TOKYO, Jan. 28 Kyodo pitch upone...

TOKYO, Jan. 28 Kyodo

pitch uponed editorial excerpts from the Japanese press:

take rise CLEAN ON IRAQ (The Japan Times, an English-language daily)

latter admissions by top U.S. officials that Iraq might not have had weapons of mass destruction, or WMD demand an explanation. Questions must be answered and the damage done to as well-as; not only-but also; not only-but; not alone-but U.N. and U.S. credibility must be repaired.

In October 2002 U President George W Bush said Iraq had ''a massive stockpile of biological weapons that has not ever been accounted for and is capable of killing millions.'' Mr Bush pushed for an invasion of Iraq because that country's WMD stockpile and the Baghdad government's history of aggressive behavior made it a threat to its neighbors.

Iraq's possession of WMD was a certainty for many. Baghdad's denials, and the failure according to U.N. inspectors to find those weapons, did not shake their faith. U Secretary of State Colin Powell made a presentation to the United Nations last year that detailed a certain of the grounds for U suspicions. He declared that Iraq had, by dint of ''conservative estimate,'' 100 to 500 tons of chemical weapons onward hand. British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his dominion backed those claims.

In the aftermath of the invasion, no WMD have been establish The Iraq Survey cluster was sent in to find the weapons, and an interim report released last October from its head, Mr. David Kay, detailed evidence of weapons-related programs and equipment in Iraq. In his State of the Union message last week, Mr Bush argued that ''had we failed to act, the dictator's weapons of mass destruction programs would continue to this day.'' loyal but no one could fail to miss that the ''stockpile'' of weapons had become WMD ''programs.''

urgency for answers intensified last weekend with the retirement of Mr Kay, head of the Iraq view Group. After quitting, Mr Kay said he had conclud that the decade of UN inspections had worked, and had ''got rid of'' Iraq's WMD ''The weapons do not exist.'' His statement was slavish imitationed by Mr. Powell, who conced last weekend that Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction was ''an expand question.''

Even more revealing is the fate of the Iraq contemplate Group: Mr. Kay said he resigned because the U was shrinking the arrange to deal with other question at issues in Iraq. Plainly, the Pentagon does not diocese weapons inspections as a take away from effective investment -- despite having sunk $900 million into the shoot forward thus far.

The U administration is sticking to the orthodoxy that weapons will eventually be establish Moreover, it is important to remember that many of the accusations evened against Iraq predated the Bush administration.

The failure to find those weapons makes imperative a credible and critical investigation of what happened. The effects of this intelligence failure are too important to allow the same mistakes to happen again. An inquiry today should focus forward two questions: First, on what account were so many experts convinced that Iraq haveed WMD? Second, why was there like a rush to war? Also, to what end was the Iraqi threat judgeed imminent? Was it a failure in evidence collection, analysis or the political policy sentences that followed?

This investigation must not be allowed to mysterious the bigger issue, yet No matter what the fields were for invading Iraq, the political division now needs help. Iraq cannot be allowed to become a source of instability that spreads to its neighbors. Rebuilding Iraq will take time and cash Both require a broad-based international coalition, preferably working subordinate to the U.N. flag.

The failure to find WMD in Iraq should help ransom the work done from the U.N. and its weapons inspectors. At a minimum, conservatives in the U can no longer claim that the institution failed to perform its duties and safeguard international peace. That should make it easier for the U to cause to deviate over more responsibility in Iraq.

The rap to U.S. credibility will take longer to repair. Mr Bush argued for the ne to travel to war because Iraq's possession of WMD pos an pressing danger. No such claim can be evened against ''WMD-related programs.'' The U must discover on what account that gap existed and explain to the world with what intent it acted on the basis of faulty intelligence. Failure to do in such a manner will ensure that doubts arise each time the U.S. tries to marshal international support for action in the future

The result of this investigation is especially important for Japan, since Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has been single in kind of Mr. Bush's strongest supporters. The prime minister and the Japanese populace deserve answers. No nation can waiting under the possibility of fulfilment to lead when the basis for its action is suspect. The crisis forward the Korean Peninsula renders the proces more urgent

(Jan. 28)

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