Why should A-bombed Japan accept U.S. withdrawal from ABM treaty? -- Akahata
editorial, December 16, 2001

The United States has declared its unilateral withdrawal from the
anti-ballistic missile (ABM) limitation treaty.

U.S. President George W. Bush stated, "Defending the American people is
my highest priority as commander-in-chief and I cannot and will not allow
the United States to remain in a treaty that prevents us from developing
effective defenses." Thus, he made clear that the withdrawal is in the
interest of U.S. missile defense.

The U.S. missile defense concept has drawn criticism not only from Asian
and European countries but also from within the United States in that it
could spur a new arms race.

The Koizumi Cabinet immediately published a view that it "understands"
the Bush administration's intention.

Taking advantage of terrorist attacks

The ABM limitation treaty was concluded in 1972 between the United States
and the former Soviet Union, which targeted strategic nuclear missiles
capable of annihilating each other, to prevent a preemptive strike.

The treaty was by no means intended to reduce or abolish nuclear weapons.
It was based on the doctrine of nuclear deterrence based on mutually assured
destruction (MAD) designed to stay each other's hand by maintaining the
"balance of terror" that restricts the number of ABM systems capable of
downing the enemy's strategic nuclear ballistic missiles.

To justify his attempt to scrap this treaty, President Bush said that the
Soviet Union no longer exists and that it is necessary to establish a
missile defense system to deal with the threats of terrorism and rogue
states.

This is meant to use the terrorist attacks as a pretext for the United
States to build up a missile defense system with a preemptive nuclear strike
capability of downing enemy nuclear missiles as soon as they are launched.

Any criminal act of terrorism, which is incompatible with the survival of
humankind, can really be eliminated only by the joint effort of the
international community led by the United Nations. How can the U.S. use the
task as a pretext for establishing a missile defense system to ensure that
the United States can maintain its absolute superiority in nuclear force?

Since its inauguration, the Bush administration has been marked by its
insistence on having its own way, as seen in its walking out of the Kyoto
Protocol against global warming and the comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban
Treaty (CTBT), refusal to sign a treaty completely banning anti-personnel
landmines, and obstructing the enactment of a treaty banning biological
weapons. The decision on ABM is another indication of the self-centered U.S.
position in foreign affairs.

What is worse, the Bush administration is proclaiming that the United
States will not hesitate to use force to defend its national interests. In
fact, the United States has expressed an intention to expand the ongoing
military attacks beyond Afghanistan.

In this context, the U.S. withdrawal from the ABM limitation treaty would
bring about a more serious situation concerning world peace and security.

Without examining the serious implications of the U.S. move, the Koizumi
Cabinet expressed its "understanding" of the U.S. move. Prime Minister
Koizumi Jun'ichiro even praised the U.S. move, saying that he wants it (the
U.S. missile defense system) to develop in a way that it will increase
disarmament and security.

The Defense Agency director general in his U.S. visit gave a sales talks
on Japan taking part in U.S. missile defense.

While many countries are apprehensive about and critical of the U.S.
missile defense concept, the Koizumi Cabinet of Japan, the only atom-bombed
country, is so shameless as to willingly incorporate Japan into U.S. nuclear
strategy.

Task for A-bombed Japan

The people of Japan have called on the world's peoples to have nuclear
weapons eliminated. How can the Japanese people allow its government to
promote a missile defense system which will encourage a new nuclear arms
race?

To make a nuclear-free, peaceful, and safe world in the 21st century, it
is necessary to overcome the U.S. Bush administration's insistence on
nuclear weapons, and the Koizumi Cabinet's policy of insistence on nuclear
weapons following in U.S. footsteps. (end)