Japan\'s Post World War II Military Rights

¶ … Japan's post World War II military rights and capabilities, an article that was written for the Japanese Constitution, following Japan's military defeat by the Allies in World War II, states, "The Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as a means of settling international disputes." Based on that Constitutional decree, then, Japan has not had an army of its own since World War II. Japan now needs its own original independent army, and should have it for the 21st century, in order for Japan to maintain the economic and political respect it has earned for itself, internationally, since World War II, and because Japan also needs other nations' respect for its military capability in order for it to maintain itself as a significant economic, technological, and political player on today's world stage. If Japan is not granted the military autonomy it needs and deserves, the strong possibly exists that it may instead forcibly seek such military autonomy, in order both to be able to defend its own separate national interests if necessary, and to assure itself the continued respect it deserves, economically, politically, and otherwise, from the rest of the world.

The Japanese army also should not be compelled by the United States to make any further commitments of troops to the Iraqi war effort. Most Japanese nationals do not support the war in Iraq, and Japan, like any other independent nation, is entitled to the right to separate itself, if it so desires, from American foreign policy. Japan, like other nations, needs its own space to determine its preferred level of involvement (or the lack thereof) in Iraqi.

Although Japan's present army is subsumed within the United States Army, the nation's actual foreign policy interests and concerns, and economic, political, and other concerns, are far from identical to those of the United States. Japan's self-image today and its place in today's world are also substantially changed from the run-up to World War II. Today's Japan is an indisputable international technology giant, with a strong economic base and strong (and much different than before or during World War II) international alliances. The Japanese also see themselves, and the rest of the world, completely differently than they did before and during World War II. Japan should therefore be given the right to effectively defend itself, and make its own national defense decisions without continued U.S. supervision, interference, or intervention. In today's changing world, moreover, tired old (especially non-voluntary) alliances among respective developed nations simply do not work. Japan provided the U.S. with both army and naval support for Iraq, but America now wants 1000 more Japanese troops there. Japan is, understandably, not anxious to send more.