To the delight of the Aso administration, Hillary Clinton not only first made Japan her first foreign visit as U.S. secretary of state, but she met with families of Japanese abducted by North Korea. Unfortunately, by giving the impression that she agrees with Japan, her gesture may prevent a much-needed recalibrating of Tokyo's North Korea policy. Looking at a few similar cases will demonstrate why a focus on abductions is detrimental to Japan's national interest.
In November 1979, during Jimmy Carter's presidency, Iranian revolutionaries took over the U.S. embassy in Tehran, detaining its diplomats. Until they were freed in January 1981, their fate monopolized much of the attention of the U.S. government and public to the detriment of critical strategic considerations.
Under President Ronald Reagan, efforts to free a few Americans held in Lebanon by militants with Iranian connections ended in a complex and failed arms-for-hostage scandal known as Iran-Contra. In 2006, Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon succeed in capturing two Israeli soldiers. As a result, Israel went to war with the Shiite guerrillas; a conflict that ended in a humiliating fiasco without rescuing the two young servicemen.