Japan Press Weekly

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2013 August 28 - September 3 [WORLD]

LDP Ishiba expresses support for US strike on Syria

Ishiba Shigeru, secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, on August 31 said that the Japanese government should express its support for a U.S. military action on Syria if its use of chemical weapons is confirmed.

This is the first remark by a top official of the ruling parties or the government in favor of a possible U.S. attack on Syria.

Ishiba at a press conference in Tottori City said, “The Japanese government should express its support for the U.S. military action without delay” if the evidence of the use of chemical weapons provided by the U.S. government is acceptable to the Japanese people.

While more and more countries in the international society are moving to oppose a military strike on Syria, the LDP is eager to support it. It clearly shows the LDP’s true nature, blind obedience to Washington.

In the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003, the then Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro became one of the first national leaders to announce his support for the U.S. attack on Iraq, which was conducted based on the allegation that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. However, no such weapons were found in Iraq, and the U.S. attack turned out to be an unilateral war of aggression. The LDP has failed to learn from this misjudgment.