2003 JUNE 25 - JULY 1 NEWS
'DANGER ZONE' IN IRAQ CHANGES DAY BY DAY
Ogata Yasuo, a House of Councilors member, led a Japanese Communist Party team visiting Iraq, where sporadic combat still goes on even though the country has been placed under the occupation by the U.S.-British forces following the downfall of the Hussein regime.
DETESTING WAR-RENOUNCING ARTICLE 9 OF THE CONSTITUTION
Not only elderly LDP politicians who have careers as prewar-interior ministry bureaucrats, but young members of parliament representing military-related interests now publicly advocate constitutional changes.
A CHANCE TO END DEPENDENCE ON NUCLEAR POWER
The government and Tokyo Electric Power, which have a duty to provide a steady supply of electricity, should take every possible step to avoid a recurrence of accidents and break away from the atomic-dependent energy structure.
ASSISTANCE TO IRAQ -Iraq bill-
* Bill to support U.S.-British forces in Iraq must be foiled: JCP lawmakers (June 25)
* Japan's Self-Defense Forces may assist U.S. Forces in mopping-up operations in Iraq: foreign minister (June 26)
Sending in Self-Defense Force units to get bogged down in war abroad -- Akahata editorial, June 28