Japan’s Government Takes Break from Nuclear Class War against Its Own People and Issues Nonsensical Statement on Libya

The Japanese government, taking a break from its nuclear class war against its own people, issued a nonsensical statement on Libya,1 supporting the Western war against Libya . . . and at the same time claiming to support the African Union, which is opposed to the war, and the Arab League, which is now trying to backpedal from its (far-from-unanimous-to-begin-with) support for it.

Statement by Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, on military action against Libya under the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973

March 20, 2011

1. The Government of Japan has repeatedly called for the Libyan authorities to immediately cease the violence against the people of Libya in accordance with the United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1970 and 1973.  The Government of Japan strongly condemns the violence by the Libyan authorities against its people, which is continuing despite these calls of international community as the emergency summit meeting held in Paris confirmed.  The Government of Japan strongly urges the Libyan authorities, including Leader of Revolution Muammar Al Qadthafi, to listen to the calls from people of Libya and the international community and to immediately make the right decision.

2. From the standpoint of urging the Libyan Authorities to stop the violence immediately, the Government of Japan affirms that Member States of the United Nations take measures according to the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack in Libya.

3. At the same time, the Government of Japan believes that all diplomatic efforts should be exerted for immediate ceasefire in Libya and hopes that the efforts by Mr. Abdel-Elah Al-Khatib, Special Envoy of Secretary General of the United Nations and the African Union will bear fruits.  In addition, the Government of Japan attaches importance to the role of the Arab League for peace and stability in the region.

The anti-Libya-war Arabs are not fooled, though: “In Tokyo, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto said Japan supports the assault of the international coalition on the Libyan forces,” say the Syrians.

Memo to Japan’s government: Who asked you anyway?  Just shut up, get back to work, and cool down the fuel rods.

 

1  It strikes me as interesting that the nonsensical position of the Japanese government is not far from the nonsensical advice given by a noted Arab Marxist intellectual, which says a lot about the latter:

The opposition has indeed explicitly called for a no-fly zone. . . .  Now there are not enough safeguards in the wording of the resolution to bar its use for imperialist purposes. . . .  But given the urgency of preventing the massacre that would have inevitably resulted from an assault on Benghazi by Gaddafi’s forces, and the absence of any alternative means of achieving the protection goal, no one can reasonably oppose it. . . .  This said, without coming out against the no-fly zone, we must express defiance and advocate full vigilance in monitoring the actions of those states carrying it out, to make sure that they don’t go beyond protecting civilians as mandated by the UNSC resolution. . . .  So, to sum up, I believe that from an anti-imperialist perspective one cannot and should not oppose the no-fly zone, given that there is no plausible alternative for protecting the endangered population.  The Egyptians are reported to be providing weapons to the Libyan opposition — and that’s fine — but on its own it couldn’t have made a difference that would have saved Benghazi in time.  But again, one must maintain a very critical attitude toward what the Western powers might do.


Yoshie Furuhashi is Editor of MRZine.




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