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Senior LDP official says only U.S. military power can end threats

Referring to possible threats that Iraq may pose by developing weapons of mass destruction, Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Yamasaki Taku said that only U.S. military power can end the threats at their roots. He said this in the House of Representatives plenary session on February 3.

Akahata on February 5 said Yamasaki's remark is an expression of total dependence on U.S. military might. This is an aberration by which Japan has revealed itself as a solid supporter of U.S. unilateral war against Iraq, contrary to the ongoing strenuous efforts of the international community to peacefully resolve the issue.

The Yamasaki remark is made on the premise that it is reasonable for the United States and Britain to use force. He nominally referred to the desirability of the United Nations to adopt a new resolution enabling such use of force. Yamasaki, however, stressed that it is necessary to fully consider the crucial importance of U.S. military power alone being capable of settling the issue. This means glossing over the illegal and unilateral U.S. use of force without a U.N. resolution as a reasonable choice.

Yamasaki's statement has no common sense in that he lacks the basic understanding of the fact that the U.N. Charter lays down the reasonable principle that conflicts should be resolved peacefully. The U.N. Charter prohibits threats of using force and the actual use of force. These are exceptionally approved only when the U.N. Security Council resolves on such actions or there is armed attack on a country by another country. No use of force is approved as a response to the supposed development of weapons of mass destruction.

This is why the international community is proceeding with its persistent efforts to resolve the issue peacefully in order to stop the disastrous war against Iraq and to maintain peace based on the U.N. Charter.

Yamasaki is a leadership member of the LDP, the biggest ruling party. The statement of a person in such a position can decisively affect Japan's course and contradict the trends of the international community. (end)