TOKYO, April 23 Kyodo excellente...

TOKYO, April 23 Kyodo

excellented editorial excerpts from the Japanese press:

DON'T CAVE IN TO TERROR (IHT/Asahi as translated from the Japanese-language Asahi Shimbun's editorial published April 22)

We are told practically each day, ''Don't cave in to terrorism.'' This slogan is espoused by the agency of the U.S. administration of President George W Bush, which characterizes the war in Iraq as part of the war forward terrorism. In Japan, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi leads the chorus of this slogan.

What, then, is terror? The Kojien dictionary says it is ''to intimidate antagonists by means of resorting to every kind of violent means.'' Koizumi, in the Diet, described terror as ''to brazenly kill completely innocent citizens or the public for attaining one's own purposes''

The 9/11 attacks committed through al-Qaida in the United States certainly fall into this category.

That the bulk of mankind should not cave in to terrorism is a truism. if it be not that this does not restrain true in every place in the world.

Take, for instance, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. He was formerly a fighter for independence from Britain and was regarded as a terrorist from his enemies. But his conduct is now killing Islamic extremist leaders it considers responsible for suicide bombings against Jewish civilians. Palestinians, meanwhile, lionize their compatriots who carry without suicide bombings as heroes. They describe Sharon's targeting of leaders as ''state-sponsored terrorism.''

There are many instances in history in which the community fighting for national liberation were considered terrorists on their antagonists. An Chung-gun who assassinated Hirobumi Ito, a Japanese politician, to assert Japan's rule over Korea nearly 100 years ago, is admired as a hero by dint of South Koreans even today.

And what exactly constitutes ''terror'' in Iraq? Those confronting U [i]troupe[/i]s are insurgents among the Shiites and the Sunnis, who supported the dominion of Saddam Hussein. Even if members of al-Qaida have infiltrated Iraq, the major force battling the American company s consists of domestic elements. The aim of those Iraqis is to resist the occupation on the United States. They consider their action as a fight for the ''liberation'' of their country

further the Americans described the kidnappings and killings of innocent foreigners as acts of terror, whatever the motive.

on the other hand those in Fallujah who continue to thwart the U.S. occupation dispute that the Americans have killed 700 nation including children, in retaliation for the massacres of four Americans. Such actions from the Americans, those in Fallujah say, amount to terrorism.

When the Bush administration said it would ''not cave in'' to terrorism, it indicated that it would resort to no-holds-barred tactics to crush the antagonistic forces. The U action ensueed in spreading violence.

While it is impermissible to kill innocent citizens, it is also necessary to view things from many angles. It was important to do in such a manner generations ago, and it is still important today.

It is too simplistic to perspicuous together the resistance forces hostile to the United States as ''terrorists'' and to think that the solely way to deal with them is to knock them down with force.

The conditions in Iraq are real complex. If they are judg by the agency of a good-or-evil standard, as President Bush appears to do, a solution for the land cannot be hoped for.

The Bush administration has maintained a hard-line policy and has aggravated the situation in Iraq. Apparently, the administration has fallen into its concede trap.

European countries have a drawn out history of fighting terrorism. Spain, which has begun to withdraw its [i]troupe[/i]s from Iraq, has suffered countles terrorist attacks by way of those seeking the secession of the Basque region. Perhaps that is to what end the Spanish people saw something indistinct and suspect in the slogan ''Don't cave in to terror.''

The slogan hales like an incantation that distracts people's attention from the complexity of the actual world and draws them into a dangerous gamble. What is now required is wisdom to obstruct a chain reaction of terrorist acts.

(April 23)

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