Japan Changing Constitution for Military Buildup

[Borachon]

The Robo-Tech Masters. Long story short (too late... ) - lots of war, death, a pilot falls in love with a chick, her song makes the Zentradi not want to fight = Peace. Then season 2.....

Ah...yes. Okay then. That's very, very....nice.

 

[jefnvk]

six decades after the United States stripped the country of the right to keep armed forces

Now, I could be wrong, but I thought that was something that the Japanese wanted, not something we forced upon them.

 

[Marko Kloos]

Hmm...nobody got bent out of shape too badly when Germany rearmed, and that was only ten years after WWII.

 

[Borachon]

a counter-weight to Chinese aggression.

More like a speed bump to Chinese aggression.

Or perhaps a "casus belli" for Chinese aggression.

This might actually make China step up her schedule. If she has a schedule. Of course I've been told been members of this forum that China has NO ambitions to attack any of her neighbors, and is a peaceful land of Socialist milk and honey.

 

[Borachon]

something that the Japanese wanted, not something we forced upon them.

No, we pretty much forced it on them. General MacArthur did..actually. He made them rewrite the constitution.

I wonder if he's still available to serve in Iraq? He could be useful.

 

[Waitone]

MacAuthur spent a lifetime in Asia which is the reason he was precisely the right guy post-war Japan. Our closest match for Iraq and today would be Schwartzkopf, but he's out of the game.

 

[stevelyn]

I wonder how the American GI's from WWII, Chinese, Philipine,and POW camp victims that are still alive feel about this.

Dosen't matter how they feel about it. The war was over 60 years ago. Japan was beaten and the people responsible were punished along with the Japanese citizenry. Japan has since progressed from its imperial days.
Neither the US or any other country has the right to dictate internal policy to a sovereign country.

MacArthur was a tyrant.

 

[xd9fan]

well heres my hope for Japan.......armed militia.....something like the mighty swiss , continue to be good ailies and lets get out of there and start saving some money.

MacArthur was needed.

 

[beerslurpy]

If I had the time and resources to work on gun rights outside of the US I would help them start an NRA-type organization in South Korea and Taiwan. Those are two countries where every sane adult should have Swiss-style arms ready to go. They are both in danger of being squished by big powerful neighbors and they have a history of being run over.

I really never understood the asian fear of an armed populace.

Especially with the Japanese, I fail to see what benefit disarmament has. The japanese are the most self disciplined people on earth. I cannot think of anyone less likely to misuse firearms.

I have no idea what a heavily armed chinese or taiwanese population might be like. It has been eons since the chinese could arm themselves. Then again, there are plenty of chinese americans who have taken up gun ownership in this country to no ill effect. Do the Taiwanese really fear their own population more than the PLA?

 

[jsalcedo]

Japan was beaten and the people responsible were punished along with the Japanese citizenry.

No they were not.

Despite thousands of witnessess, documents and photographic evidence 90% of the torturers, human rights violators, mutilators, gang rapists, etc.. went free after WWII. Many of these went on to profit off of the rebuilding of Japan and become very wealthy corporate leaders.

There were very few hangings and the war crimes trials for Japan were a joke.

Japanese text books ignore WWII except for the "fact" that the US dropped atomic bombs on them for socio-economic reasons.

NO WWII LESSONS were learned or retained by the Japanese. It was too disgraceful for them to acknowledge.

Hopefully we will not have to fight them again.

 

[Joejojoba111]

Whats with all the "Battan death march" crap. That was 60 years ago. Itd be like saying americans are horrible people because we killed indians.

yes, THOSE specific -people were bad- but these are their great grandchildren.

I'm not so sure about that. Was it 'Those People', or the situation surrounding them? I lean towards the situation.

A gov't that refuses to acknowledge it's war crimes, that denys they exist with revisionist histoy, and teaches this history to it's children... Fishy.

The fact that they lie in the article already, fishier... If they actually meant the following statement it would mean that they need US troops to remain there forever, as they would not use force to settle a dispute when Malaysia sends troops to Honshu to alter the borders. Yea, we all know they WOULD use force, and that the statement below is BS.

"The Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes."

So you've got a contry which killed more Chinese women than Hitler killed Jews gypsies and everything else combined, they refuse to say it was bad to do so, and they are rewriting the clause which forbids them from aggression, while claiming they would never ever use force ever.

Then again, maybe they just want increased ability to counter a possible Chinese oil embargo in in the straits of malacca. You never know. But they could at least be honest about their intentions.

 

[GEM]

Eventually all major powers grow to fill their role in the world. China and Japan are on the rise as military powers. Not much we can do about it.

Would you rather fly into space with a Toyota built Macross or one by GM?

 

[solareclipse]

article 9 was obviously something that was not going to last, especially not when you have iran, syria, lybia and a few more (like indonesia and some parts of africa) pumping militant groups 24/7.

i think the japanese are too far distanced from real warfare to matter what laws they amend. if anything, it will be a few decades before the mindset is changed, if ever.

 

[CAnnoneer]

Let them arm themselves with weapons we sell them. China and Japan have always been and will always be at each other's throats, whether they care to admit it or not. The more they hate each other, the less we need to concern ourselves with either. Divide and conquer. About damn time they paid for their own security anyway. The gravy train is over.

As far as Japanese military go, some more recent documentaries on the H-channel showed them to be quite competent and approaching in quality our own, especially the Navy. The interviews with their officers left a distinct impression of pride, confidence, and a sense of rich military traditions, as well as a profound self-perceptional shift to a modern force rivaling the US in quality if not in quantity.

 

[ziadel]

 

[Chipperman]

"Hmm...nobody got bent out of shape too badly when Germany rearmed, and that was only ten years after WWII."

Well, we taught the Germans a lesson in 1918, and they've hardly bothered us since then.


(with apologies to Tom Lehrer )

 

[Billll]

As the son of a pearl harbor survivor, I say "about time". The Japanese did as well as they did in the 50s and 60s because they had a defense budget of zero, thanks to us. When we disarmed them, we assumed the role of military protector. They could, of course, prove me wrong, but I think they're ready to stand on their own feet by now.
Memories in the pacific rim are long enough that any agression would send the whole pacific into orbit, and the Japs are doing just fine selling Toyotas.
I still have my fathers Model 10 that he was carrying when Pearl was bombed, and my daughter has learned that Mitsubishi makes a fast, if marginally reliable car. I explained to her that the 3-diamond logo is a stylized propellor that goes back to when they built the Zeros.

Last I heard, Twoblink was in Taiwan. I assume he's promoting a Swiss-style gun policy.