No further mistakes in assisting U.S. war, please
--By Akahata political editor

Absurdity is what this war is about. I must warn Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro of backing "George W. Bush's war." No one can justify the rationale behind the war from any angle. Japan's prime minister is putting himself in the position of an outlaw who tramples on the rules of peace embodied in the United Nations Charter.

Japan's task is to work for peaceful settlement

The international community expects Japan to take a lead in defending international rules and in working to bring about a peaceful solution. This is because of the Constitution of Japan, established based on a remorse for its past war of aggression. By declaring to the world that the Japanese people "forever renounce war ... and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes," the Constitution states that Japan is committed to contributing to the peace of the world with the principle of pacifism.

The question now is whether the issue of Iraq could have been resolved through U.N. inspections which were moving into top gear.

The Japanese government has been ambivalent toward these international attempts for a peaceful resolution. In a news conference on March 18, Prime Minister Koizumi said, "Japan has sought a peaceful solution under international coordination and continued its diplomatic efforts." But what he actually did in the name of "diplomatic efforts" to serve "international coordination" was to assist the United States in moving to cut short the way to solve the issue by peaceful means through U.N. weapons inspections.

Prime Minister Koizumi refused to change his mind and asserted his support for the U.S. war plan, even adding that the support is strong as ever before.

This lawless war has no rationale

The U.N. Charter defines war as illegal and provides the principle that international disputes must be solved by peaceful means and that the use of force is legitimate only when it is a collective measure approved by the U.N. Security Council to deal with threats to or the destruction of peace. It is clear to everyone that the U.S. war against Iraq is without legitimacy.

Asked about the legitimacy of the use of force at this time, Prime Minister Koizumi brought up UNSC Resolution 1441. The chief cabinet secretary once stated that Resolution 1441 excludes automaticity in the use of force. So why could Resolution 1441 be used as the rationale for the use of force now? Such an inconsistent explanation reveals how lawless the U.S. war against Iraq is.

Anti-war opinion

Prime Minister Koizumi said, "Politics may go wrong if they are in conformity with public opinion." True to his word, he is going against anti-war public opinion.

Those who are opposed to the war on Iraq do not necessarily believe that Iraq's position is right. Some may want to defend the "Japan-U.S. alliance," which the government asserts. But they are opposed to the war on Iraq because they cannot accept lawless acts that destroy the rules of peace established by humanity.

International opinion illustrates how outrageous this war is.

If the Japanese government shuts its eyes to this war by using the Japan-U.S. military alliance as the pretext, it will lead Japan in the direction of supporting more wars. If the government dares to make more mistakes, Japan will leave historical stains and sow the seed for future calamities. (end)