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

deepwaters,

Outstanding post, informative, and nice links! When you take away the moral shroud of secrecy surrounding Israel, we really need to keep our eye on them. I think you're right on the mark regarding Syria & NK.

"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"

Don't forget about the Mossad's secret actions, though- like trying to blow up the mexican parliament, if my memory serves correctly. Israel has gotten away with many questionable actions and should be investigated, they could really give the United States a bad reputation.

The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior- especially when that past behavior hasn't been punished!

Check this out, the State of Israel killed US servicemen in 1967:

"During the Six Day War between Israel and the Arab States, the American intelligence ship USS Liberty was attacked for 75 minutes in international waters by Israeli aircraft and motor torpedo boats. Thirty-four men died and 172 were wounded."

Link: ussliberty.org...

I think this is another of Koizumi's periodic "Great Japan" posturings: he quite frequently does this when people start pressing him about Japan's appalling economic situation.
As far as the USA is concerned: the sooner the Japs stop this Self-Defence Force nonsense and start paying their way, the better.
It used to be said that the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki would always keep the Japanese from the nuclear trail; but I suspect they are about 1 centimetre away (scrupulously non-nuclear) and quite capable of becoming nuclear very, very quickly.

In my opinion NK and/or for that matter China were not really expecting Japan to do what it did or for the US to be so supportive. My impression of the Chinese is while they are prepared to defend the efficacy of the political system in NK. They are not really supportive of an NK first strike philosophy even if they are attacked by SK or the US with conventional forces.

Beyond several NK fishing boats caught in SK waters this is what is most recent....

www.reuters.com...

Ive heard talk that the US is considering re arming Japan. It would not be a bad idea from a US stand point: re arming them means we can pull our military out, since they will have one of thier own, and thus, save ourselves the cost of occupying Japan. I hear we might do the same in Europe too. Both are great ideas: now lets get the guys in Iraq back home so they can drink and see hot naked women again. Save us money and such, and allow us to work on problems back home.

duh japan has the bomb. i would want my country to have the bomb if it was that close to n. korea. im glad that japan has the balls to step up to the plate if it feels threatened.

Iranian nuclear experts made three secret visits to North Korea earlier this year, possibly to consult on ways to fool international inspectors, a Japanese newspaper said yesterday.

The claim came as the US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, issued a warning that Iran was making swift progress in attempts to build a nuclear bomb.

Quoting an unnamed "Korean peninsula source" Sankei, a respected national daily, said two Iranian experts visited Pyongyang in March, staying for several days, with further visits in April and May.

The report suggested that the visits "may have been intended to ask North Korea for know-how on how to act when accepting inspectors".

news.telegraph.co.uk...$sessionid$Y13SCZSR1JUO3QFIQMGSFF4AVCBQWIV0?xml=/news/2003/06/12/wran12.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/06/12/ixne wstop.html