From the article of 'Petrel'
No.724 / May 2, 1999
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The Guideline Acts Have Passed The House of Representatives.
The First Step Towards Becoming "The Cops of The World"!
The Diet Approval of Military Action Is "After The Fact".
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The Guideline Act has passed the House of Representatives by the approval of the Liberal Democratic Party, the Liberal Party, the Clean Government Party, and it is likely that it will be carried out even within May. This bill allows the bourgeois nation of Japan to carry out international military action which exceeds the limit called "the defense of Japan" prescribed in the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty, although this takes the form called "allied actions with America" and is also limited to the case of "periphery situations". This is one step in the development of the imperialism of Japanese monopolistic capital and clearly marks a new stage. It has became clear that the view Japan is a peaceful nation observing the Constitution, or could (or should) be able to maintain this, is just a petty bourgeois fantasy that is destroyed by reality, and that workers' position of revolutionary socialism the only correct position. Needless to say, there is no guarantee that the military action with this "periphery situation" will not advance and evolve into military action in "outside areas" as "the cops of the world" like America wishes. That is, the role of America's "equal partner" in a "global" meaning, as witnessed by the change of NATO. Because the first step has been taken already, and it is important to take the first step as is being said frequently.
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The guideline law pertains to Japan's cooperation with the military action of America in "the periphery situation".
The area represented in the word "the periphery situation" is "the Asia Pacific area" abstractly, and it may be the Korea peninsula and Taiwan, and furthermore such as Indonesia specifically, although it is not expressed clearly.
The Communist Party is shouting that this is an anti-national bill which forces Japan to cooperate with the United States, and will "involve" Japan in U.S. wars.
Needless to say, such a petty bourgeois position clarifies nothing about the truth of the guideline law.
However, if indeed the problem only corresponds to "the periphery situation of Japan", and if "the case of feared direct military attack to our country", as the draft amendment of the Liberal Party says (This draft amendment is included into the bill as "an example" to gain the approval of the Liberal Party. What an irresponsible way it is!), then why aren't they able to continue with the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty?
It may be sufficiently possible with just applying the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty a little "elastically". Indeed, isn't this virtually what the the government (Liberal Democratic Party) has done by interpreting the law selfishly, (have given a broad interpretation to suit their own convenience), and doing what they wanted to do whether it was the "rearmament" or the dispatch of the "Self Defense Forces" to foreign countries which essentially ignores the Constitution?
However they think that they are unable to continue in such an ambiguous way. Already they are dissatisfied with the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty, which makes them unable to respond to the situations that will occur in the Korean peninsula and Taiwan and Asian countries.
America and the ruling classes of Japan also want joint military action in "the Asia Pacific area", and cooperate to maintain the "stability" and "order" of this area. This is in the common interest of the monopolistic capital of Japan and America.
This is certainly a problem that exceeds the limit of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty that expresses "the defense of Japan" and the role of America to the subject, just therefore it is the guideline law as exceeding the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty.
This is exactly the same as NATO which decided the expansion of military action to "outside the area" from "the defense" of the countries participating NATO by deciding "the new strategy" concept in this time. Needless to say, although NATO do not expand this concept of "outside the area" throughout the world, but they limit it to "the safety and stability of the Europe/Atlantic area" (it is only that they behave as the international "cops" in this area), and they have not the determination to appear right away as "the unrestricted cops of the world" like America yet.
It is similar to the monopolistic capital of Japan in the point, that does not have the intention to appear as "the cops of the world" who intervene in "the conflict" all over the world yet.
In short, America has the means of NATO in the "Europe/Atlantic area" and have the means of a military alliance with Japan in "the Asia Pacific area".
However, while there is also the United Nations. What is this exactly? Isn't it more convenient and profitable for the United States to pursue global "stability" and "order" for capital through the United Nations?
However, for the United States, the United Nations is paralyzed and is not useful in the case of crisis.
As everyone knows, NATO and the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty were created to compete militarily with the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe ("the Warsaw organization") and China, and to "defend" Europe or Japan in the cold war era when the "socialistic" states (in fact state capitalism) were opposed to liberalism.
However, in the 1990's with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the dismantling of the "socialism" of east European countries, NATO and the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty also started to convert themselves. They increasingly changed to become "the cops of the world" (to assist the United States in this function) rather than opposing the "socialistic" powers of the Soviet Union and China.
Like NATO, the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty system is also converting itself. The U.S.-Japan Security Treaty will rather "lose substance" by the materialization of the guideline law. Although "the break of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty system" which is even the strategic "subject" of the Japanese Communist Party may be near, it does not mean at all the Utopia for the workers of Japan (the Communist Party has continued to argue as if the discarding of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty would be the release of the Japanese workers for the dozens year after war) but shows the growth of the imperialism of Japanese monopolistic capital.
Furthermore, the role as "cops of the world" of bourgeois powerful nations centering America has been placed where it is independent relatively and different from the United Nations, and it is similar even in NATO and the guideline law.
The neglecting of the United Nations and the "detachment" from the United Nations is clear with the transformed NATO, and it is carried through with such a mind to admit the action of Kosovo as it is in fact however it is in lip service.
To do through the United Nations, if a powerful nation (For example Russia or China) invokes "veto", the intervention, for example, to Kosovo becomes impossible by itself. The United Nations does not work and put out the utter powerlessness when the interests of the powerful nation oppose and compete.
This trend is clear even in the guideline law, and the Liberal Party has pressed the government (Liberal Democratic Party) to modify it with asserting firmly that the United Nations' resolution is needless in the case of ship inspection. Although the government (Liberal Democratic Party) rejected the demand of the Liberal Party finally in order to get the cooperation of the Clean Government Party, it seems desirable for their heart to act freely and with mobility as "cops of the world" like NATO countries, with jumping over the United Nations and without being constrained by the United Nations when the time comes.
This is essentially the same as the League of Nations in the prewar days, and in the United Nations (the UN) in the postwar days. It is a fantasy to say that the United Nations in the postwar days has overcome the defect of the League of Nations in the prewar days, has been reformed as work well, and it may be the most silly things even to say like the Communist Party that even the Kosovo problem or whatever difficult international conflicts will be solved (or should be solved) if we carry out through the United Nations, and make peaceful 'discussion' exhaustively through the United Nations.
The United Nations or the League of Nations are the instruments of the strong countries of the world and only represents those profits and rule while that works well, and if the interests of these strong countries come into opposition and they become to behave selfishly, to compete, it paralyzes the function, becomes powerless and is now actually falling apart.
Even the Second World War (the war on the side of the Allies) was not executed under the hegemony of the League of Nations. The League of Nations already had been dismantled virtually by the secession and estrangement of Japan, Germany, the Soviet Union, and was unable to play any kind of active role at all.
It was "the Allied Forces" centering around America that executed the war with Nazi/Germany and Japan, namely it was the combination of the strong countries of such as America and England.
In the case of the current Kosovo problem, NATO (in other words, the bourgeois powerful nations of America and Europe) expanded the military action and were able to do so by disregarding the United Nations. Granted that they tried to decide the air attack on Yugoslavia by discussion in the United Nations, it was certain that Russia vetoed and it became useless. No matter how the Japanese Communist Party scatters the petty bourgeois desire as "to solve by peaceful means through discussion", how do they do if there is not the condition?
One Stage in The Development of Imperialism --- When The U.S.-Japan Security Treaty Is Exceeded
The guideline law prescribes the first step of Japan acting as "cops of the world", and thus exceeds the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty in this sense.
This guideline law is certainly in the frame of "the cooperation of Japan and America" as the Communist Party is crying out, and there is a common aspect with the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty in the sense, but the essence of the guideline law is not the cooperation of Japan and America. We cannot understand the inevitability of the guideline law by such understanding.
Japan was defeated in the Second World War and started afresh as an imperialism nation dismantled, so it was able to take the path of "revival" only in the dependence on the United States --- the bourgeois nation ruled the world, the biggest and strongest nation in the world. In this sense, the monopolistic capital of Japan is still within the frame of the cooperation with the United States.
The issue is the capacity of Japanese monopolistic capital to stay there, and is only because the interests opposition of Japan and the United States have not developed completely yet. Even the era of the peaceful cooperation of Japan and the United States will ends if the opposition of these interests develops, and such symptoms are appearing already.
The guideline law shows is the growth of imperialism of Japanese monopolistic capital. Even under the cooperation with America, the monopolistic capital of Japan is showing assuming the role as "cops of the world" now. Although it is "a cop" in the Asia Pacific area, and merely in the form of cooperating to America for the moment.
However, this is because that Japanese monopolistic capital only taken the first step towards accumulating sufficient experience and preparation to become "independent" in cooperation. The alliance of Japan and the United States is neither absolute nor eternal. Although Japanese monopolistic capital will pay no attention to such a shell when the necessity to take it off comes, it is the same as Natiz/Germany having cut the Versailles system away easily.
What we should pay attention to is that the guideline law decides to the action of the Self-Defense Force that the Diet approval is good after that in case of "emergency".
This will give a free hand to the military action of the Self-Defense Force against "the periphery situation". Because the government (and "the military authorities" which may happen to rise in the future) can expand the arbitrary military action and may do so by explaining every situation as a crisis, namely "a state of emergency" as well as before. (Remember the experience of the 1930's!)
Actually, an executive of the Defense Agency is emphasizing, "Most of the cases will correspond to the time of emergency, and we will request post approval (not the prior approval.)" ('the Morning Sun' April 24)
Moreover, namely, the range of military action has spread by the modification demand of the foolish Democratic Party to be able to supply weapons even in "support activity".
The U.S.-Japan Security Treaty expresses the use of the U.S. military base in Japan in case of an "emergency" in the Far East. However, so far 'the use' of the Self-Defense Force is out of the range of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty. The issue now is that even the Self-Defense Force of Japan will cooperate on the United States Army, namely will be dispatched in cases of "emergencies" in Far East.
We assert that the essence of the guideline law is disclosed in this contents.
The idiots of the Communist Party only stress the same "subordination to America" that they saw in the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty also in the guideline law.
Although they demand that Japan becomes to stand really on its own feet and achieves "real independence" (what kind of "independence", or does the Communist Party know the concept of independence?), they do not understand the essential thing that the guideline law is newly approved in the Diet and not the mere modification of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty just because the monopolistic capital of Japan has increasingly become "independent" and Japan has increasingly become an imperialist nation.
This party has already been completely ruined politically. This party has forced the "national subject" of "the independence of Japan" to the workers, and have emphasized that just "the rule of Japan" by America, the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty represents it, is the cause of the unhappiness and difficulties of life of the workers and the people of Japan after the war.
They have asserted that, the discarding of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty is the purpose of the workers and that this will bring about a happy life for them. (Although only God knows what this is supposed to mean.)
However, exactly in the era when the imperialistic independence is becoming clear, the reactionary nature and the collapse of the Communist Party's "strategy" is becoming clear for all the classes. Those shouting for the "complete" independence from America now are only the right wing and reactionaries whose political foundation is nationalism. (See the words and actions of Ishihara.)
We must rally the working class not under the petty bourgeois party but under the workers party fighting against the rule of capital with all our energies now. This subject is appearing as an urgent case exactly in the era of the guideline law.
(Translated by Yoshi & Roy)