U.S. jingoism can't deal with new developments: Shii

"Wiping the Taliban out or the capture or the killing of Bin Laden alone,
which the U.S.-led war is about, would not help uproot terrorism. On the
contrary, the U.S.-led retaliation will give food to terrorism."

This is what Shii Kazuo, Japanese Communist Party Executive Committee
chair stated in an interview broadcast on November 28 by Asahi Newstar
communication satellite TV. The present developments in Afghanistan and the
possibility of U.S. expanding its targets of war beyond Afghanistan were two
of the topics discussed.

Shii pointed out that thousands of Afghan people have been killed in the
U.S.-led air strikes, and that the victims are those who have nothing to do
with terrorism. He said that the JCP, with renewed emphasis, maintains that
a united effort of the U.N.-led international community is essential for a
just solution.

Shii then referred to the possibility that the United States may expand
the war beyond Afghanistan, quoting U.S. President Bush as saying on
November 26 (EST), "If they (other countries) develop weapons of mass
destruction that will be used to terrorize nations, they will be held
accountable."

Shii said this is taken to mean that the United States will launch air
strikes against Iraq under the pretext that it "houses terrorists."

Referring to reports that senior U.S. officials are talking about
expanding the targets of strikes further to Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen, Shii
said if the war were expanded to other countries, its purpose would change
completely.

The on-going war is problematic in that it was started unilaterally by
the United States without undergoing the necessary U.N. procedures.

If the war is expanded to other countries, it will clearly take on the
character of a war of aggression or war of intervention, which is absolutely
impermissible.

Shii noted what William Taylor, senior adviser on international security
affairs of the Center for Strategic International Studies in Washington,
D.C., stated about the U.S. build-up of an overwhelming size of military
strength in the Middle East and South Asia. Taylor said that from the outset
the U.S. had in mind military operations in the Middle East, particularly
against Iraq, by regarding the war against Afghanistan as just the
beginning. (end)