Alex Kerr on nukes

[thomas]

Alex Kerr on North Korean nukes, Daily Times, Pakistan:

Will North Korean nukes rouse Japan from 窶?tupor窶?

Article 9 has been so diluted by doublespeak as to become virtually meaningless. An early strike against Korea, Ishiba explains, would be 窶彭efensive窶? not 窶徘re-emptive.窶 Likewise, in May 2002, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe declared that Japan could have nuclear weapons so long as they were 窶徭mall.窶 In fact, he added, 窶廬n legal theory Japan could have intercontinental ballistic missiles and atomic bombs.窶

Yet anti-war psychology in Japan runs deep. The lesson of the disaster of World War II remains strong. Millions of people visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki each year, which remain holy shrines against the evil of nuclear weapons. Japan associates war with horror, not valour. There is also a deep fear of things getting out of hand. The public realizes that Japan窶冱 political system has no brakes once a policy has started, politicians and bureaucrats tend to carry it to incredible extremes. Former Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew once said, 窶弋o let an armed Japan participate in [peacekeeping operations] is like giving a chocolate filled with whiskey to an alcoholic.窶 For years, leading politicians and pundits have called for revision of the constitution yet nobody dares begin a process that might open Pandora窶冱 box.

=> http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_21-2-2003_pg4_12