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| Terror Networks |
| Blasts reported near US base in Japan |
| 2002-11-18 |
| SEVERAL explosions have been reported near a US military base outside of Tokyo, and a projectile launcher was found near the site, Japanese media said. No injuries or damage were reported. In Washington, Major Timothy Blair, a Pentagon spokesman, said he had no details, but was told an explosion had been reported about 240 metres from Camp Zama, headquarters for the US Army Japan and the 9th Theatre Support Command. Damm, I've been there lots of times. Japanese police suspected that leftist radicals had been involved in the blasts, Japan's Kyodo news service said. According to Kyodo, several explosions were heard in a park near the base at around 11pm local time. Police responding to emergency calls found the launcher and burn marks nearby, indicating that it had been fired.There were no reports of injury and no other damage, it said. That's good to hear. Police and local military officials were not immediately available for comment. Leftist radicals in Japan are known for using similar projectile launchers in attacks on targets related to the US military and the royal family. They do the same thing to Narita airport about once a year. You don't hear much about it as it worries the tourists. In February, an explosion occurred near a baseball field at a high school in Kanazawa Ward of Yokohama, just south of Tokyo, near the US Navy's Koshiba Fuel Terminal. Both the far left and the far right want us out of Japan. Mostly they are careful not to kill anyone as that would be bad manners. A strange country, Japan. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #1 As one who lived on Okinawa for several years in his long-ago boyhood (1974-1977), I can but agree with you on that last point, as will, I suspect, anyone who's well-acquainted with Japanese comics and animation (manga and anime). You might try finding the book "The Hollow Doll: A Little Box of Japanese Shocks", which was published along about 1990. It's a fascinating compendium of some of the _really_ bizarre aspects of Japanese society, which make terrorists who don't want to discommode anyone by blasting them to pieces look positively normal. |
| Posted by: Joe 2002-11-19 04:44:39 |