Government is only preoccupied with assisting in U.S. war -- Akahata editorial, January 26

The Koizumi Cabinet is engaging in new public relations ploys in the attempt to railroad three war bills through the Diet in the current session. As part of this effort, it has begun selling the idea of the need for legislation to protect the public.

Following a briefing to prefectural governments, the cabinet says it will also brief municipal governments as well as public broadcaster NHK, commercial broadcasting companies, and other communities, such as medical care, electronics, and telecommunications.

Why legislation for public protection' now?

The government started this public relations campaign to gain support for the contingency legislation after it twice failed to have the bills passed through the Diet in 2002 due to the growing public opposition.

People opposed the contingency bills because they knew that the bills, if enacted, would give the prime minister powers to allow Japan to take part in U.S. wars by mobilizing the public for war if he judges that Japan is in danger of being attacked by foreign forces.

The contingency bills contain provisions restricting citizens' freedom and rights in order to force the public into cooperating in dealing with armed attacks on Japan even when such attacks are only predicted.

In a tricky move to gloss over the core of the war laws, which is to restrict citizens' rights and freedoms and carry out public mobilization to war, the government has begun advocating the need for "legislation to protect the public."

A government document distributed in the meeting to explain the legislation to "protect the public" cites provisions on the government's use of civilian land and houses and a government order to civilians to keep supplies in preparation for war.

The government has said that freedom of thought and belief may be restricted, indicating that citizens who refuse to comply with orders for expropriation on the grounds that they are against war, will be subject to criminal punishment. This is how the Japanese people will be forced to cooperate with the government in war.

That's no different from the Imperial Japanese Constitution which was used to suppress anti-war activities and ended up driving the people into war.

What's more, local governments will be forced to mobilize people for war cooperation. If prefectural governors and local mayors refuse to comply with the government orders, the central government will intervene.

Such a provision is against the Constitution, which provides that every citizen has fundamental human rights as "eternal and inviolable rights," and establishes the principle of local government.

The problem today is that, far from opposing a possible U.S. war on Iraq, the Koizumi Cabinet is seeking to get the war bills enacted while stepping up support for U.S. war by sending an Aegis warship to the Indian Ocean, and is trying to railroad the contingency bills through the Diet.

Such behavior of Japanese government is extraordinary when many other nations in Europe and the Middle East are saying no to a war on Iraq, thus isolating the United States from the international community.

At issue in the international community is how to protect world peace against the U.S. Bush administration's preemptive strike strategy. At this juncture, the Koizumi Cabinet and the ruling parties are only interested in military responses, and for this reason they are trying to rush to get the contingency legislation enacted, which many LDP governments in the past have called for.

This shows that the Koizumi Cabinet's submission to the United States in disregard of public interest is so deep-seated that it won't hesitate at all to trample on people's freedoms and rights.

Contingency bills must be scrapped

Since the 1970s, the Japanese people several times have blocked contingency legislation.

The government is presenting the contingency bills in the guise of "legislation to protect civilians" because the contingency bills can't be supported by the people because they don't want to go to war again and have their freedom deprived by war.

We should let as many people as possible know about the government's deception about the contingency bills under the guise of "legislation to protect civilians" in order to foil the Koizumi Cabinet's attempt to enact the bills in the current Diet session. (end)