Merkel allegedly 'Proposed NATO Membership to Japan' in March 2015.

Merkel allegedly 'Proposed NATO Membership to Japan' in March 2015. (JapanNews).

German Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly told Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe last year that his country could joint NATO counting on her support.

“We recognize the importance of maintaining dialogue with Russia.” This was inserted in a joint communique from the Group of Seven foreign ministers’ meeting held in Hiroshima at the Japanese government’s desire.

Ever since Russia annexed Crimea in southern Ukraine in March 2014, the G-7 nations have continued to impose sanctions against Russia. Among these countries, the United States is particularly distrustful of Russia and U.S. President Barack Obama even gave bitter but sincere advice to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who maintains a close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The word “dialogue” was incorporated in the joint communique, according to a Japan-Russia diplomatic source, because “if Abe visits Russia before the G-7 Ise-Shima Summit to make progress in negotiations over the northern territories, Japan can claim that his visit will not cause disarray among the G-7 nations.”

The northern territories issue is a weighty task that Abe has been focusing on.

In March last year, visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel made an unexpected proposal to Abe during a dinner meeting.

“Shinzo, why not join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization?” Merkel asked. “I can convince British Prime Minister Cameron and French President Hollande.”

Japan and Russia have long been caught in a dispute over the disputed islands referred to as the Northern Territories by Tokyo and the Kuril Islands by Moscow.

Abe reportedly said if Japan joined now, negotiations with Russia over the territories would stop. Read the full story here.

Video - 'The make believe presidency' Obama Touting His Legacy: U.S. Foreign Policy Has Restored Respect.

"SUCCESS STORY" - Iraq in grave danger of unraveling, as sectarian violence spreads- 34 killed in latest bomb blast.

"SUCCESS STORY" - Iraq in grave danger of unraveling, as sectarian violence spreads- 34 killed in latest bomb blast.HT: Reuters.

Obama: If We Work Hard, Afghanistan Could Be a Success...Like Iraq!

Car bomb attacks killed at least 34 people in Baghdad on Thursday but the Interior Ministry said it would not allow al Qaeda, which it blames for a surge in sectarian violence, to turn Iraq into another Syria. More than 100 people were wounded in at least eight blasts, one of which was near the “Green Zone” diplomatic complex, part of a wave of bloodshed that has taken the monthly death toll in Iraq to the highest levels in five years. “Iraq’s streets have become a battleground for sectarian people who are motivated by hatred and religious edicts and daring to kill innocent people,” the Interior Ministry said in an unusually frank statement. “It is our destiny to win this battle which is aimed at destroying the country and turning it into another Syria,” the ministry said. However, earlier on Thursday it put the death toll far lower, at three dead and 44 wounded. Mainly Sunni Muslim rebels have been fighting for more than two years to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose Alawite minority support base is a branch of Shi’ite Islam. Sunni Muslim militant groups, including al Qaeda, have stepped up their insurgency against Iraq’s Shi’ite-led government in the past four months, raising fears of a return to full-blown sectarian conflict 18 months after U.S. troops left. Police sources said one bomb exploded 200-300 meters (yards) from Baghdad’s international zone, close to Iraq’s Foreign Ministry. Four people died and 12 others were wounded. The central zone is a highly-fortified area housing Western embassies including the U.S. mission and the nearby Iraqi ministry has been a frequent target of attacks. Since the start of the year, attacks using multiple car bombs have become an almost daily occurrence. Religious holidays have failed to stem the slaughter, bombers at the weekend targeting families celebrating the end of the Muslim fasting period of Ramadan. Each of the past four months has each been deadlier than any in the previous five years, dating back to a time when U.S. and government troops were engaged in battles with militiamen.

The government has launched a security sweep to try to round up suspected militants and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Wednesday the crackdown would continue. The civil war in neighboring Syria, which has stoked sectarian tensions across the Middle East, has boosted Sunni insurgents in Iraq who are also benefiting from general discontent in the minority Sunni population. The Interior Ministry described the conflict last month as “open war” and the United States has said it will work closely with the Iraqi government to confront al Qaeda. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari is in Washington on Thursday. Thursday’s car bombs targeted districts in central, eastern, northern and southern Baghdad, including Shi’ite areas, police said. Five people died when a bomb exploded near a traffic police station in Baladiyat, in eastern Baghdad, crushing the roofs of nearby vehicles, their wheels splayed on the ground by the force of the explosion. “Windows were smashed and my children started screaming and running everywhere, smoke and dust filled my house,” said a man wounded by flying shards of glass. He declined to be named. “The politicians are responsible for the deterioration in security,” he said. In the al-Shurta al-Rabaa district a bomb on tractor trailer carrying gas cylinders killed four people while in Husseiniya, on the capital’s northeastern outskirts, a minibus exploded in a repair shop, killing three, said police. The Interior Ministry said security forces were cracking down on “hotbeds of terrorism” outside Baghdad, raiding bomb-making factories and recruitment centers for suicide bombers.Hmmm......Other 'success stories' ....Egypt, Syria and coming soon Afghanistan. Read the full story here.

Anti-U.S. Hostility Ramps Up in Egypt.

Anti-U.S. Hostility Ramps Up in Egypt.(Matzav).

Posters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, a center of pro-government rallies, depict President Barack Obama with a beard and turban, exclaiming his “support for terrorism.” 

Egypt’s state and privately owned media outlets, already no strangers to demonizing the U.S., have embarked on a particularly critical campaign. The moves highlight the depth of public distrust of U.S. policies, and draw from a “reservoir of anti-Americanism and conspiratorial theories,” said Vali Nasr, dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and a former senior Obama administration adviser.
“The Mubarak people are unhappy with the way he was shoved off without a thank you. The military thinks we coddled the Brotherhood and didn’t intervene to control them. And the Brotherhood thinks that we never supported them when they needed support, and then gave the green light to the military,” Nasr said.
According to several observers, Egypt’s new military-backed government is using the same playbook as the Mubarak regime, with state-owned media fixated on what they call U.S. meddling in Egyptian affairs in a bid to rally the nation and divert attention from government shortcomings.

Related: Muslim World Hates America More Under Obama Than It Did Under Bush