WORLD PEACE NOW March 18 Action in Tokyo
End the occupation of Iraq! End this era of war!
Bush and Koizumi should apologize to Iraqi people!
Bring back all our troops home!
http://www.worldpeacenow.jp/
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WORLD PEACE NOW March 18 Action in Tokyo
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-End the occupation of Iraq! End this era of war!
-Bush and Koizumi should apologize to Iraqi people!
-Bring back all our troops home!
Date: March 18, Saturday 2006
Time: the gathering starts at 13:30, the peace march starts at 15:30
Venue: Hibiya Park Open-Air Concert Hall, Tokyo (3 min. walk from Tokyo
Metro Kasumigaseki Sta. or Hibiya Sta., 2 min. walk from Tokyo Metro
Uchisaiwaicyo Sta.)
Speakers: Kei Ishizaka (comic artist), Michiko Nakajima (lawyer), Keiko
Itokazu (member of the House of Councilors) and more (with sign language
interpreter)
Peace Concert: Seoul Flower Mononoke Summit
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No Foreign military bases in Iraq and Japan
Article 9 is our no-war commitment to the rest of the world
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March 18th is the third memorial day of the outbreak of the Iraqi war but
Iraq is still in the midst of sufferings with no end to them in sight. In
December 2005, U.S President George W Bush at last admitted that much of
the intelligence about the Saddam’s mass destruction, which was the
grounds for Iraqi war, turned out to be wrong and that he was responsible
for the decision to go into Iraq. However, he stressed it was right to
remove Saddam Hussein from power and the U.S. and its allies’ troops are
still operating in Iraq. Bush also admitted that 30,000 Iraqi people were
killed in the war, but the co-research conducted by Colombia University
reports the war actually cost 100,000 Iraqi lives.
The U.K. and the Austrian troops that protect the JSDF stationed at Samawah
in the southern part of Iraq are likely to withdraw in spring or summer
2006, but the Japanese Government in December 8, 2005 decided to extend the
term of the JSDF “reconstruction aid” operation for one year by changing
its basic troops deployment plan made under the special law on aid to Iraq.
It should be noted that in the new implementation plan accompanying the
decision the number of airports the Air SDF can use from 13 to 24, that is,
all the airports existing in the country. This assures the ASDF to further
activate its transportation of personnel and supplies for the coalition
forces, thus making Japan’s commitment in the war even deeper.
However, Iraqi people are voicing louder and louder opposition to the
presence of the JSDF which they regard as part of the foreign occupation
forces. The JSDF’s camp in Samawah has been repeatedly attacked. Nowadays
scenes of Iraqi people throwing stones at the JSDF vehicles are often
telecast.
The JSDF troops’ further stay in Iraq will not only be of any help to the
Iraqi people, but also is a vast waste of our tax money. The Iraqi people
are telling the world that they urgently need the basic services such as
water, electricity and fuel supply. However, the Japanese government’s
“reconstruction aid” which actually aims to send and station JSDF in Iraq
for its own sake, does not meet their needs. This has caused Iraqi
citizens’ distrust of Japan.
We call for our troops’ repatriation before they begin to kill or be
killed.
President Bush who admitted his responsibility for the decision of starting
this war and Japanese Prime minister Koizumi who unreservedly approved
Bush’s war must now apologize to the Iraqi people for the massive
destruction and loss of lives they have caused in the country. And Japan
should leave the war coalition, withdraw all troops immediately and support
genuine reconstruction of Iraq by and for the Iraqi people.
It has by now become clear that the Japanese government dispatched the SDF
troops in order to strengthen the Japan-U.S. military alliance and also to
establish fait accompli for the removal of Article 9 of the Constitution.
It has also become clear that the United States government was the
behind-the-scenes promoter of the Japanese postal service privatization
program as well as the privatization of the procedures of certification of
construction applications that is connected with the recent scandal of
falsified quake-resistance data.
Let’s raise our voice in order to put an end to the era of war and to halt
Koizumi’s dangerous policy of making Japan a war-making state.
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World Peace Now, Japan was started at the end of 2002 as a broad coalition
of people in Japan from various groups such as citizens’ peace groups,
religious groups and international NGOs and individuals who have agreed on
four principles: no more war, opposition to the attack on Iraq, opposition
to Japanese government’s cooperation for the occupation of Iraq, and
non-violent action. Since then, many citizens, young and old alike, have
participated in actions against the Iraq war. The numbers of participants
has reached proportions similar to those during the anti Vietnam war
movement 35 years on in the history of Japanese peace movement.
yours sincerely,
Hikaru Kasahara
Asian Peace Alliance (APA) Japan, a member of World Peace Now