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Is U.S. president isolating himself from international community? -- Akahata editorial, January 30 (excerpts)

U.S. President George W. Bush in the State of the Union address expressed his intention to attack Iraq, saying, "If Saddam Hussein does not fully disarm, for the safety of our people and for the peace of the world, we will lead a coalition to disarm him." He even hinted at the possibility of invoking the pre-emptive strike strategy and overthrowing the present Iraqi regime.

That was the day after the United Nations weapons inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) made a report to the U.N. Security Council, calling for the weapons inspections to be continued. The inspectors' report concluded that the allegations that Iraq may have or is developing weapons of mass destruction remain without material evidence.

The Bush address mentioned nothing about the U.N. Security Council's on-going efforts to peacefully resolve the Iraq question based on UNSC resolution 1441.

An overwhelming majority of countries, including UNSC members, are in favor of continued weapons inspections. The U.S. president ignores this fact. It is no wonder that the United States is believed to be afraid of lost timing in launching a military attack on Iraq as a result of the extended inspections.

The U.S. president cites the victorious war against Hitlerism to justify his possible use of force. But the present task is to probe into the allegations that Iraq is maintaining and developing weapons of mass destruction and to resolve the issue peacefully. The present situation is completely different from the Gulf War that followed the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

The United Nations Charter distinguishes acts of aggression or destruction of peace that can be suppressed with collective measures from threats to peace or international conflicts that must be settled through peaceful means.

UNSC resolution 1441 recognizes that Iraq's weapons of mass destruction pose a "threat" to "international peace and security" and calls for the inspections to be continued and the problem solved by peaceful means. Failure by Iraq at any time to comply with this resolution will be reported to the UNSC for assessment.

President Bush used his State of the Union address to express his intention of overthrowing Iraq's government by force in clear violation of the U.N. Charter which prohibits member nations from interfering in other nations' internal affairs and from using force against them.

The call for the problem to be solved by peaceful means instead of resorting to war on Iraq represents the predominant world opinion. This is the way to defend world peace under the U.N. Charter.

French President Jacque Chirac said, "If the United States decided to intervene alone, we would have to note that it would be (acting) outside the international community."

The problem is that Japan's Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro is stressing that Japan holds the same position as the United States on the Iraq question, instead of expressing opposition to military attacks.

Japanese Ambassador to the United States Kato Ryozo has gone so far as to state that Japan as a U.S. ally will have to openly declare support for the United States in the event of war against Iraq.

Is the Japanese prime minister unable to refuse to cooperate with the United States which is declaring that it will lead friends to attack Iraq? We will not allow Prime Minister Koizumi to continue acting against calls for averting a war and maintaining peace. (end)