Maher says 'nobody' in Japan gov't was in charge early in nuclear crisis(ready 2 withdraw US troops)

Maher says 'nobody' in Japan gov't was in charge early in nuclear crisis(ready 2 withdraw US troops):

Early in the Fukushima nuclear crisis, U.S. officials felt that nobody in Japan’s government was taking charge, and Washington considered evacuating American troops in a worst-case scenario, a retired U.S. envoy said Thursday.

When the March 11 earthquake and tsunami set off the crisis by crippling the Fukushima Daiichi plant and sending it toward meltdown, Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s administration initially acted as if it was only the plant operator’s problem, not the government’s, former diplomat Kevin Maher said.

“There was nobody in charge. Nobody in the Japanese political system was willing to say ‘I’m going to take responsibility and make decisions,’” said Maher, who coordinated U.S. help offered to help Tokyo deal with the crisis.

“Nothing was taking place at Fukushima Daiichi in terms of the government solving the problem” until about a week later when Tokyo and Washington launched a joint task force, he said.

(Excerpt) Read more at japantoday.com ...