Do you agree with the Japanese government's decision to provide $200 million in non-military humanitarian aid for those displaced by conflict in the Middle East?

I do, as long as steps are taking to ensure they money doesn't fall into the hands of terrorists. This sadly happens to a log of aid that is sent to the middle east.

No. They should be spending it here.

Until the Fukushima situation is handled and all parties involved satisfied to a reasonable level, no.

Again, as I've said in other posts, there are people who are living in makeshift shelters, essentially homeless 2 years+ later. How many decent houses would 200m have bought? And how many of those people in Fukushima could have earned back some of that money building them?

Nobody with a heart would deny humanitarian aid to the needy, yet giving aid to the Shia government in Baghdad has a political dimension that is well understood by their enemies, the minority Sunni insurgents who form the core and spearhead of IS. The truth is that the Baghdad government forces are EQUALLY barbaric, brutal, cruel,inhumane, merciless, ruthless etc. We must assume that, although Abe as prime minister was apprised of the true nature of the Iraqi authorities, he wanted to make a political statement with his trip to Israel and his ostentatious offer of aid to Baghdad: Japan under his leadership is now an ally of the West and ready to play an active role in the region. Arabs opposed to Baghdad replied with their own political statement: the brutal murder of two Japanese hostages. Is it now back to the future for Japan with a resurgence of military might?

Yes.

But this kind of reporting, or "mistranslation" must be avoided.

http://www.mofa.go.jp/p_pd/ip/page22e_000638.html

Japan will extend a total of $200 million to countries in the region for their fight against ISIL

kaynideFeb. 02, 2015 - 09:17AM JST

Until the Fukushima situation is handled and all parties involved satisfied to a reasonable level, no.

How many decent houses would 200m have bought? And how many of those people in Fukushima could have earned back some of that money building them?

Japanese Government has already sepnt over 50 trillion yen for Fukushima. 200 milion dollars is about 20 billion yen, which is only a small fraction of interest, yet is large enough to save thousands of lives, if properly spent in the middle east.

Shameful decision by the Japanese government. Disgraceful. There are still people living in makeshift shelters in Tohoku. The money should be used to help Japanese people first.

Conditionally, yes, if administered and distributed equitably in the region by competent authorities (Red Crescent). Conveniently, the current ICRC president is a Japanese national, Tadateru Konoe.

Instead, Abe was reported in the online Iraqi News as saying:

"I will pledge assistance of a total of about 200 million U.S. dollars for those countries contending with ISIL, to help build their human capacities, infrastructure, and so on."

I wonder if the URL for the item caught the eye of narcissistic psychopath Jihadi John:

http://www.iraqinews.com/arab-world-news/japans-abe-pledges-200-million-mideast-states-battling-isis/

american_bengoshiFeb. 02, 2015 - 09:54AM JST

Shameful decision by the Japanese government. Disgraceful. There are still people living in makeshift shelters in Tohoku. The money should be used to help Japanese people first.

Are the Japanese in Tohoku against the humanitarian aid for the Middle East? No, they are not. Japanese government has financial capability to do spend both, and there is no trade off.

American bengosh(Lawyer), do you have any hidden agenda to disagree to the humanitarian aid for the Middle East?

The problem is not the humanitarian aid, it's the characterisation of it as part of the fight against IS. Whether this was done intentionally or through a mistranslation, it was a massive blunder.

Yes, I agree completely. Normal people in Syria have been suffering worse conditions than animals should ever have to for years now. Anyone who would deny them help is not human

No. There are not enough known "good guys" over there to be sure that this money is not making things worse. The announcement of Japan's commitment by Abe seems to have been a big factor in motivating ISIS to behead Kenji Goto.

No They should have used that money for the people still living in temporary housing up north. Japan has too many problems of its own to fix.

The Tohoku issue is a bit of a red herring. Huge amounts of money have been allocated, but not spent due to non-financial reasons (e.g. inability to get consensus on whether to rebuild in certain areas etc).

I voted "Yes" but I wanted to vote "No" because it should have been military aid.

Japan needs more humanitarian aids and assistance in home soil. For example homeless Fukushima Victims and old and hopeless slum area from Osaka. As the nation of debt which is equivalent to 227.30% of GDP, it was the embarrassment for Japan for showering 200 millions. Abe does not need to give any cent from his pocket no wonder he is so generous.

$200 million in non-military humanitarian aid for those displaced by conflict in the Middle East? believe me almost all aid has some strings attached, in the form of reconstructions projects given to those countries whom give the most when the war is over. 200million will be recuperate many times over once Japanese contractors have finished rebuilding those countries

At the very least, the timing was horrible. Its not the kind of thing you say during a ransom negotiation. Well, not unless you want the kidnapee dead.

No I disagree. Give money to your own people. Money doesn't buy anything. Shoving money into a country doesn't solve anything. Look it Africa. Shoving money and aid doesn't make people do anything over there because they are to dependent on aid.

Do not give money, food or aid. Actually, share intelligence with other countries. Set up a joint military task force with other foreign nations battling these terrorists.

Do not send Japanese special forces there if they do not speak English well or another foreign language.

If anyone thinks that Japanese largesse extends to charity they would be sorely wrong. Japanese aid, even to it's own displaced is designed to benefit Japanese companies-this is how Abe rewards Japan Inc who back him.......

I have two thoughts on this matter. One; Yes,The women and kids should be helped and the world should be involved and not just a few countries.. Two; No, If the Muslims after all these terrible events want to speak to the media and say over and over again, this is not the teaching of Islam, being directly in that arera, do something.Their efforts and financial input would not put a dent in these oil rich nations mainly Saudi Arabia. But it is known Saudi is playing both sides for their own selfish reasons. Also the koran was written by a warrior and like all religious teaching, the taking of blood is not only allowed but glorified.

a true hypocrite way to join a conflict.

Yenot:

" Also the koran was written by a warrior and like all religious teaching, the taking of blood is not only allowed but glorified. "

True for islam, but NOT all religions were written by warriors and NOT all religions allow the taking of blood. We should really stop this generalization. The content of an ideology matters.

Yes.

I agree with Japan helping, so long as Abe's condition of "those fighting IS" does not apply. But they can help by other means. The money should go to help people in Tohoku first.

I agree with Japan helping, so long as Abe's condition of "those fighting IS" does not apply.

Why? Do you think fighting ISIS is bad? Do you think helping those fighting ISIS is bad?

Well, it is not.

I think it is the right thing to do. The whole world should come together and support people like the Kurds who are working to get rid of ISIS.

One has to wonder, with the nation's mouting debt, where the money is coming from...

This is the equivalent of bringing a knife to a gun fight.

You shouldn't throw stack of money at the enemy when they are throwing knives and bullets. YOU LOSE!

It just doesn't work that way.

YenotFEB. 02, 2015 - 06:02PM JST Also the koran was written by a warrior and like all religious teaching, the taking of blood is not only allowed but glorified.

Oh puhlease. Have you read the bible? If you take parts of that book literally too, then it's a pretty bloody-minded set of documents... Historical context is needed for BOTH the Koran, and the bible.

Yes, ,of course. Any nation who feels the need on helping other nation must do. There's nothing wrong with that. Only stupid persons who think that "It's Japan who provoked ISIS. They should not help the middle east" are stupid because they always look negatively on what Japan is doing. Haters gonna hate! Besides, it's terrorism the whole world is up against, should we freeze and be kept silent? It's what terrorism aims for. And unless every nation stood against it, it will prevail. So yes, any nation with the capacity to give humanitarian aid should do.

Most definitely, Yes!

CH3CHO:

Little late coming back, but in response to your comment:

Japanese Government has already sepnt over 50 trillion yen for Fukushima. 200 milion dollars is about 20 billion yen, which is only a small fraction of interest, yet is large enough to save thousands of lives, if properly spent in the middle east.

Spent 50 trillion yen doing what? It has been used for almost everything BUT helping the people. Money allocated for Fukushima has been spent on whaling, on some pet projects in Tokyo, a road in Okinawa... even on wine promotions...

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/04/japan-tsunami-victims-unaffected-areas

When foreign companies tried to help, such as offering to build low-cost housing, they were turned away. On top of that, most of the actual projects in Fukushima have flopped spectacularly. The icewall is the first to come to mind, but there have been countless other SNAFUs.

You are correct, money in the ME could save thousands of lives- but Japan is not the only source of revenue and can contribute in other ways. For Fukushima, if Japan won't help and actively denies outsiders access to help, then who will?

It's not like the Japanese people need help. You know with the retirement money, debts ruining high school students making them kill themselves, finding a place in kindergartens for your kid etc. Let's save people in another country instead of focusing on the people right here.

NO! In a democracy, people should have the liberty as long as they are of adult-age. However, if you have looked for the risk, you (nor your close family) shouldn't expect the government to help you.