November 1, 2022

Akahata 'current' column

The word "tomahawk" comes from "hand ax" Native Americans used. For many people, however, it is the name for a particular model of cruise missile.

The U.S. military developed Tomahawk missiles as delivery vehicles for nuclear weapons in the first place. It equipped many of its vessels, which made port calls at Japanese ports, with Tomahawk missiles carrying nuclear weapons in the 1980s. The Tomahawk was a symbol of the bringing-in of U.S. nuclear warheads to Japan.

The U.S. military did not use a Tomahawk missile during the Cold War but used a large number of Tomahawk missiles in the 1991 Gulf War. Based on the successful results in the latter war, the U.S. military before dawn on March 20, 2003 launched Tomahawk missiles from its Aegis destroyers and submarines in order to attack the nerve center of the government of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. This started the U.S. unlawful preemptive war against Iraq.

U.S. Forces used a total of 2,300 Tomahawk missiles in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. These missiles were said to be capable of precision targeting, but many missiles, including a Tomahawk missile that landed in Iran, landed way off target during the Iraq War.

Reportedly, the Japanese government is considering purchasing Tomahawk missiles as its counterforce weapon system of choice. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party parliamentarian group on national defense proposed that the government consider possessing Tomahawk missiles. Within the LDP, some have already expressed favorable views concerning the proposal.

Japan's possession of Tomahawk missiles will inevitably bring about an arms race in East Asia. It is astonishing that the LDP is enthusiastically promoting yet another arms race.