Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Yukihisa Fujita's March 14 letter, "An interview that ran off the track," does little to quell concerns that his ideas are bizarre. His continued use of the discredited and now abandoned term "war on terror" suggests that he thinks NATO is at war with an emotion, or perhaps that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
Worse, his apparent assumption that al-Qaida's war against the United States didn't begin until the 9/11 attacks suggests that he was not really paying attention to al-Qaida before then, despite the attacks it had carried out, including the bombings of U.S. embassies. It further suggests that he has not bothered to educate himself about al-Qaida since Sept. 11, 2001.
Even worse, Fujita's letter does little to clarify his actual beliefs about the 9/11 attacks or anything else. Since he clearly does play a role in foreign policy — according to his letter, he directs research, though not actually setting policy — I believe it would be appropriate for the public, both in Japan and in the U.S., to learn more about his beliefs and his background, not only in foreign affairs but also in conducting research. His own words on this page mark him as ignorant about his claimed field of interest, if not expertise. What kind of research could anyone who could write such a bizarre letter be directing?