Regarding the March 8 article "Okinawa slur draws protest": It would be typical of the U.S. State Department to downplay Japan affairs official Kevin Maher's quoted remarks against the good people of Okinawa.

In fact it's the State Department that's the world-class master of manipulation and extortion. Ask any Third World nation how it feels about U.S. intervention and exploitation.

There's outrage across the globe against the U.S. government because of its Machiavellian approach to relations with foreign states, including Japan. Maher should be asked to leave Japan. He would be more suited to lecturing in Baghdad's Green Zone, where State Department officials can cast slurs against the Iraqis all day long and no one cares.

John Roos has not shown the sort of leadership that the late Mike Mansfield displayed during his long tenure as U.S. ambassador to Japan. Mansfield was a good man, a true friend of the Japanese people. The goodwill American ambassador is a thing of the past.

I am glad that Okinawans are expressing their collective outrage over Maher's insulting slur. Besides, it is time for many of the U.S. military bases in Okinawa to be closed.

robert mckinney