Rainmaker,
In response to your post above (I liked your last one, by the way), you wrote:
1. Aside from China and Korea, I never hear of other nations with voices as loud speaking against Japanese constitutional reform or self defense...et's conclude this. Asian countries doesn't want Japan to have army. US government doesn't want to arm Japan. Hey, even Japanese themselves doesn't want themselves to be armed. Only one Floridian living in Miami, who happened to living in Japan for two years, now knows where the world is heading to with help of anwers.com. Now, he claims everyone that Japan has to be armed. Rest of us must be thoughtless, or vise versa ???
2. The U.S. government actually does want to arm Japan. The current model of F16 was developed jointly with Japan. Note the afore mentioned sale of Aegis cruisers (the US Congress refused to sell them to Taiwan, who has been asking for them for years by the way...), and Bush's recent force reduction in South Korea may be continued to Japan as pressure mounts for Japan to pay for its own defense completely.
3. Japanese opinion about the constitution is split last I checked. Every time North Korea does somethning stupid (like firing a nuclear-capable missle over Japanese territory), the Japanese are (rightfully) scared and ponder the wisdom of Gen. McArthur's imposed constitutional Article 9. A vestage of an age gone by.
4. Yup, I am one Floridian, living in Miami. Most of my positions are fairly moderate, and should people understnad the situation, I think most would agree with me to some extent. You see, I don't advocate Japanese militarism - I advocate that Japan be allowed to take a normal place in the world without fear of having to deal with "historical" issues at *every* turn.
By the way, I was born in Germany, lived there for many years and studied in both high school and university there. My opinions are clouded by years of living in other countries (among them, admittedly, Japan), and years of listening to responses like those of Issac. I have been to Yasukuni Jinya, and didn't have a problem with it (as did the US President on his last visit to Japan), and I have also spoken with an older generation of war veterans here in Florida who still bear a hatred for Japan. I'd like to believe that my comments are motivated not by personal prejuidice either way, but rather by an attempt at an objective view of the current geopolitical situation and in particular, the instability in Asia.
Quite simply: a strong Japan costs US taxpayers less money, meaning they can withdraw troops and bases from Asia - which should make nationalists fearful of the US (like Issac) quite happy. It costs the US less money, which makes me happy as I am a US taxpayer. The Japanese military would buy mostly US technology and hardware, which further helps US companies. Most importantly, a strong(er) Japan would, in my humble opinion, help to stabilize the fragile situation in Asia.
Also, with regard the the last couple of posts: the US can't strike first in Korea. The number of heavy artillery pieces surrounding Seoul in the mountains has always been impossible to calculate and impossible to destroy. These artillery pieces are on mobile platforms inside the mountains and are quite secure. Any first strike against North Korea by ROKUS forces woud see the complete destruction of Seoul within a day. Most people don't understand that, and probably haven't taken a good look at a map and seen exactly where Seoul is in relation to the border and DMZ.
One more thing: don't you think its a bit of the pot calling the kettle black, Sungmin? A Korean claiming I'm biased on the issue because I lived in Japan? The blade has two sides, and it cuts you when your identity is revealed.
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Tihs is a *kendo* forum after all...
Originally Posted by rainmaker
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