Regarding the March 11 front-page article "U.S. sacks Maher, apologizes for remarks ": Some facts are clearly being left out of the news reports on this topic. What Kevin Maher, director of Japan Affairs for the U.S. State Department, didn't know when he met with American University students in Washington in December was that one of the student leaders was a Japanese activist who works hard to build opposition to U.S. military bases on Okinawa. That activist participated in the meeting.
Maher didn't know about this situation until the memo about his allegedly insulting remarks was leaked. Maher is a veteran Japan hand who knows the politics of Okinawa better than just about anyone. It sounds as if this was an ambush and that his comments about Okinawans were selectively distorted to suit the agenda of the event organizers.
It appears to me that what Maher allegedly said about the politics in Okinawa was proven true by the actions of the activist. Perhaps she should consider taking an ethics course at American University.