Japan Repeats: Japan ready to strike first if threatened: PM

The Japanese Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, has indicated his country would be prepared to make a pre-emptive strike against a foreign threat, adopting the most strident position by a Japanese leader since World War II.

Mr Koizumi also advocated amending Japan's war-renouncing constitution to allow its 240,000-strong Self-Defence Forces to be called the military.

His comments reflect Japan's defence policy changing from hesitant pacifism to a more robust, deterrent-oriented posture. The shift has been prompted by threats from international terrorism and communist North Korea.

www.smh.com.au...

President George W. Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Friday that "tougher measures" will be warranted against North Korea if it escalates nuclear tensions. The two leaders, however, asserted confidence that diplomatic tactics will prevail.

Bush said he and Koizumi view the nuclear crisis in "exactly the same way" � an absolute unwillingness to let Pyongyang become a nuclear-armed power. "We will not tolerate nuclear weapons in North Korea," Bush said in a joint appearance with Koizumi after a summit at his Texas ranch. "We will not give in to blackmail," Bush said. "We will not settle for anything less than the complete, verifiable and irreversible elimination of North Korea's nuclear weapons program."

"We are confident that our diplomatic approach will bring a peaceful solution," Bush said. "Yet we agreed that further escalation of the situation by North Korea will require tougher measures from the international community."

Koizumi echoed Bush's demands � in some instances using precisely the same language. "North Korea will have to understand that threats and intimations have no meaning whatsoever," the Japanese leader said.

CBS News Report

It seems beyond any shadow of doub't Japan has nuclear weapons.

Indeed.

I posted somewhere about 3 months ago that Japans nuclear industry "lost" 200+ kilos of Plutonium in reprocessing.... Hmmm... wonder where that could have gone??

I remember that several years ago Japan was given access to (If memory serves) and F-15 which they modified and as a result improved it substantially.

Am wondering what will happen when they get a hold of our cruise missiles.

Yep, the Jap's took american and european cars and by the late 80's had in manufacturing and quality almost surpassed their compeditors. Nowadays there is virtually no comparrassion except the price tags.

Last weeks response from the G8....

www.reuters.com...

Hello WWIII.

Don't think that China is going to sit back and watch N. Korea get bombarded. They will see it as an attack against communism- i.e. they will be next. A preemptive attack leads to another preemptive attack. The G8 would have a tough time with china. I mean, china v. canada, germany, italy, france- a joke.

If this is truly inevitable, all I have to say is that I hope we strike soon and unannounced, and go nuclear or neutronic on a massive scale. I would really not like to see it happen, but if it does I sure would like to be around to see the aftermath.

I doubt it'll happen that way.

I have a feeling that if someone does ANYTHING to NK, it will most likely be China, bringing NK back into line (with an outside chance that Japan might knock them down on thier own).

We could have a war in Asia involving NK, SK, China, Taiwan and Japan. What will be the USA & Russia positions ? I think they'll fight too in that war.

And it's very dangerous. When powerfull nation as China, Russia, USA and Japan are fighting we're close from a new world war. NK is really a pain in the a.. for the whole world. If NK strike a nation ( SK, Japan... ) I think Russia and China will let them down and will not support them. Who want to die for Pyongyang ?????

and if it does kick off.... would the UK get involved?

Talk about conspiracy. This topic is pure war-mongering blabber.

Conspiracy, what conspiracy? These are facts and the person who began all this �war mongering babble�, as you put it - is Mr. Kim. North Korea has continued to propagate their nuclear capability and have threatened to attack South Korea. That is a serious threat to world peace and stability, and must be dealt with objectively.

If you�re not interested in this topic why not ignore it, as I�ve done with all of your posts?

Who started it???

Got me.

I didn't follow the family wars between several nations for the last 50 years. All I know is that it began for us when the propagandist pigs of our country made this situation with the weapons of mass destruction a huge war between, East and West, Capitalist, and Communist. The Cold War is to blame for all this.

So is bad foreign policy. Atoms for peace, remember that???

Now look at our position.

George W. says stuff like this:

"Anyone who posses, makes, seeks, and sells weapons of mass destruction is a war criminal."


Is that so???

Well then are not we criminals???


Lets get real here. This is about weapon hostilites. This is all. Now, it is reasonable to act in defense, and protect one's domain. But it is another thing to butt in, and pry on the places of others. Tell me this, how do you feel about weapons rights???

Do you feel that certain nations should hold rights to certain weapons???

And if so why???


Abe

Butting in does not apply here Abe, as South Korea is a U.S. ally and under direct threat from North Korea.

Nuclear power carries the unspoken threat of total annihilation and any sane nation would not want to press that boundary for fear of the consequences. I would suggest that with military might and nuclear capability; come the responsibility not to abuse it by starting wars and killing possibly millions of people. If America wanted to bully other nations with the threat of nuclear weapons, it could do so � but it doesn�t. Why? Because America realises the horrors of a nuclear holocaust and only maintains its nuclear arsenal as a deterrent against foreign aggressors. America knows that it has the edge and uses political and economic pressure to manipulate other nations and get what it wants.

Sure that means that America carries the biggest stick on the block � but someone has to, why not the U.S.? The old saying goes, �might is right�. Meaning that the U.S. and her allies do enjoy an imbalance of power in the world today � but that�s just the way it is. Should the U.S. say, �OK everybody, we�ve decided that it�s unfair for us to have so much power, so we�re going to share it equally with all of you�. It�s natural for America to want to remain the dominant world power � hey, being in control of the world �feels good�. That�s human nature and just the way things are at present.

Personally, I�m glad that America has the edge and hope things remain like that for a long time to come. I�d hate to think about some of the fanatical third world countries ever getting possession of nuclear weapons. With their rigid beliefs and centuries old hatreds and traditions � there might not be much of a planet for anyone to enjoy, let alone control, if they did have this technology.

"Personally, I�m glad that America has the edge and hope things remain like that for a long time to come. I�d hate to think about some of the fanatical third world countries ever getting possession of nuclear weapons. With their rigid beliefs and centuries old hatreds and traditions � there might not be much of a planet for anyone to enjoy, let alone control, if they did have this technology."

I thought Israel had nukes?

Yes, Israel most certainly possesses some level of nuclear capability. America has allowed Israel to continue their defence programs because (I believe) it suits American interests in that region. And that certainly looks hypocritical - apparently; it�s always benefited U.S. foreign policy to have pro-American Israel as an ally in the Middle East. Allowing Israel to possess WMD while surrounded by enemy states has been volatile move by America, but probably served to keep the Arabs in check. Geo-politics can be very risky business and America foreign policy planners have made some very poor decisions in the past. Trying to manage world affairs seems an almost impossible task and carries the potential to backfire. But Israel has been America�s ally since its inception, and Israel doesn�t make demands and threaten to launch an attack if they�re not given what they want (as Mr. Kim has done). Israel did threaten to launch nuclear weapons against Iraq recently, but only if Iraq launched weapons against them first. At the end of the day, Israel remained on the side lines and allowed the U.S. led coalition to deal with the Iraqi regime.

I realise that should the Palestinian situation escalate to the point that Israel lost reason and launched whatever WMD it has, it would be a disaster. Unfortunately, that may be beyond America�s ability to control and in hindsight, a very poor choice. I do become a bit disillusioned when I read reports about U.S. political planners making poor choices based on incorrect information or grandiose assumptions. I hope Israel�s possession of WMD won�t backfire and bring about a nuclear holocaust. Consider the following statements by Israelis, related information and links.

Ariel Sharon: "Arabs may have the oil, but we have the matches."

Seymour Hersh: Should war break out in the Middle East again, or should any Arab nation fire missiles against Israel, as the Iraqis did, a nuclear escalation, once unthinkable except as a last resort, would now be a strong probability."

General Saguy fully shares the notion of a threat to Israel's very survival: `Syria has always been and still is a threat to the security and very survival of the State of Israel', the reason being that `Syria continues to arm itself.' This statement is documented by a long list of Syrian weaponry purchases without mentioning Israeli ones.

Israeli nuclear development information:
Israel began its search for nuclear weapons at the inception of the state in 1948. As payment for Israeli participation in the Suez Crisis of 1956, France provided nuclear expertise and constructed a reactor complex for Israel at Dimona capable of large-scale plutonium production and reprocessing. Israel is believed to possess the largest and most sophisticated arsenal outside of the five declared nuclear powers. Israel has never admitted possessing nuclear weapons, but abundant information is available showing that the capability exists. The centre of Israel's weapons program is the Negev Nuclear Research Centre near the desert town of Dimona (the centre is usually identified simply as "Dimona"). A nuclear reactor and plutonium production facility was built by France at this facility in the late 1950s and early 60s. All of the production and fabrication of special nuclear materials (plutonium, lithium-6 deuteride, and enriched and unenriched uranium) occurs at Dimona although the design and assembly of nuclear weapons occurs elsewhere.
August 18, 2000: New satellite pictures of Israel's nuclear reactor were published on the front page of an Israeli mass-circulation newspaper Friday, a sign that Israel's nuclear weapons capability is being discussed here with increasing openness after decades of silence.

UN Report: Two of the most sensitive questions in the world of nuclear arms control - what do the nuclear powers need to do to convince the rest of the world they are serious about nuclear disarmament and what should be done about Israel's not-so-secret nuclear weapons program - have now taken centre-stage at the Review Conference for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The transformation of the Middle East into a zone free of WMD - nuclear, chemical and biological - including delivery vehicles is highlighted as the best option to put an end to the threats of all these weapons, to ban all missile defense systems and to prevent US counter proliferation strategies and its policies against the so-called rogue states. Finally, the political conditions to implement the alternatives are briefly examined. Among them are the necessity of socio-economic and human development as the assured base to secure national security; the elimination of the root causes of conflicts to be pursued instead of conflict management, the transformation of civil society into human society, and other appropriate conditions which ensure the implementation of the alternatives.

Israeli Weapons of Mass Destruction

Israel may have 200 nuclear weapons

Israel�s Nuclear Weapons

Israeli Nuclear Weapons Links

Israel Military Industries Ltd.

Israel�s Nuclear Weapons

Israeli Technology

The US-Israeli Connection

Israel Readies Tactical Nuclear Weapons

CNN Report

Israeli Nuclear and Foreign Policies

Conference Focuses on Global Disarmament: Israeli Nuclear Weapons-

Good points. The thing I find really amusing about Israeli WMD's is that shortly after the US started complaining about Syria having an alleged WMD program, Syria proposed a UN resolution requesting full WMD disaramament in the Middle East, including Israel.

The US quietly ignored that, as did the US media.

I've said before that NK is our biggest threat. No doubt. However, they're saber rattling is an attempt at blackmail. Nothing will happen yet. Why? Because China is not ready. China has their North Korean dog on a leash. When The dog starts barking too much, China will pull the leash. When China is ready for the eventual war they wish to wage (i.e. after their technological military build up! and contrary to dragon's thoughts of HAARP destroying a chinese first wave missile attack - which we all know is BS (another posting)), they will allow NK to flare up again and they will not pull the leash. NK will then be their diversionary tactic for their primary push against the USA.

my opinion

Yes, North Korea has been acting like a child having a temper tantrum and I�ve suspected that their bravado comes from having big brother China standing behind them. Nothing else makes any sense, as Mr. Kim has been spouting some very provocative stuff in the last few months and threatening to start a nuclear conflict that would draw in the U.S. and Japan seems suicidal.

I agree that China is probably using North Korea as a puppet of diversion and tool for gaining Chinese objectives. I believe that China has designs on becoming a much greater world power and toppling America if they could.

I can�t comment on Dragonrider�s HAARP beliefs, because I�m not really very knowledgeable about HAARP.