|
Japan backs U.S. stance on Iraq deadline
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, shrugging off voter opposition to a war on Iraq, threw his backing behind the United States on Monday after President George W. Bush declared the day would be "a moment of truth".Another Blair? "Iraq must take this extremely seriously. Peace, or war?," Koizumi told reporters. "At this stage, we are continuing the final, last-ditch efforts. The United Nations, too, must take this extremely seriously. The authority of the United Nations is being called into question." Asked whether this meant he was backing Washington, Koizumi said: "I will support (the United States). I have already been supporting them." Good man, another one willing to state the truth even though it has cost him at home. Koizumi's popularity ratings, his main weapon against rivals in his party, have fallen to record lows due to dismay over his stance on Iraq, worries about Japan's prolonged economic stagnation and simmering ruling party scandals. A weekend survey by Kyodo news agency showed support for Koizumi's cabinet had fallen to 41.3 percent, a 7.5-point drop from a month earlier and the lowest since he took office two years ago promising sweeping economic and political reforms. Koizumi, keen to keep the United States happy as he worries about nearby North Korea's nuclear ambitions, had backed a U.S.-British proposal to set a deadline for Iraq to disarm. Like British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Koizumi had hoped for U.N. backing for the deadline to mute the hefty public opposition domestically to a U.S.-led attack. Kyodo also said its polling showed that four out of five Japanese voters opposed a U.S.-led attack on Iraq, but previous surveys have shown opposition would drop if the military operation were backed by a new U.N. Security Council resolution. On Monday, with the United States close to abandoning efforts to win a new U.N. resolution, Koizumi said existing U.N. Security Council resolution 1441 would be enough to go ahead with war. We need to keep this guy around too. Posted by: Steve White 2003-03-17 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=11390 |