Japan
- Peace Nation or War Ally?
It can't have it both ways
PressInfo #
203
December
10, 2004
By
Jan
Oberg,
TFF director
Today, on the International Human
Rights Day, the Japanese government - i.e. the Liberal
Democratic Party and New Komeito party - approved a draft
of the new National Defence Program Outline and the
fiscal 2005-2009 midterm defence build-up program.
Yesterday it decided to extend for another year the
presence of the Self-Defence Forces, SDF, in
Iraq.
While every security-related
decision these years represents a de facto undermining of
its Peace Constitution as well as military build-up and
integration with the belligerent Bush administration,
Japan has built up neither its intellectual nor its
political capabilities proportionately. It remains
fundamentally dependent, conveniently vague and
acquiescing. The image of Japan as a U.S. aircraft
carrier is becoming more and more real.
By and large, the Japanese public
opinion is against all this, particularly the presence of
the SDF in Iraq. But, Japanese democracy is compatible
with a government more loyal with a foreign power than
with the opinions and security of its own people. Like,
say, Denmark and Italy.
Peace means war
- and a web of contradictions
Iraq never threatened Japan, so at
the outset one may wonder why Japan needs to be in Iraq
to practise its self-defence-only policy. For a country
with a peace constitution, it ought to be quite
impossible to participate in the US aggression and
occupation - not to mention transporting U.S. troops with
their weapons and ammunition in and out of Iraq. Due to
the decaying security situation in Iraq, Japan will now
also co-operate more closely with the British troops -
not exactly on humanitarian mission there
either.
Prime Minister Junichiro Kouizumi
argues that SDF support the Iraqi people's wish to create
a stable, democratic state and thus serve Japan's best
interests. Asahi Shimbun states that " the government,
citing the importance of U.S. ties and the needs of
Iraqis, decided Thursday to extend the mission." It can
safely be assumed that Japan is in Iraq for the sake of
the U.S. and not for the sake of the Iraqi people or a
democracy that will never emerge out of this
occupation.
So, by being in Iraq Japan only
achieves this: ruining its international goodwill capital
because it is on the wrong side in this conflict and
increasing the risk of a terrorist attack on its troops
in Iraq or on Japan itself. In other words, insecurity
policy. The Japanese government's policy is incompatible
with any notion of world peace and welfare for the
suffering people in the majority world. It's incompatible
with international law and the principles of both its
Constitution and the Charter of the UN.
Add to that just a few of the other
militarization issues in the Japanese political
air:
- participation in the Theatre
Missile Defence (serving only to make nuclear war more
winnable for the US);
- liberalization of Japanese arms
exports,
- increased integration between
official (military) peace-building and development
assistance,
- the government's now officially
for the first time defining China as the major future
threat,
- the Prime Minister's lack of
empathy with the rest of the world in visiting the
Yasukuni Shrine,
- Japan's fundamental lack of an
independent-minded constructive policy vis-à-vis
North Korea,
and you have a fairly unpleasant
cocktail.
Political
correctness - incorrect policies
There is not much debate in Japan
about all this. NHK, the major national public service
media corporation, has told its viewers more about hungry
bears attacking a few individuals in the countryside,
about typhoons and corporations' ownership of baseball
teams than about Iraq or the deliberations of the
government. An expert in security matters seems to be an
interpreter of government reports and statements, not
someone who raises issues or criticizes government
policies publicly.
Political correctness means
everything here - however, the policy is anything but
correct. If you want to promote peace in the world, that
is.
Simultaneously, Japan wants to be
seen as a responsible world actor and pays comparatively
much to the UN so it wants a permanent seat in the
Security Council. But why should it when it supports a
war and an occupation that runs counter to the letter as
well as the spirit of that organization?
Keep and eye on
Japan - and imagine what it could do instead for true
peace
We in the West don't hear or talk
much about the international security role of Japan. If
the future, as it looks, means increased Japanese
militarism at home and abroad coupled with total
submissiveness under the U.S. empire, it's time we begin
to.
However, let's hope that the public
opinion and opposition in Japan gains momentum and the
country begins to think and act as a sovereign state.
Let's imagine that Japen moves closer to its regional,
much more natural allies and sees the EU as its first
partner in the West. Let's imagine that Japan speaks up
against weapons of mass destruction everywhere - no
country can do it with more conviction. And let's hope it
becomes the champion of real human security and conflict
resolution with peaceful means.
It's all perfectly possible for a
sovereign state. Japan could do it. All it takes is a
mature relation with the United States. And then it could
become one of the most fascinating and useful members to
the world community and a natural leader in the UN
Security Council and elsewhere. Indeed, there are few
limits to the good Japan could do for the world. If only
it chooses to and gets its peace - not war - acts
together.
© TFF and the author 2004
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