JCP Shii comments on Japan-U.S. Summit

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on September 13 issued a comment on the Japan-U.S. Summit talks held between Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro and U.S. President George W. Bush on the same day in New York. The full text of the comment is as follows:

Concerning the U.S. plan to attack Iraq, the prime minister only requested the U.S. president to take "further steps for international cooperation." Koizumi did not state that he is opposed to the U.S. plan to strike Iraq.

U.S. President Bush, while referring to further United Nations efforts to consult on sanctions against Iraq, openly declared that the U.S., even if alone, will launch preemptive strikes against Iraq.

The U.N. Charter defines that armed force shall not be used by any member country, except for a case when a member country under attack counters in self-defense.

In addition, the first-strike policy advocated by U.S. President Bush is unjustifiable because it is completely incompatible with the spirit of the U.N. Charter. Such a plan can never be justified irrespective of the number of supporting countries.

If the Japanese government insists that it will consistently abide by the U.N. Charter, then, Prime Minister Koizumi should openly declare before the world that it is opposed to the U.S. policy of carrying out a preemptive attack against Iraq. (end)