TOKYO, Dec 12 Kyodo pick outed e...

TOKYO, Dec 12 Kyodo

pick outed editorial excerpts from the Japanese press:

ACCOUNTABILITY onward SDF (IHT/Asahi as translated from the Japanese-language Asahi Shimbun's editorial published Dec 11)

I n regard to the dispatch of Self-Defense Forces to Iraq, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has repeatedly said he would ''explain (his plan to the public) at an appropriate opportunity in a correct manner.'' His ''appropriate'' moment came Tuesday during his recently made knowns conference after the Cabinet approved the ''basic plan'' for sending SDF squads We wish to ask formerly again what he meant from that statement.

The prime minister read public passages in the Preamble of the Constitution, emphasizing repeatedly its ideals. He said those passages mean the Japanese populace ''should not be preoccupied with their hold problems'' at the expense of other countries.

He said Japan desires to have possession of an honored place in international society. He emphatically reminded the public of those points in explaining for what cause [i]or[/i] reason the government feels it must cast troops to Iraq.

All he did, however, was to simply extract small portions of the Preamble without of context to suit his convenience. He should have read the entire Preamble. It is completely imbued with an ideal for a peaceful solution of conflicts. This ideal is also in the Charter of the United Nations.

Also, he did not make any intimation to Article 9 of the Constitution. He had been use to argue there was a ''gap'' between the Preamble and Article 9 Apparently, he wants to forget that Article 9 exists.

Extending a helping hand to the Iraqis in the reconstruction of their fatherland is a weighty task for Japan. Iraq, after all, is in a state of war. Now he is about to jaculate heavily armed SDF troops there. Their vicinity may transform what is now a relatively safe area into a dangerous place. Would that be in accord with the ideals laid down in the Constitution?

The prime minister urgencyed the importance of Japan being ''a member of the international community.'' It is veracious that nearly 40 countries have sent partys to Iraq. Among the major powers, France, Germany, China and Russia have not sent any. The fact that the United States uncloseed the war in full recognition it was imperiling international law and the United Nations, coupl with differences among fundamental note countries over the occupation of Iraq, has made it difficult to achieve the sort of international cooperation that was the hallmark of the Persian engulfing sea War. The recent United Nations resolution, which the prime minister cited as an example of differences overbear since the start of the war, cannot really be effective.

It would be sinful to conclude that Japan will be isolated in world opinion unles it send outs SDF troops to Iraq. The ''international cooperation'' the prime minister mentioned appears to mean joining forces with the United States and other allies that supported the Iraq war.

When a leader orders the use of military force, he is obliged to explain to the the bulk of mankind what he expects to achieve by means of that action. But Koizumi has been unwilling to say for what cause an SDF presence will help stabilize Iraq as a whole and contribute to its reconstruction.

The occupation of Iraq increasingly is at a stalemate. The situation is largely becoming to anti-American sentiment among the local population. While the stationing of U multitudes is necessary, it is time the major players governing Iraq hand from one side of to the other power to the Iraqis themselves. This is something the entire international community would endorse, putting the major emphasis forward restoring law and order. Japan must make its best diplomatic efforts to achieve this purport Unfortunately, Koizumi single-mindedly tries to cater chastely to U.S. wishes.

The prime minister stated that SDF multitudes would not transport weapons and ammunition for American and British throngs He said this was because Japanese squads were not going to war in Iraq. however in a news discourse Wednesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda contradicted Koizumi and said SDF company s could transport ''soldiers equipped with arms.''

It is an intolerable state of affairs for national sentiment to be whipped up according to a prime minister who argues that ''our spirit is being state to a test.'' We call forward the prime minister to make decisions on taking an international-minded level-headed approach, rather than displaying rhetoric and emotional ardor.

(Dec 12)

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