I.S.I.S. takes Japanese Head Trophies - when will it be a Canadian's turn?

Japanese hostage Kenji Goto displays photo of fellow prisoner Haruna Yukawa,

who was beheaded by an I.S.I.S. guerrilla on January 25, 2015.  The latest

instalment of Islamic vengeance killings designed to weaken our resolve.

Or, if you prefer,  the tremulous media version... pixilated:

It's really rather amazing how quickly the iconic image of 

kneeling I.S.I.S. hostages has burned into our subconscious.

It's been less than a year, and we easily recognize the black and

bright-orange hostage photos  pixilated AND miniaturized:

Yukawa Haruna - Japan's wannabe mercenary

There have been very few Japanese mercenaries in the modern era. I can think of perhaps two who made a name for themselves.  Yukawa Haruna was not made of the "right stuff".  Like millions of his fellow Japanese, he enjoyed dressing up in costumes and posing for the camera, but he was not a killer. He should not have journeyed into the most dangerous war zone in the world unless he was very prepared to die. Now he is dead, and Kenji Goto may soon join him.

Yukawa Haruna - as tank boy. Nobody could fault the lad, or his dad, for this playful childhood pose. We've all done it with our kids.  Here he stands in front of a Japanese Self-Defence Force  M.B.T. 

Just cosplay, or was he serious?  Yukawa Haruna poses in

tactical gear, somewhere in Japan, before leaving for Syria.

One is struck by the feminine appearance of the Yukawa face in the passport photo, (above)  in comparison to the matured face of the I.S.I.S. hostage.  I guess certain knowledge of your impending death by decapitation will do that to a fellow.

Professional mercenaries do not Blog from the battlefield.  Yukawa Haruna posed for and posted war-zone portraits constantly to the Internet, and he had a small fan following among members of Japan's para-military sub-culture.  It is quite obvious why I.S.I.S. chose to execute him first.   On his quirky FACEBOOK page he listed among his favorite music - Justin Bieber ! Another sure indication, as we Canadians might phrase it...   that Yukawa "wasn't all there!" 

THE WHEEL OF HISTORY STILL TURNS

It's interesting that I.S.I.S. executioners have now beheaded two Japanese, with a third condemned man soon to die.  This ferocious head trophy fetish was the big atrocity story of 2014, and may not burn itself out for a few years.  My generation was raised on history which emphasized Bushido and Japanese war crimes of civilian massacres and the beheading of Allied prisoners.  And now Japanese society is said to be severely shaken by recent events. Are they really?

For my earlier introduction to the history of head trophies, jump to BLACK JUNE - ISIS "Selfies" of head trophies shouldn't surprise anyone.

An Australian P.O.W. shown the instant before he was beheaded

by a Japanese with a sword. Thousands of civilians were so murdered.

I can't help speculating on how well the Canadian people will take it should I.S.I.S. get ahold of one of our CF18 pilots,  or one of our Special Forces soldiers who are currently "painting" targets with lasers in assistance of the bombing campaign.  I don't think our people can stomach that level of bestiality directed at one of our own, but they may have to. Worse, I already shudder at the paroxysms of  faux-suffering and genuine political theatrics that will ensue. 

In 2014 CANSOFCOM deployed to Iraq and un-named countries in that region.  This is one of Canada's elite warriors -  who are authorized to engage I.S.I.S. and exterminate as many possible.  This past week our Prime Minister altered an unimportant speech to include a few words about Canadian operations in Iraq and Syria.  I quote Mr. Harper:
"Let me be clear. This is a robust mission. We're there to make those guys [Special Forces] effective so they can take on the Islamic State and deal with them. And if those guys fire at us, we're going to fire back and we're going to kill them, just like our guys did, and we're very proud of what they're doing in Iraq."
To my knowledge, that is the first time a Canadian prime minister has uttered the words "we're going to kill them" or anything even close to that phrase. I am proud of him for showing some balls at the appropriate moment. I haven't voted Tory in decades but with that genuine response to ISIS terror he just earned my vote, and a donation at election time.

Feb. 2, 2015 Update - And now the Japanese Prime MInister shows us he too has a pair of testicles.  Kenji Goto was beheaded on the weekend, and the Japanese are naturally feeling outrage and even a little vengeful.  Haruna Yakuna was an adventurer who needlessly exposed himself to I.S.I.S. killers, but the Kenji Goto was a harmless reporter of the news, with no connection to the Western intelligence agencies. The Japanese Prime Minister said his country "will cooperate with the international community and make the terrorists pay the price."  Hopefully he means providing additional  funding for the Japanese military, and not simply letting the NSA bug the toilets in every mosque in Japan.