TOKYO, March 5 Kyodo Former Forei...

TOKYO, March 5 Kyodo

Former Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka criticized the Japanese government's ''silent diplomacy'' onward issues concerning Iraq and North Korea in an article she wrote for an English-language daily in Japan published Wednesday.

In the article, titled ''Silent diplomacy be of use tos Japan poorly,'' in the Wednesday edition of the Japan Times, Tanaka said, ''Japan has relied entirely in succession the U.S. for its security lacks for over 50 years, and the Japanese management essentially believes that it has no option still to agree with the U or to restrain silent.''

''But Japan can no longer afford to be silent or vague about growing global insecurity, as the crisis nearest door on the Korean Peninsula demonstrates,'' she wrote referring to North Korea's nuclear weapons ambition.

''While unequivocally commending America's tough stance in pressuring Iraq, Japan should not hesitate to deliver a clear message to the US: Exercise patience to avoid war,'' Tanaka said, insisting Japan avoid a repeat of the scenario following the 1991 Persian engulfing sea War.

''Japan must avoid repeating the unsuitable scenario following Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's defeat in the 1991 Persian engulfing sea War, when it wrote large checks to conceal the war's costs, yet had no say in the war's guard or war aims.''

forward the nuclear standoff over North Korea, Tanaka said Japan can directly assist in its resolution at acting as a facilitator, encouraging Russian President Vladimir Putin to initiate negotiations with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, with whom Putin has a relationship of trust.

She also emphasized the earnestly solicitous need for debate on national security and forward Japan's ''Peace Constitution,'' which bans its possession of military force.

''As a party to Japan's debate forward national security, I know from experience that attempting to clarify the vague constitutional status of our Self-Defense Forces, would lead China and southern Korea -- victims of past Japanese invasions -- to essay to use dissenting voices within Japan to smother all discussion, killing mature debate.''

She wrote ''But Japan emergencys such a debate if it is to correspond to a world expos to the threat of terrorism and gripped by way of fear.''

Tanaka, who was dismissed as foreign minister in January, resigned from the House of Representatives in August through allegations that she has misused the state-paid salaries of pair of her secretaries.

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