Struggle should focus on not allowing SDF to take part in U.S. War: JCP Shii

Following the enactment of a law that would allow the Self-Defense Forces
to participate in a war abroad on October 29, Japanese Communist Party
Executive Committee Chair Shii Kazuo called a news conference and gave the
following comments:

Sending the SDF abroad as close as possible to battlefield situations was
the only desire the ruling parties had when they bulldozed through the bill
allowing the SDF to take part in the retaliatory war, after only nine days
of discussion in both Houses.

Prime Minister Koizumi was persistent in refusing to seriously examine or
answer the question if U.S. military attacks are reasonable or if SDF
participation has any legitimacy under the Constitution. We protest against
the parliamentary action that virtually dismissed all questions.

With the U.S. retaliatory war is getting bogged down in the quagmire,
international opinion calling for an end to the military attacks is
increasing. Enacting the bill in such a situation is a very dangerous and
foolish decision.

The retaliatory war is claiming increasing tolls of civilians day by day,
with military operations going astray.

The U.S. secretary of defense said, "It's like looking for a needle in a
haystack," to find Osama bin Laden and others. The deputy chief of
operations of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said he was really surprised at the
strong Taliban resistance.

It is in this circumstance that international opinion is calling for the
ongoing war to be reassessed. The Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said
that the military operations should be called off as soon as possible.
Interior Minister Moin-ud-din Haider began to openly criticize the air
strikes.

In the U.S., Joseph Biden, Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair, also
called for an early end to the military operations. Arthur M. Schlesinger,
who was presidential special aide to President John F. Kennedy, is calling
for the air strikes to be stopped and the issue be settled through
police-like activity.

Closing its eyes to the retaliatory war getting mired up and to the
increasing international opinion against the war, the government of Japan
(even with Article 9 of the Constitution) is determined to send its armed
forces abroad to take part in combat. This is really dangerous and foolish.

The bill was made into law, but a real struggle now begins.

Internationally, the struggle calling for a change from the military
attack to U.N.-led measures and legal action is gaining strength.

In Japan, it is important for the struggle to be focused on opposing
related legislation to supplement the law and on the laws being invoked.
The JCP is determined to develop such a struggle inside and outside the
parliament, and use its international influence. (end)