Japan to be a partner in U.S. nuclear war -- Akahata editorial, June 17Allowing itself to launch preemptive strikes against countries "supporting terrorism" and "developing weapons of mass destruction," the U.S. Bush administration has set out a dangerous strategy that includes unilateral nuclear attacks against non-nuclear weapons states.
The U.S. Nuclear Posture Review released in January called for the need to formulate plans for the possible use of nuclear weapons against seven non-nuclear states, including North Korea and Iraq.
Koizumi can't say 'No' to U.S. policy
Asked by Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo at the one-on-one debate in parliament whether or not Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro "supports the U.S. nuclear weapons policy," Koizumi said, "It is understandable that the U.S. keeps its options open."
The U.S. Bush administration is openly calling for targeting non-nuclear states with nuclear weapons. It will discard its own position made public in 1978 that the U.S. won't make unilateral nuclear attacks against non-nuclear states.
The fact that the United States is actually pushing ahead with its plan for using nuclear weapons is clear from its statement on resuming nuclear weapons tests designed to develop nuclear weapons that can be used to "destroy underground facilities for weapons of mass destruction."
The nuclear policy will help lower the threshold to an actual use of nuclear weapons and bring human beings again into the catastrophe of nuclear war.
It is quite natural for many countries, including the targeted countries and Western allies of the U.S., to sternly criticize the U.S. for its policy.
In the 2001 U.N.General Assembly, the Japanese government voted in favor of a resolution calling for the early conclusion of an international treaty banning the use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear countries. However, no sooner had the U.S. set out its new nuclear policy than Prime Minister Koizumi changed its attitude to actively supporting the U.S. policy.
This shows that Chief Cabinet Secretary Fukuda Yasuo's remarks that it is possible for the government to change the Three Non-nuclear Principles are not a mistake in media reports but the real intention of the Koizumi Cabinet.
This is why Prime Minister Koizumi said that it's not worth making a fuss about.
The course of events has brought out into bold relief how dangerous the contingency legislation is.
The contingency bills, if enacted, will allow the Self-Defense Forces to use force even if its unit supporting the U.S. forces to deal with "situations in areas surrounding Japan" is attacked, regarding the "attack" as an "armed attack" against Japan.
If the U.S. forces used nuclear weapons, Japan would have to support U.S. unilateral attacks with nuclear weapons.
At a public hearing on the contingency legislation, Maehara Kiyotaka, assistant professor at the Nagasaki Institute of Applied Science pointed out that it is most likely that nuclear weapons will be used in a case in which Japan is deeply involved.
The Japanese people, the only nation in the world who have experienced a cruel nuclear attack, have called for the abolition of nuclear weapons and opposition to a nuclear war in the international community.
This call has influenced many foreign governments so that a major trend has now been formed toward the elimination of nuclear weapons. At the 2000 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, the nuclear-weapons states, including the United States, had to agree on an "unequivocal undertaking" to get nuclear weapons eliminated in a certain period of time.
Going against the world current
The U.S. Bush administration declared that it may use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapons countries. This has been criticized from all over the world, but the Koizumi Cabinet hasn't criticized this. What country does the Koizumi Cabinet really represent?
The Japanese people oppose nuclear war and wish for a nuclear-free world. The Koizumi Cabinet, which acts against the people's wishes, must be ended by people power. (end)