Absurdity of succumbing to U.S. threats -- Akahata editorial, September 4The Koizumi Cabinet has delayed sending an advance team to Iraq in preparation for a dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces due to the worsening security situation there. But Chief Cabinet Secretary Fukuda Yasuo has just indicated that the team should go to Iraq in late September, saying,"The sooner the better." Preparations for sending SDF units are beginning.
We must not overlook a media report that the government decided to send the advance team after it was urged by a senior U.S. government official not to "walk away" from supporting Iraq's reconstruction.
If the Japanese government's decision came as a result of the U.S. threat, the inappropriate response will have to come under public criticism.
'Don't walk away'
Some newspapers reported on August 31 that U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage in late August told Arima Tatsuo, Japanese government representative (special envoy on the Middle East), not to "walk away" from assisting Iraq. Armitage was quoted as saying that supporting Iraq's reconstruction will not be like attending a "tea party."
"Don't walk away," which is a very unusual expression for diplomacy between independent states, was used apparently to urge the Koizumi Cabinet to keep its promise to send the SDF. It also implies how desperate the situation in Iraq is for the United States.
The Koizumi government pushed for the law allowing the SDF to be sent to Iraq in order to assist the U.S.and British forces that attacked and occupied Iraq without U.N. resolution. That began when Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro promised U.S. President George W. Bush to do so during the Japan-U.S. summit meeting in May.
However, since the enactment of the law to send the SDF to Iraq, things have not turned out as the government explained to the people. U.S.-British occupation forces in Iraq are being attacked daily and terrorist bomb attacks are occurring frequently. It has become clearer than ever that there is no "non-combat" zones to which the Koizumi government had promised to deploy SDF units.
Following the bomb explosion at the United Nations headquarters in Iraq, Defense Agency Director General Ishiba Shigeru stated, "It may be difficult to send an advance team to Iraq this year." Some other cabinet members shared this view. But the Koizumi government has decided to send the team as soon as possible. Is the Koizumi government yielding to the U.S. Bush administration's pressure on Japan to do so? If that is the case, it is nothing but a further act of subservience to the United States.
The present state of affairs in Iraq has been caused by the lawless U.S.-British invasion and occupation of Iraq, inviting repugnance from the Iraqi public. This in turn is getting occupation forces bogged down in a quagmire and incubating a hotbed of terrorism and violence.
Efforts to stabilize Iraq call for a U.N.-led setup to be established as quickly as possible to extend assistance to Iraq's reconstruction and a withdrawal of the U.S.-British forces from Iraq without delay. The Koizumi government's plan to send SDF units to Iraq to assist the occupation forces will be of no help to Iraq's stability or reconstruction.
SDF dispatch law must be repealed
The Koizumi government that is bent on fulfilling what it promised to the United States even at the expense of lives is not qualified to represent the Japanese people.
If the Koizumi Cabinet wants to help Iraq rebuild itself, it should revoke the SDF dispatch plan tailored to U.S. needs and instead work for U.N.-led initiatives for Iraq.
The government should stop rushing to send the advance team to prepare for an SDF dispatch and get the SDF dispatch law abolished in the next session of the Diet. (end)