JCP urges government to rethink its military-only response
Following are the main points of the Japanese Communist Party request
submitted on September 20 to Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro by JCP
Executive Committee Chair Shii Kazuo in a meeting between the prime minister
and opposition party leaders:
The call for acts of terrorism to be rooted out represents a consensus in
the international community. The task now is for the international community
to consider ways to effectively corner the terrorist forces, bring them to
justice, and achieve the objective of eliminating terrorism from the world
in compliance with law and reason.
Frankly, the Japanese government response shows no trace of a responsible
study of various options to deal with this task. Within the framework of an
uncritical endorsement of U.S. preparations for military retaliation, Japan
is only trying to make out its specific action in cooperation with U.S.
military retaliation. How dangerous it is for Japan to follow this course.
The world must now choose between military retaliation in a war and the
effort to achieve justice utilizing international law. In a letter sent to
national government leaders, the JCP calls for the latter to be chosen to
help eliminate terrorism by the promotion of common action in the
international community as the way serving the great cause for peace and its
objectives.
The JCP sincerely requests the government to stop thinking that only the
military approach in retaliation is viable, and to be earnest and
independent-minded in seeking the best option that helps to settle the
problem. The government must not forget that bringing the criminals to
justice, which the JCP is calling for, is the lawful choice.
The prime minister has expressed the "Japanese government's willingness
to do its utmost in cooperating within the constitutional framework" in case
the U.S. launches military operations in retaliation. Yesterday, the prime
minister put forward a set of measures to be taken by the government without
delay, including "measures to enable the Self-Defense Forces to provide
logistic support in areas such as medical services, transportation, and
shipment of supplies to the U.S. Forces in the event of retaliatory
operations."
The Constitution's Article 9 prohibits the threat and use of force as
means of solving international disputes, including terrorist attacks. To use
force to counterattack terrorism is exactly what the Constitution prohibits.
In light of Article 9, it is clear that Japanese participation in the U.S.
Forces' retaliatory operations is unconstitutional.
The so-called "rear-area support" or the logistics activities including
transportation are an indispensable and inseparable part of war, and Japan's
participation in such activities is unconstitutional. This has been made
clear in the course of Diet discussions of the laws related to the
Guidelines for Japan-U.S. Defense Cooperation.
The government is moving toward legislation aimed at expanding globally
the scope of Japan's cooperation with the U.S. Forces, which was limited
even in the Guidelines-related laws to the areas surrounding Japan in cases
of emergency.
Prime Minister Koizumi has the intention of getting the related law
revised to allow the SDF to guard the U.S. Forces in Japan against terrorist
attacks. In addition to this, he is going to make a concrete plan for
wartime legislation.
These issues have been discussed in the Diet from various angles and many
problems have been left unsolved. It is serious that his plan for
legislation is based on a dangerous intention to trample on the
constitutional peace principle and basic human rights in order to enable
Japan to take military action.
It is very dangerous for the government to try to take advantage of the
present problem for pushing ahead with such legislation that allows Japan to
take part in counter-terrorism operations.
The JCP strongly requests the government to deal with the matter calmly
and legally. (end)