Japan Ponders Building Nuclear Arsenal

[sujan]

TOKYO - Just a few years ago, talk about possessing nuclear weapons would have been the pinnacle of taboo in Japan, the only nation to suffer atomic attacks.

But the nuclear ambitions of neighboring North Korea now have this nation thinking the unthinkable, even as it marks the anniversaries this week of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings — should Japan have its own atomic arsenal?

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=516&ncid=721&e=10&u=/ap/20030808/ap_on_re_as/japan_talking_nuclear

[Randi_Listener]

1. "The Asian....

...is very gifted at creativity and invention.....they can turn a television into a watch."

sincerely,
Reggie White

[rook1]

20. My Wife

...is Asian and she has never been able to turn a TV into a watch.
A watch is a watch and a TV is a TV. Let's not get confused about what we are talking about....

[Abaques]

26. I think that was just a joke regarding the stupidity of Reggie White...

But it does bring up an important factor in all of this...


Japan is just about the only nation which has the technological and manufacturing capability of equalling the US's millitary technology.

What sets our millitary so far ahead is our advanced technology. No other nation can match the electronics and software we employ in our weapons systems.

But if Japan decided that it needed to rebuild its millitary to a larger scale, it would have that capability. And if we continue to have Bushco continuing to screw up world politics, it may be in Japan's best interest to rebuild its millitary.

Japan's economy has been in the dumps for along time now, and if the government decided to make a big push into rebuilding their millitary and their national spirit, it might help pull them out of the funk they've been in (and probably give them Bush-sized deficits...).

To echo the words of Yamamoto (at least from what I remember of Tora! Tora! Tora!).....

"I fear that we have awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with terrible resolve."

[newyawker99]

36. Hi Abaques!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[phillybri]

2. Way to go W!!!

You could've taken steps to diffuse the NK situation, instead you acted like a dick and now another country wants to go nuclear.

Well done, asshole!!!

[revree]

3. The whole world is de-evolving

Thanks, Bush, Rove and fellow assholes.

[tom_paine]

18. Yup, the 21st Century came in full of promise

I have no doubt it will leave in ashes, flames, poverty, death and Totalitarianism.

I guess that shows, it's always brightest before the lights go out...

[oneighty]

4. What do bet?

I expect the Japanese scientists are weeks away from putting into production

the designs for Nuclear Weapons that have been waiting for years.

They would be foolish not to. The Japanese people cannot and should not depend

on the Neocon USofA for defense.

180

[Heddi]

5. Do you know anything about

the rules against Japan having a military? I'm not so sure of this, but I thought when WWII was over, one of the conditions for their surrender was that they couldn't deploy a military outside of their country or something.....tried google, but am not coming up with anything (prolly not using the right keywords).

If that's the case, I can't believe America would ever "allow" Japan to have anything nuclear at all---because if they did, then they COULD join Russia, China, N.Korea as an Asian Super-Nuke Axis---not that I think they would, but the Gov't would certainly start talking up "instability" in Japan, etc etc.

I personally don't like the idea of nuclear weapons (or weapons of any kind), but even more than that, I don't like that according to America, *WE* should be the only people on the planet that's allowed to have them.

Japan fully knows the wrath of atomic war, and they have just as much right to protect themselves from US, seeing as we have the largest nucelar arsenal in the world....

[sujan]

7. yes

Their consitution doesn't allow to attack other countries or wage any pre-emptive wars. But it does allow for a defense force.

[Heddi]

8. oh okay---I thought

that they couldn't ever have a military force outside their country or something weird like that.

So when it says that they can't attack other countries, do they mean that they can't take retaliatory measures as well? I certainly hope not, and I'm sure that's not the case.

Thanks so much for clearing that up for me. (I wish our constitution had the same clause)

[sujan]

10. no

They have every right to defend themselves in an active war. But it expressively forbids any aggression.

Relevant link:
http://www.oefre.unibe.ch/law/icl/ja00000_.html

Check out 'Chapter II Renunciation of War'

[Heddi]

12. thanks so much!

I'm reading a few books now on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and was talking with my husband about this very thing last night.

Thanks for the info!

[Judi Lynn]

15. How vile it is to know that Bush has been pressuring Japan

to provide soldiers now, in Iraq, to replace American troops.

Heard about this last week. I didn't even remember they have special prohibitions concerning their military.

Very bitterly cruel administration, Bush's.

[oneighty]

13. Hey Heddi

International rules, regulations, treaties, Geneva convention are all old world.

We are well into the NEW WORLD ORDER. Now it is every man, woman

and country on their own. The Bushes, PANC have "Brought it on".

The best layed plans of mice and men are in the toilet.

By the way. Japan sent Mine Sweepers to Korea in 1950,

to help out the American Sweepers. They voted to send Japanese troops to Iraq.

Used- to- bees do not count any more.

IMHO...180

[Heddi]

16. oh yah...I know that

but it seems that rules, treaties, geneva conventions, UN and stuff like that can be broken ONLY by the US.

Like, it's okay for US not to comply with treaties we've signed, but it's high treason if anyone else doesn't comply.

We live in strange times. It feels so....1984, ya know....and that's scary

[TSElliott]

14. The decision to not have an offensive

military is part of their constitution and is self-imposed. In addition to this the country could always change their constitution and create an offensive military force. I was speaking with my parents last night about this they are visiting me from Japan, they told me that North Korea has always been a threat to Japan but now that they have nuclear weapons a lot of people are talking about forgoing the constitution and creating the military.

My father is really pushing for this; he believes that the Japanese people are loosing themselves to western culture and that the youth today have no respect for their elders. He is really into the idea of creating a mandatory military that all Japanese youth attend, he thinks that it will bring honor back into the culture. I personally do not believe it should be mandatory because I believe the best militaries consist of people who voluntarily join it.

[Heddi]

17. oh---I was under the impression

that it was part of their terms of surrender, and that those rules (no pre-emptive strikes, etc) were terms that the US insisted on, and that those were things that were still in effect.

I really appreciate everyone helping me out with this. I now feel so much more knowledgeable :)

thanks a million times over!!!

[teryang]

19. Erh, Japan has invaded and burned Korea multiple times

On the last occasion, they took over the country in 1902 and annexed it in 1911. They conducted a cruel, ruthless, and illegal regime and tortured, raped, kidnapped and murdered thousands. My mother in law reads and writes Japanese because it was a crime to teach or study Korean during the Japanese colonial rule.

The Japanese are a much more violent culture than the Confucians on the mainland. That is why they respect us so much, but not their neighbors.

Japan has the second largest defense budget in the world. Call it a self defense force but the Chinese are watching their current actions very carefully.

[StandWatie]

27. We have been trying to twist their arm into defending themselves for years

The US would see it as positive if they took on the role of containing China for us.

[MidwestMomma]

6. Bush IS a uniter...

He's going to unite the world in new nuclear arms race. I swear, every day is like a bad dream.

[tomp]

9. attack japan now!

we can look for saddam later.

[Starpass]

11. I remember Biden warning about this quite some time ago

He went through the scenerio (and this was before NK gave us the finger) of the dominoes the Bush policies were going to have across the world in the "I better have a nuke, too" scramble. Thus, it makes if much, much more likely that one of these border war, tribal fights someday will involve a big "boom" and all hell will break loose.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

21. Look How the Shrub has improved the world...

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!1

Seriously, it's not funny. Another reason to oust Bush next year!

[Generic Other]

22. I kind of wish they'd release Godzilla instead

Calling All Monsters! Come save the world from Bush!

This is such a 180 for the Japanese that it will be difficult for them to achieve. They are weaned on the notion of nuclear disarmament as the only way to save the planet from annhilation.

[IndianaGreen]

23. We will come to regret the reawakening of Japanese imperialism

We seem to be hell-bent in destroying everything we tried to build since the end of the Second World War.

[sujan]

24. follow up:

Japan's PM vows not to go nuclear at A-bomb anniversary

Reaffirming his country's non-nuclear policy, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi denied on Saturday that Japan would go nuclear as Nagasaki marked the 58th anniversary of US atomic-bomb devastation.

"Our country will never change the position," he told the main memorial service in Nagasaki, pointing to Japan's 35-year-old policy banning the production, possession and presence of nuclear weapons on its territory.




http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_334373,00050004.htm

[Abaques]

25. Wait until N. Korea tests a nuke....

And watch Japan build their first nuke in 15 minutes.

[sujan]

28. yeah rrrr--right

nukes in 15 minutes? - is there a hand book?

[Art_from_Ark]

30. North Koreans won't attack Japan

That would stop the flow of yen into their country.

[Abaques]

33. What other major cities outside the Korean pennisula...

...can N. Korea threaten with its current missles?


If push comes to shove the threat of nuking Tokyo seems like a nice bit of leverage for N. Korea.

[Abaques]

32. I wasn't being serious with the 15 minute thing....

....just saying that it wouldn't take Japan very long to make a nuke. Thats all.

[Zech Marquis]

31. 15 minutes?

hel, give 'em 5 minutes max. I lived in japan when they had plans for some super fighter plane.It was never shown in public, but the deisgn was so good, Raygun, and then Poppy, saw to it that the Jietai could "only" develop an F-16 varient. but you can bet your bottom dollar that those blueprints (and god knows what else) is just waiting for the word go :nuke:


And yes, once NK does indeed test a nuclear weapon, Japan will forget all about forbidding their own, faster than a drunk japanese girl in Ropongi on a Friday night.

[Art_from_Ark]

34. What purpose would it serve for Japan to play tit-for-tat

with North Korea? There are already enough conventional and other weapons aimed at NK to wipe it out if they were launch an attack against Japan. Plus, the accuracy of whatever delivery system they have has never been verified, so they would risk not even hitting their intended target. They might have something to gain by threatening an attack, but they would have absolutely nothing to gain by carrying one out.

[Art_from_Ark]

29. Koizumi's direct quote, in Japanese, is here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=153617&mesg_id=153617

[genius]

35. Bush is frightening everyone

Pretty soon the whole world will be prepared to defend itself from the threat of Bush.