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A message to Iraq, says Japan

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE Oct. 11. Japan, America's close strategic ally for decades, today took the line that the latest U.S. congressional actions, which authorise President Bush to use force against Iraq if necessary, have not materially altered the ground realities. "The situation remains as it has been'', said a Japanese official in Tokyo today, reflecting Japan's acute sense of discomfort over the transparent momentum towards a military confrontation between the U.S. and Iraq.

Official Tokyo, a traditional pacifist in its post-imperial era since the end of World War II, is historically wary of the U.S. policies in West Asia which is a source of energy inputs for Japan, an economic superpower now afflicted by some maladies.

Elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region, China remains eager to explore political options fully in its status as a veto-empowered permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority state, today announced plans to evacuate its citizens from Iraq. Another regional power, Malaysia has consistently called for caution and prudence in seeking to disarm Iraq of its suspected capabilities to make weapons of mass destruction. Overall, though, Japan's eventual response to the U.S.-Iraq showdown will be of considerable psychological relevance to Washington, although China's diplomacy at the U.N. is of far greater importance in the Bush administration's calculus of the realpolitik.

Responding to questions, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said at a press briefing that an American armed attack against Iraq was still ``something which is not happening (or, taking place) now''. Viewing the possibility of a U.S. military strike against Iraq as a "hypothetical'' proposition in this sense, the Japanese official outlined Tokyo's highly nuanced "recognition of what is currently happening with (regard to) the resolution passed by the U.S. Congress''. Japan's understanding of the current situation was that "the purpose of this (latest U.S.) resolution is to convey a very clear message to the Iraqi establishment that their only choice would be to implement totally the series of existing U.N. resolutions relating to Iraq''.

Emphasising that "this is the case'' indeed, the official said "we understand that the situation remains as it has been'' and that ''we need collaboration and cooperation'' among the countries concerned to "wipe out the concerns that are expressed in the relevant U.N. resolutions''. On a different but related plane, Indonesia today reaffirmed that the U.S. should deal with Iraq under "the authority of the United Nations''. However, Jakarta said that "necessary preparations'' had been made for ``the evacuation of Indonesian citizens, including the ambassadorial staff, in case the U.S. does attack Iraq''.

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