Will Japan help destroy peace? -- Akahata editorial, March 11

The Koizumi Cabinet was prompt to express support for the revised U.S.-British resolution in the United Nations Security Council which set the deadline for weapons inspections in Iraq for March 17, and even began lobbying with the United States and Britain for a majority support for it among UNSC members.

The United States calls for the revised resolution to be put to a vote by the end of this week and states that it will start military attacks even without a U.N. resolution, thus increasing tensions.

Japan as partner to U.S. war pressure

The Koizumi Cabinet's support for the revised U.S.-British resolution means that Japan is willing to side with the United States and Britain in a war against Iraq after the set date.

The U.S-British draft resolution states that the UNSC "decides that Iraq will have failed to take the final opportunity afforded by Resolution 1441 (2002), unless on or before March 17, the council concludes that Iraq has demonstrated full, unconditional, immediate and active cooperation in accordance with its disarmament obligations under Resolution 1441 (2002) and previous relevant resolutions."

This is to demand from Iraq the impossible task of getting inspections completed by March 17, and then use Iraq's supposed failure as the pretext to use force.

The report by the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) chief said that it will take months to complete inspections even if Iraq actively cooperates.

Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro insists that Japan supported the U.S.-British resolution to maintain international cooperation. In fact, Koizumi's position is in defiance of the interests of the international community.

The United States is putting pressure on UNSC members, at the same time the U.S. president proclaimed that he will begin the war even without the U.N. resolution being adopted. The United States is rushing into war using threats and violating laws. Koizumi's argument that supporting the U.S.-British resolution is not supporting war is clearly untenable.

Foreign Minister Kawaguchi Yoriko expressed support for the revised U.S.-British resolution as the last effort by the international community, without mentioning the possible use of force that will follow. This is an attempt to manipulate public opinion in Japan and the rest of the world.

We must not take lightly the fact that the Koizumi Cabinet not only supported the U.S.-British resolution but is playing an active and substantial role in paving the way to the use of force.

The Koizumi Cabinet has sent government officials, including a former foreign minister, to Iraq's neighboring countries. It is also planning to offer post-war economic assistance to Iraq. But such "diplomatic efforts," without calling the outrageous U.S. behavior into question, are tantamount to assisting in the U.S. use of force.

The U.S. excuse for attacking Iraq has entirely collapsed. The Bush administration has been unable to provide any evidence that shows the relationships between Iraq and terrorist groups. Weapons of mass destruction, which the U.S. insists Iraq possesses, cannot be the reason to attack Iraq, as the effectiveness of the U.N. weapons inspection process has been confirmed.

The Koizumi Cabinet is encountering severe criticism from the international community as it continues to support the Bush administration, which turns its back on the peaceful solution set forth by UNSC Resolution 1441 and rushes into conducting a war.

Time for Japanese to stand up

On the largest scale ever, people throughout the world are breaking racial, religious, and ideological barriers and taking action to stop the war on Iraq. It is noteworthy that such anti-war demonstrations are especially expanding in the United States and Britain, countries ruled by warmongering governments.

The Japanese citizens' peace movements, developing as the Koizumi cabinet follows the lead of the outrageous Bush administration, are particularly important.

The world is at a crossroads to choose between war and a peaceful solution to the crisis. (end)