Japanese editorial excerpts

Asian Political News, Sept 14, 2004

TOKYO, Sept. 10 Kyodo

Selected editorial excerpts from the Japanese press:

WORLD MUST UNITE TO CONTAIN TERRORISM (The Daily Yomiuri as translated from the Yomiuri Shimbun)

Tomorrow marks the third anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. Persistent efforts by the international community are still needed to make the world a safer place.

Rather than abating, terrorism seems to be spreading across the globe.

A powerful car bomb exploded outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta on Thursday. Last week, Chechen rebels seized a school in North Ossetia, southern Russia.

Memories of terrorist explosions on the Moscow subway system and the downing of two Russian passenger airplanes are still raw. Commuter trains were blown up by terrorists in Madrid in March, while the Israelis and Palestinians are trapped in a vicious circle of terrorist attacks and retaliatory strikes.

Depending on their cause, a political solution may be found for some conflicts. The Troubles in Northern Ireland are a case in point.

But there is no political fix for struggles waged by terrorist groups trying to destroy the world order, including Al-Qaida, an international terrorist network of Muslim radicals responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks. If they obtain weapons of mass destruction, the world will face a grave security threat.

With this threat in mind, Washington decided to start wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The old regimes were toppled in both countries, but they remain highly unstable.

The stabilization of Afghanistan and Iraq is the highest priority for the international community. The world will lose the war against international terrorism if it fails to reconstruct those countries and establish democratic governments in them.

More than two months have passed since sovereignty was transferred to the Iraqi government. Members of the Iraqi National Council, which is equivalent to an interim assembly, have already been selected.

Ahead of Iraq's first general election in January, for which preparations are about to start, the biggest worry is the deterioration of the domestic security situation.

The city of Fallujah in central Iraq has become a hotbed of militants, including supporters of Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian-born terrorist with close ties to Al-Qaida. Casualties and injuries are reported in Fallujah almost every day due to clashes with U.S. forces.

Meanwhile, U.S. military casualties have surpassed 1,000 since the Iraq war started.

Taliban remnants detonated a bomb in Kabul late last month. This was a worrying development, given that Afghanistan is due to hold a presidential election in October and a general election in April.

Without an improvement in the security situation in that country, the United Nations will be unable to play a major role in the elections. If the political schedule is significantly delayed, Afghanistan could become a breeding ground for terrorists again.

Another cause for concern is that anti-U.S. sentiment has been increasing around the world since the Iraq war started. This likely is due in part to the perceived unilateralist tendency of U.S. President George W. Bush's administration.

But the stability and prosperity of the international community are guaranteed by the United States, the sole world superpower.

France, Germany and Russia have not joined the multinational forces in Iraq since they disagreed with the United Sates on the justification for the Iraq war.

To make the world a safer place, Europe and the United States should try their best to mend the rift between them.

(Sept. 10)