| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Japan backs U.S. stance on Iraq deadline |
| 2003-03-17 |
| 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 |
| #6 UNSC's an anachronism that couldn't be 'fixed' without exposing it as a sham. Don't think India would be too happy about Japan jumping the queue. Foremost adjustment should be removal of France for unreasonable use (or threat of use of) veto, and for being an arrogant, shamelessly imperialist, dictator-loving cess pit. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2003-03-17 17:18:22 |
| #5 Win, win for Japan. Attack on Iraq serves as a very visible warning to North Korea and now perhaps they can get W. to push for a seat on the Security Council for Japan. Yeah the Security Council will be primarily useless now but it's a pride thing. Also you've got the world economy on pause until this thing is over, certainly Japan would like things to shake loose again. |
| Posted by: Yank 2003-03-17 14:33:12 |
| #4 japan has been attempting to use its still considerable economic clout to influence wavering UNSC memebers. Unfortunately that is wasted effort, now. Japan can do little in the war, but they can be VERY important in reconstruction of Iraq. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-03-17 09:00:31 |
| #3 Koizumi needs the UN and American force to confront the N. Korean situation as soon as the Iraq war is over. Bush and Koizumi will surely try to use the IAEA and ElBaradei (we haven't seen the last of him and Blixie, I fear) to squeeze Krazy Kimmie (and Iran too, perhaps)into backing down on the plutonium production. If we fail to go to war to enforce the Iraqi resolutions, whatever UN resolutions there are on North Korea will carry no weight whatsoever. I'm sure Koizumi sees this. I'm kind of suspicious of him but he's done good this time. When it counts. Now do you think he'll stop visiting the temples of the war gods (Tojo's buried there too) and pissing off the rest of Asia? Do you think he'll crack down on bad loans? |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-03-17 04:05:22 |
| #2 Koizumi is a big Elvis Presley Fan, too. I like him. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-03-17 03:34:28 |
| #1 From the Japanese POV this surely looks like a good opportunity to be in on the creation of a new global political order that won't -- as the last one did -- marginalize Japan relative to its population and economic strength. |
| Posted by: someone 2003-03-17 00:53:11 |