 Stop the hawkish policies: Shii Japanese Communist Party Executive Committee Chair Shii Kazuo on September 29 said, "The government is taking a wild run on a hawkish course. It is necessary to develop a struggle to foil the political current trying to reverse the path of history." He was referring to the statements of the new foreign minister and the new defense agency director general. On Foreign Minister Machimura Nobutaka's statement defending Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro's visit to Yasukuni Shrine, Shii said as follows: "Yasukuni Shrine until the end of WWII was a symbol of Japan's war of aggression and militarism. After the war, it is not just another shrine since it glorifies the war as a 'just war' and even enshrines class-A war criminals. The prime minister's visit to this shrine represents his approval of the war of aggression." "It is impossible for this foreign minister, who justifies the prime minister's visit to the shrine without any self-criticism of Japan's war of aggression against other Asian countries, to develop good foreign relations with Asian countries," Shii added. Defense chief's call for right of collective self-defense has nothing to do with self-defense On Defense Agency Director General Ono Yoshinori's statement that Japan should be allowed to exercise the right of collective self-defense by revising the Constitution, Shii said: "It's serious that the DA director general, when asked about inconveniences that may arise from being barred from exercising the right of collective self-defense, gave the example of rigid restraints involved in sending the Self-Defense Forces to Iraq, raising the question if the SDF in Iraq should stand idle when members of other foreign forces are being attacked. Japan's SDF are deployed in Iraq under the constitutional restrictions on the use of force with the condition that they do not go to combat zones. Lifting these restrictions means allowing the Japanese SDF to take part, with arms, in unlawful U.S. wars abroad. Shii said, "It's serious that Mr. Ono has this in mind when he advocates constitutional revision and the use of the right of collective self-defense." Shii went on to say, "During the House of Councilors election campaign, Prime Minister Koizumi called for the Constitution to be revised in order to establish the right of collective self-defense, ostensibly in relation to Japan's defense, on the grounds that the SDF cannot be a bystander when the U.S. forces are fighting to defend Japan." Shii said, "This time, Ono was outspoken in revealing that the use of the right of collective self-defense is not aimed at defending Japan but at militarily participating in U.S. lawless wars abroad. This is what the call for constitutional revision is all about. The struggle to thwart the attempt to pave the way for collective aggression in the guise of collective self-defense is necessary." (end) |