Do not allow revision of laws that will turn Japan into a nation fighting wars abroad

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Do not allow revision of laws that will turn Japan into a nation fighting wars abroad
Akahata editorial

The government and the ruling parties are rushing to pass through the House of Representatives a bill to revise the Self-Defense Forces Law to include overseas dispatch of the SDF in its primary duties and to revise the Defense Agency Act to upgrade the agency to a ministry that is capable of commanding overseas operations.

By enabling the SDF to regularly carry out overseas military operations, this bill will drastically strengthen the setup by which Japan takes part in U.S. preemptive wars. As Prime Minister Abe Shinzo is attempting to open the way for the use of force abroad in order to defend the U.S. forces, the acceleration of strengthening such a setup is extremely serious.

Way to hurt people of other countries

The government has long resisted criticism against the violation of the Constitution by arguing that the SDF's duty is the defense of Japan. The bill in question is to destroy the basis of this argument which is embodied in the SDF Law. It is impermissible for the Japanese government to trample on the Constitution, which the Japanese people adopted based on remorse over the past war of aggression and the pledge to never again wage a war, by mandating SDF overseas activities as its primary duty.

When the SDF was created, the Diet adopted a resolution to prevent the SDF from going abroad in the House of Councilors Plenary Session on June 2, 1954 because the then Yoshida cabinet was increasing and reinforcing Japan's military capacity in submission to the United States.

In response to the public wish never to wage another war abroad, a statement on the reason for proposing this resolution warned that it is really dangerous to stretch the interpretation of the Constitution and emphasized that in order to avoid such a risk, the Diet thereby express the consensus of the public that the SDF will never go abroad. It is outrageous to trample on this public consensus.

The bill will include in the SDF's principal duties various activities in support of U.S. operations dealing with "situations in areas surrounding Japan," including that the SDF take part in U.S. wars in the Asia-Pacific region even before Japan is actually attacked.

The bill will also include in the SDF's principal duties international peace activities, in which the core task is not relief works in foreign lands damaged by natural disasters but operations in support of wars initiated by the United States.

To include in the SDF main duties overseas activities such as the ongoing SDF operations in support of the U.S. forces in Iraq constitutes a pledge for Japan to continue to cooperate in U.S. preemptive wars.

Revising the SDF Law will only encourage the U.S. Bush administration, which is deepening its isolation even from its allies, and help it accelerate its unjustifiable war policies. Together with the upgrading of the Defense Agency to a ministry, this policy will inevitably cause a large increase in Japan's defense budget.

The Air Self-Defense Force is supporting the U.S. forces' indiscriminate attacks in Iraq by transporting U.S. military materials. Though they are not allowed to use weapons, they are in fact assisting the U.S. forces in killing Iraqi people.

While the government is insisting that the SDF will not use force, it is indeed pushing ahead with a scheme to enable the SDF to use force abroad by adversely revising Article 9.

It is important to block the establishment of a setup to send the SDF abroad that will pave the way for turning Japan into a war-fighting nation.

The task now

To seek a peaceful and diplomatic solution to international disputes, instead of initiating wars, is the demand of the present-day world. Voices are dramatically increasing against the Bush Administration's unilateralism to maintain global hegemony and its preemptive attack strategy. Japan must not block the unprecedentedly advancing international efforts for world peace by supporting U.S. plans for more lawless wars.

In order to fulfill a peaceful and diplomatic role by making use of Article 9, Japan must abandon the establishment of the setup to take part in any wars abroad.
- Akahata, November 30, 2006