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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Japan, Australia to sign defense pact in Tokyo |
| 2007-03-13 |
| Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was set to sign a ground-breaking defense pact with Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Tuesday that both leaders have emphasized is not aimed at reining in China. Heavens no! The agreement will make Australia a closer security ally of Japan than any country except the United States. "The purpose of this is to express a common desire of Japan and Australia to work ever closer together to contribute to security in the region," Howard told reporters after meeting Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma. "It is obviously an important step forward. You never forget the past. You move on from the past, and you don't allow the past to contaminate what you do in the present or in the future," he said. The four-part defense agreement sets priorities for security cooperation in such areas as counter-terrorism, maritime security, border protection and disaster relief. It also sets out, er, shared regional concerns. The agreement comes after North Korea shook the region with nuclear and missile tests last year and China shot down a satellite in January, sparking increased concern over Beijing's rising military might. Echoing earlier remarks by Howard, Abe said the deal was not aimed at reining in China and that it would help stabilize the entire Asia-Pacific region. "For our two countries to cooperate promotes the development of the region, as well as contributing to peace and security in the world at large," Abe told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio, speaking through an interpreter. "Japan and Australia are important partners together sharing common values and common strategic interests," Abe said. Australia has said the pact may lead to intelligence sharing and Japanese troops participating in exercises on Australian soil, although both countries have pointed out that it will not be a mutual defense treaty like Tokyo has with Washington. Tokyo and Canberra will draw up an action plan after signing the agreement, with officials to work out how military forces from both countries will work together. The two countries already have a history of military cooperation. Howard hosted a ceremony at his Tokyo hotel on Tuesday to thank a group of uniformed Japanese troops representing those who served with the Australian forces on a reconstruction mission in southern Iraq. As the United States' most loyal allies in the Asia-Pacific, both countries sent troops to Iraq. more at link |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #4 9-11 and 3000 dead, like the USS ARIZONA = PEARL HARBOR ATTACK, etc. is not a war but an "incident" that requirea total and complete National-Societal militarization + Gubmintization for Safety, Security, Accountability, and Self-protection, BUT NOT TO DO ANYTHING AGZ OUR ENEMIES. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-03-13 23:23 |
| #3 mac, the Aussies got blood in spades when Tokyo, Kobe etc. were fire bombed more than once, add Hiroshima and Nagasaki into the mix and you have revenge enough to satisfy any soul. Besides those three raids untold hoards of Japanese were killed in combat and other areas of Japan and it's outlying islands. The fire raid on the night of March 9-10, 1945, killed more than 100,000 civilians and razed nearly half of Tokyo in one fire raid, final months of World War II. 140,000 died in Hiroshima. [seems a bit high] the numbers vary with agendas, records can't be that accurate due to the aftermath & chaos. 74,000 died in Nagasaki. etc. lesson #1; a lesson that most of our politicians have forgotten or have refused to remember is DON'T PROVOKE America into TOTAL WAR. |
| Posted by: RD 2007-03-13 22:41 |
| #2 People in Australia have memories almost as short as ours. If you had told some Aussie in 1945 that this would happen one day he would have KNOWN you were flipping nuts. If the Aussies had been the ones with the A-Bomb in WWII there would now be no Japan. They were pretty pissed off about Jap atrocities against their POWs, particularly what happened to their nurses left on the Kokoda Trail, and they wanted blood REAL badly. And deservedly so. |
| Posted by: Mac 2007-03-13 17:51 |
| #1 ...not aimed at reining in China. Riiiiiight. Anyway, good to see a nice set of allies being set up in the Pacific. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-03-13 07:14 |