Japan Expert: 'Striking Iran Would Be America's Pearl Harbor'

Sept. 28 (EIRNS)—Asahi Shimbun, Japan's leading daily, published an op-ed in its English edition today by Robert Dujarric, director of the Institute of Contemporary Japanese Studies at Temple University's Japan Campus in Tokyo. Dujarric, a fellow of the Hudson Institute and the Council on Foreign Relations, is an expert on Japan/Korea relations, and recently co-authored with Gen. William Odom the book America's Inadvertent Empire. Dujarric writes:

"Japan has a new leader. Obviously, the voters expect Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda to take care of the economy and their pensions. But one of Fukuda's most important tasks should be to convince the United States not to attack Iran....

"In many ways, as a Japanese government official told me, Iraq is to America what the Chinese quagmire was to Imperial Japan in the 1930s. Striking Iran would be America's Pearl Harbor."

But who was it that pushed Imperial Japan into the "Chinese quagmire," beginning back in the 1890s? It was the same gang that pushed the United States into a hopeless war in Iraq, and now Iran: our ever-loving "allies" of the British Empire! Like Tony Blair and the London Fabian society controllers of Dick Cheney's wife Lynne. The purpose is to destroy us with long wars, like the Peloponnesian War of ancient Greece, which destroyed Athens.

Demonstrations Quelled in Myanmar, as CFR Demands Intervention

Sept. 28 (EIRNS)—The mass demonstrations in Myanmar have been essentially stopped after three days of military action, which saw an undetermined number of monks and others arrested, with nine dead, according to the government's account. Compared to the 1988 suppression of the uprising at that time, where upwards of 3,000 were killed, this deployment was far less bloody, although the arrests and the death of monks could backfire on the junta.

The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting on the crisis on Sept. 26, where U.S. and European efforts to describe the crisis as a "threat to international peace and security" (the threshold for UN intervention) were strongly rejected by China and Russia, which also rejected any imposition of sanctions. At a side meeting of the G-8 Foreign Ministers, according to Reuters, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov "clashed" over the issue.

The Council on Foreign Relations is weighing in with the release of a paper for the upcoming issue of Foreign Affairs by China-hawks Michael Green and Derek Mitchell, both from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) at Georgetown University in Washington. They declare that Myanmar is "a serious threat to its neighbors' security," and demand that "ASEAN, China and India will need to reevaluate their historical commitment to non-interference" (i.e., they must end their respect for sovereignty), while also demanding that Japan dump its "economics-based approach to Burma."

China Blocks UN Security Council Statement Against Myanmar

Sept. 27 (EIRNS)—China blocked a condemnation of Myanmar by the United Nations Security Council on Sept. 26, which was going to be offered in a statement by the French Ambassador. The statement would have condemned Myanmar for the government crackdown, and would have called for "restraint" by the government. The New York Times reported, citing participants, that in closed session, Chinese Ambassador Wang Guan-gya stated that the conflict was a domestic one that had to be settled by the people of Myanmar, and that even a statement would "not be useful." Ambassador Wang told reporters outside the chamber, "The situation there has some problems, but does not constitute a threat to international and regional peace."

The Council can only become involved in a crisis if there is a threat to international peace and security. Russia and China vetoed, on the same grounds, an American-drafted resolution in January.

Fukuda Rejects Myanmar Sanctions

Sept. 28 (EIRNS)—Japan's new Prime Minister, Yasuo Fukuda, has resisted London's pressure for sanctions and denunciations of Myanmar's government, despite the killing of Japanese video-journalist Kenji Nagai, by Myanmar troops yesterday. Fukuda said, "I am very sorry. It is really deplorable and I want to extend my condolences to his family." But he added: "Many of the Japanese aid programs are for humanitarian purposes. Japan has to consult with other countries rather than just hastily slapping sanctions."

Wall Street Journal Calls for Splitting Japan's LDP

Sept. 24 (EIRNS)—The Wall Street Journal continued to denounce the election of Yasuo Fukuda as Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) party chairman and Prime Minister, in an editorial on Sept. 24, titled "Tokyo Throwback." It painted a grim future for Koizumi's reformers, concluding: "If Mr. Koizumi's fellow reformers, many of whom are still in government, want to revive their agenda, perhaps it's time to ditch the LDP and start a new political party."

Fukuda represents the old guard of the LDP, which is deeply feared at the Journal (recently purchased by Rupert Murdoch, an instrument of Anglo-Dutch imperial policy), since with Fukuda as Prime Minister, the reforms promoted by the neo-cons' favorite, former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who pushed deregulation and globalization, are in deep trouble. Fukuda is known to favor traditional LDP policies of government support for domestic industrial growth and infrastructure development.

North Korean Development on Table for North-South Summit

Sept. 28 (EIRNS)—The second inter-Korean summit, which will be held in Pyongyang Oct. 2-4, is expected to discuss a plan for the development of the North, including the development of six northern cities.

The Chosun Ilbo newspaper reports that "the Korea Land Corporation [KLC, in the South] has drawn up a plan to develop several North Korean cities as special economic zones and industrial, trade, and tourism bases. Based on information from government agencies including the National Intelligence Service, the report looks to be used as a source for discussion on economic cooperation at the inter-Korean summit in early October. The report covers in-depth strategies to develop six North Korean cities....

"The cost would be astronomical. The KLC said the development projects would require massive investment in infrastructure—railways, roads, ports, airports and electricity and water supply facilities. For the six North Korean cities alone that would cost more than W10 trillion (US$1=W920)"—about $11 billion.

Although the opposition party has traditionally opposed the government's "Sunshine Policy" of reconciliation with the North, the leading opposition candidate for the December election, Lee Myung-bak (who is likely to win), has a background in industry, a history of promoting development, and is known to be of the "teach them how to fish" school in relations with the North.