag looks like, let alone find the country on a map.
http://www.japaneconomynews.com/ Ken

Sarah Palin has no foreign policy experience.

Yup. I’m a libertarian/minarchist who is sick of the Republican Party’s pandering to the religious right. We need to look at candidates based on what they have to offer, and neither major party has much to offer this time around, as far as I’m concerned.

McSame chose Palin because she appeals to those who want to project themselves in her position. That’s pretty sad.

http://www.victorymanual.com Alex

Taking this one step further – Where’d he even get the hat from?
kabocha

It’s a PR gesture of peace and good will. A message to the international community that he is a leader with a progressive outlook on internatioinal relations.

He is saying “Syria, though you have been branded as a state-sponsor-of-terrorism, as Japan’s new prime minister I am open minded enough to show that I respect your people and culture by wearing your cool traditional hats.”

kabocha

I expect to see him with Turkey’s hat the next time he goes for a walk, or maybe Egypt’s.

http://www.victorymanual.com Alex

Or the DPRK’s…

_kovert

Nah next he will be sporting a kaffiyeh.

vincent

Turkey is USA’s closest ally in its region… Turkish government has always been hostile to any minority, they have highly professional army which they regularly let out to bomb villages of innocent people under the pretext of terrorist threat and they sponsor separatist movements which build mosques at every corner in the countries that border with Turkey in the hope of declaring one day that this land is theirs and it should be independent or part of Turkey ( like in Kosovo). Not to mention the terrorist activities of pro-turkish groups in Bulgaria during the Cold War. USA sponsored these groups to sabotage Bulgaria which was then the closest allies of the USSR. In result several water supplies were poisoned, several bombs were blown in public places and these guys also put a bomb in a train and the device was under the wagon “mothers with children”. Several kids and their mothers died, with their whole bodies burned. And this was all the US gig that now points with its finger and condemns everyone who is opposing their genocidal politics as a terrorist.

wisemanleo

State sponsor of terrorism? Surely, James, you must be more intelligent than this?

Since you make reference to the US list of nations that sponsor terrorism, I’m going to assume that you are also aware of the US’ own Federal Criminal Code for the definition of terrorism. If not, let me reiterate an excerpt for the benefit of other readers:
“Activities that involve violent or life-threatening acts that are a violation of the criminal laws of the US and appear to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population…or to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping…” etc etc.

Under this definition, it is reasonable to assume that the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which were aimed directly at a civilian population and caused the horrific deaths ofover 70,000 people, were acts of pure terror. This is one example of hundreds and thousands of terror acts committed by the US towards other countries.

If you spend less time on About.com and a more time delving into the facts behind US foreign policy, by reviewing its towards other countries, such as Cuba, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Balkans, Sudan, Somalia, Sri Lanka, and many many others, you will actually find that America is one of the biggest players in the terrorist industry. This isn’t your scoop of vague conspiracy theory BS — its all documented.
error on page

USA is more of a terrorist state than Syria.

_kovert

Please elaborate.
That’s a very hip popular thing to say but do you have anything to back it up?
You should go look up the word terrorist first though.

Maybe you would not be so quick to make statements like that if you knew people who had been hurt or killed by terrorists.

http://www.victorymanual.com Alex

I think how he’d explain his minimalist comment is that “terror” is relative, and, from the perspective of the Middle East using the literal sense of the term, there are a lot more people terrified of the U.S. than there are Americans terrified of the Middle East. (Compare death rates and event time lines, for example)

His “terrorist” is literal, your “terrorist” is colloquial. His “terrorist” is a military force funded by the richest nation on the planet who shoot first ask questions last, while your “terrorist” is a guerrilla combatant who employs non-traditional methods and targets civilians specifically. Determining which is more “terrifying” is subjective.

http://www.japaneconomynews.com/ Ken

Proof? I mean, come on, at least make something up! No, seriously, show us some proof that will stand up in a court of law.

tokyovp

While Foreign Minister, Aso directed MOFA to initiate an International MANGA Award. Unknown to the public, and closely held by MOFA, the first winner was Syria. The hat is simply a left-over from the ceremony.

Kathryn

I wish that was it, because it would at least make sense XD

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Manga_Award

wiseman

State sponsor of terrorism? Surely, we need to reconsider things here.

Since Japanprobe has made reference to the US list of nations that sponsor terrorism, I’m going to assume that it is also aware of the US’ own Federal Criminal Code for the definition of terrorism. If not, let me reiterate an excerpt for the benefit of other readers:
“Activities that involve violent or life-threatening acts that are a violation of the criminal laws of the US and appear to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population…or to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping…” etc etc.

Under this definition, it is reasonable to assume that the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which were aimed directly at a civilian population and caused the horrific deaths ofover 70,000 people, were acts of pure terror. This is one example of hundreds and thousands of terror acts committed by the US towards other countries.

If one spends less time on About.com and more time delving into the facts behind US foreign policy, by reviewing its towards other countries, such as Cuba, Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey (i.e., Vincent’s comment describes this aspect very well) the Balkans, Sudan, Somalia, Sri Lanka, and many many others, you will actually find that America is one of the biggest players in the terrorist industry. This isn’t your scoop of vague conspiracy theory BS — its all documented.

It is no “hip” thing. Sponsoring terrorism is US’ main forte, and it doesn’t like competition.
kodabar

Sometimes a hat is just a hat. It’s a slightly odd choice, but nothing more. Wearing a hat with “Syria” on it does not mean Aso endorses terrorism.

http://www.victorymanual.com Alex

So we can expect to see him in his “RAPE” hat next Tuesday, right?

helical

I’m not going to make any effort to prove it, but I’m standing by my personal belief that he is fully aware of all the implications and connotations of the things he says and does. He probably just does it to get on people’s nerves and get a reaction from them, either to use it to his advantage, prove a point, or plainly for amusement. For the lulz, essentially.
passerby

What’s with the snide comment about Syria? Japan has an amicable and mature relationship with most countries in the middle-east, unlike the US and Israel (if you really want to talk about state sponsorship of terrorism).

It should be obvious that not everything propagated in the American media should be used for the best interest of Japan. There is nothing wrong with Aso’s choice of attire; many should just get out of their caves.
http://deleted parkmount

A question is how many people can tell what the Vatican’s flag looks like.
Most people can’t tell it’s the Syrian flag. Neither can Mr. Aso, I bet.
TenSigh

What’s odd is that he’d wear a cap with any flag other than Japan’s, especially considering he’s been accused of being a nationalist.
Anti-Terror Performance

Japan though an US allie unlike USA is not disliked by the entire world. Syria has nothing against Japan, Japan has nothing against Syria. American problem is not Japanese. Muslims, Arabs, Israel, 911 is Americans problem. Americans should not shove their problems to others.
Anti-Terror Performance

The reason why US is a bigger terrorist state than Syria is because Syrians do not go around the world and do terrorist activities. Killing innocent civilians, barging into someone´s country and being the architect of a genocidal campaign is terrorism. US unlike Syria have been condemned by the International Court Of Justice for terrorism. Therefore when Americans get provoked by seeing this picture it just illustatrates my point.

Gusuke

I’m sure Israel and Lebanon would politely disagree with you about this.

error on page

Israel occupies Syrian territory and Hezbollah is the strongest political force to be reckoned with in Lebanon and are pro Syrian. I am sure the entire world including Syria and Lebanon thinks of US and Israel as terrorist states.
http://blog.gamersweb.it/ Frankie

Hmm… the smell of (neo)Mcartism in the afternoon…
it smells like paranoia…

http://www.victorymanual.com Alex

What’s an M-Cart? You mean McCarthyism?

(Are you the same guy who posted here?:
http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum/index.php?s=&showtopic=125859&view=findpost&p=2298867 )

This has nothing to do with the nuclear-age’s “Red Scare”. It’s just a very strange gaffe from the current Prime Minister of Japan, and it’s bound to lead to a lot of speculation.

Eddie

That hat is dope.
Tariq Shah

Part if Muslim anger whether right or wrong, towards the US is its history of very cruel actions against innocent civilians.

Muslims felt sorry for Japanese when 2 Nuclear bombs were dropped on innocent civilians, why civilians and why 2?

They could hav edropped one bomb far away at sea to scare people and people would have realized the power.

Then the US involved itself in the Koreas causing suffering and pain to millions of people who would otherwise have made peace if not for US telling them what to do.

Then thereis Vietnam, we know the evil it did to the innocent people, not just fighting but atrocities on mass scale against villages and entire towns.

Then they killed many millions in iraq during their made up war for israels sake as Saddam was israels true enemy and they killed many innocent women and children.

Now they are thinking of attacking Iran or Pakistan, both are too strong for these evil americans and both know that Americans dont fight fair, they dont care how many civiians die, despite their long speeches about human rights and freedom etc, you would think they care about people, they only care about white, anglo saxon, christian people, they dont care about brown people, or red skin people, or asian people, or black people. If you look like the whites and are Christian you may be helped.

Anyway, i dont think Syria invaded and occupied another country against its will, it brought peace to lebanon during its stay and were invited by the Lebanese. Israel on th eother hand loves to kill Arabs and has no problem taking as many lives as it takes to achieve even the smallest objectives.

I wish Japan would not side with the US so much, they are cruel and evil and until they come to their senses the world must ignore them.
amer

hey it’s realy a cool hat i wana buy one please
i love Syria it’s cool i visited once and it’s not like what we see in news and it’s very peacfull
http://ghcodmpigjjc.com/ jeqmlqrj

N9x714 bmrwrrsentek, [url=http://qqmjtlfdebxv.com/]qqmjtlfdebxv[/url], [link=http://qfjarbikvcyg.com/]qfjarbikvcyg[/link], http://wufmlztntcso.com/
Ammar

I am Syrian, and I find this article aesthetically unpleasing, because you accused 20+ millions of being terrorists (How’d you feel if I said all japs are cheaters and their products have hidden deficits in ‘em – hurts huh?)
I don’t believe how brainwashed you’re to accuse my country of having ties with terrorism. Do your homework, read both sides (left and right), go to Syria, speak to Syrians. Then lash out a silly judgement!

It’s an act of hatred, but I have got used to it.
dan

state sponsor of terrorism? this is only in the U.S view….according to many people and countries around the world, America kept sponsoring terrorism and responsible for the death of innocent civilians for more than 60 years.
rawad

come on people idont care about US or israel and what they think iam a asyrian man i just care about our relation with japan i and 20 million syrian love japan and we admire the help that its companies give us to improve our comunity we are not aterrorism country and we just want our land back as japan and russia just because we dont have a strong media we cant tell the world what really happens, for who want to know i say to him just come here and you ll like our country, you ll see how we dont like the japanies products because its just the best but also because its from pecefull country .
i my self have amitsubishi car and a sharp tv a toshiba lap top and …………
believe what you see your self not what other show you
lina

why do some people like u cant be more ignorant !!!
syria is terror ?
look at ur self look to what ur countries have done to little small children and babies !!! bunch of murders !!! and thou u all liiiie !!!
Syrian

Syria is one of the most ancient civilizations in the world, and some ignorants call them terrorists!
Yeah, Syrians are terrorists because they bombed Japan in WWII, and occupied Afghanistan and Iraq, and supported Israel to kill the Palestinians!
The Syrian cities were the capitals of huge Empires thousands of years before the American land was even discovered!
Now those “killers of Indians” want to evaluate the Syrians?
some one

1- …Syrian flag IS cool 2- ok what the problem 3- that his style ! 4-leave Syria and Japan ALONE !!! 5- i am not from Japain or Syria
Beantownhero09

I knew I LOVED JAPAN much love to Taro Aso
http://otakuinternational.com BZou

That is unnecessary dude, Its just a hat, its not like hes saying I support whatever. And Japan is a seperate country, they are allowed to be friendly to whoever they want. US POLICY =/= Japanese Policy.

Taro Aso & the Syrian flag

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