and he leaves it up to the warmongers in his cabinet to present him his options, you end up with one of the world’s “problem child” countries developing nukes and then shooting missiles off in the general direction of its neighbors.
And then, how do the neighbors respond? Why, with a little sabre rattling of their own:
TOKYO – Japan said Monday it was considering whether a pre-emptive strike on the North’s missile bases would violate its constitution, signaling a hardening stance ahead of a possible
U.N. Security Council vote on Tokyo’s proposal for sanctions against the regime. […]“If we accept that there is no other option to prevent an attack … there is the view that attacking the launch base of the guided missiles is within the constitutional right of self-defense. We need to deepen discussion,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said.
Japan’s constitution bars the use of military force in settling international disputes and prohibits Japan from maintaining a military for warfare. Tokyo has interpreted that to mean it can have armed troops to protect itself, allowing the existence of its 240,000-strong Self-Defense Forces.
(cont.)
Do I think Japan is on the verge of attacking North Korea. No. They lack the means to accomplish the sort of attack that is being bandied about in these official remarks. However, it is deeply disturbing that the Japanese would even feel the need to for this sort of posturing. In the past, they have relied on America’s forces to protect them from any potential threat, pursuant to our mutual defense pact with Japan. As such, they relied also on America to take the lead in matters involving foreign countries, like North Korea, who posed a threat to the Japanese homeland.
Indeed, the use of military force by Japan has been the one taboo subject in their political discussions. Memories of the disastrous result of Japan’s militarism during WWII, the force of their own post war constitution, and the security provided by the American military and our close economic ties, made the use of force unthinkable. Obviously, that is not the case anymore, and it is the failure of the Bush administration’s policies regarding North Korea that is the direct cause of Japan’s aggressive stance.
Japan’s leaders must no longer trust that US leadership, US diplomacy and the US military is up to the task. And one could hardly blame them. Bush has acted recklessly toward North Korea since the beginning of his Presidency, and his lumping them in with Iraq and Iran as part of his fictional “Axis of Evil” only inflamed tensions in the region. Then, his own appointee, John Bolton, worked to sabotage Colin Powell’s efforts at promoting a diplomatic solution to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
Bush’s focus on the invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq resulted in his administration neglecting the North Korean problem. Iraq has also worked to tie down the a great number of our effective combat units in the Persian Gulf region (air, sea and land). This has overstretched our forces, and weakened our ability to defend both South Korea and Japan in the event of hostilities. Both countries must now wonder if the US can effectively come to their aid should hostilities break out, even if Bush would want to do so.
What do I fear? That we may be seeing the beginning of a arms race in the Far East, and a remilitarized Japan, neither of which is good for our interests in the region. Let’s hope I’m wrong.
