 JCP Shii: U.S. must immediately stop the killing in Fallujah Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on November 9 demanded that the U.S. immediately halt the indiscriminate attack on Iraq's Fallujah. Speaking at the press conference, Shii expressed "anger and surprise" at Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro's statement that "the U.S. operations must succeed." "Such remarks are intolerable," he said. Shii pointed out that the cruel U.S. operations in Fallujah must not be condoned because it will eventually kill many civilians in Fallujah and because it will aggravate the whole Iraqi situation by provoking a vicious circle of war and terrorism. Citing Koizumi's statement, Shii said, "The Prime Minister confessed that he does not care about the loss of lives in Fallujah. He doesn't care about the possible consequences the U.S. operations will have. By expressing his unreserved support for all U.S. operations in Iraq, he has revealed his extraordinary subservience to the U.S." Shii demanded that the Japanese government take the following steps: First, urge the U.S. government to stop the lawless massacre of Fallujah citizens. The need now is for the U.S. to halt its armed suppression in Iraq and switch to a peaceful and political settlement of the Iraq problem through dialogue, and for the United Nations to support the process. Second, seriously consider withdrawing the Self-Defense Forces from Iraq. "If the deployment of the SDF in Iraq continues in support of the U.S. forces which are slaughtering residents in Fallujah, Japan will become an accomplice in the U.S. massacre. The prime minister must know what his position that the U.S. operations must succeed means. He must know that the Japanese government is going to stand in complete opposition to the Iraqi people who wish to achieve Iraq's genuine freedom and independence." (end) |