  How does Bush's reelection affect Iraq and the world? -- Akahata editorial, November 4 (excerpts)President George W. Bush was reelected. The Bush administration's moves following the reelection will have a major bearing on peace and security in Iraq and the rest of the world. For the first time in the past 30 years, the election took place under the shadow of war. The Iraq War became the focal issue, and the opinion of U.S. citizens showed a major division, reflecting a change of opinion from the start of the war of aggression against Iraq in March 2003, when a majority of the American people were supporting the war. The biggest pretext used for going to war was that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMD), but this allegation is now bankrupt. With U.S. casualties increasing, criticism of the war has become widespread in the United States. Internationally, supporters of the U.S. war against Iraq were a minority from the outset. Countries that deployed their forces in Iraq withdrew their troops one after another, and now the forces are deployed only by some 20 countries. The biggest reason why terrorists have found in Iraq much room for their maneuvers is the U.S. brutal war without cause and the mopping-up operations by the U.S. forces in which many Iraqi citizens fell victim under the U.S. occupation. If the U.S. in earnest wants to get rid of terrorism, the first thing to do is to stop its unjust war and to put forth a definite schedule for troop withdrawal. Internationally, a majority of opinion calls on the United States to restore sovereign rights to Iraq based on international law and the United Nations Charter, and to return to international cooperation based on law and justice. Commenting on Bush's reelection, Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro said that he wants to develop Japan-U.S. relations based on trust. However, a relationship of trust must not be uncritical subordination. Japan's policy on Iraq should not be based on the single norm of being a "good ally." Japan should withdraw its Self-Defense Forces, which are now taking part in the U.S. war of aggression and occupation, and should play a part based on a peaceful and constitutional foreign policy as part of international efforts to restore peace and sovereignty in Iraq. This is the way to truly trustworthy Japan-U.S. relations. (end) |