Last Friday, National Security Council senior Asian affairs director Evan Medeiros said John Kerry and Defense Secretary Ashton Carter would meet their Japanese counterparts in New York on Monday.
They’d “announce some historic changes to the way US-Japan alliance operates” ahead of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Washington visit this week.
On Tuesday, Obama hosted him with an official state dinner. Regional security issues will be discussed during his stay.
A Monday released statement recklessly said Washington intends using nuclear and conventional weapons to defend Japan if necessary.
“Central to (its Asia policy) is the ironclad US commitment to the defense of Japan, through the full range of US military capabilities, including nuclear and conventional,” it said.
Japan has no regional enemies. At the same time, its Shino Abe-led government is its most militant since WW II – in a nation constitutionally opposed to war and militarism.
According to a joint US/Japan statement issued Monday:
Japan’s Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Defense Minister General Nakatani “welcomed US plans to deploy additional Aegis ships to Yokosuka Naval Base by 2017, as well as the swap-out of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington with the more advanced USS Ronald Reagan later this year.”
On April 6, the Defense Department announced it would locate 60% of America’s fleet to the Pacific/Indian Ocean region – armed with the newest/most state-of-the-art weapons systems.
Washington and Tokyo maintain disputed islands China calls Diaoyu (for Japan Senkaku) “are territories under the administration of Japan and therefore fall within the scope of the commitments under Article 5 of the US-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security.”
Tokyo claimed possession of the disputed islands since 1895 – Beijing since 1783. America occupied them from 1945 – 1972.
Key is what lies offshore – substantial oil and gas deposits for whichever country controls them.
Geopolitics are in play – part of Washington’s Asia policy to marginalize, contain, isolate and weaken China.
Increasing Japanese militarism combined with America’s rage for war threatens open conflict in a part of the world hostile to foreign invaders.
Apparently Washington learned nothing from its earlier humiliating Southeast Asia defeat.
Confronting China and/or Russia militarily risk far greater potential consequences – potential humanity destroying nuclear war.
Belligerent US and Japanese foreign and defense ministers are in lockstep saying “they oppose any unilateral action that seeks to undermine Japan’s administration of (the disputed) islands” – code language for potentially provoking China belligerently.
It’s part of Washington’s so-called East Asia rebalancing – challenging China through strengthened military, economic, and political ties with Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, Singapore and Vietnam.
Strategy includes undermining Chinese regional influence, isolating it from neighbors, and giving Washington more dominance over territories and waters not its own.
At the same time, US-dominated NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed plans to more than double the Alliance’s Response Force from 13,000 to 30,000 – plus create a new 5,000-strong quick reaction Spearhead Force “to build more stability,” he said.
He lied claiming “a dramatically changed security environment in Europe.” NATO’s only threats are ones it invents.
Humanity’s only real threat is America’s rage for endless wars – together with rogue partners willing to serve its interests over their own – willing to forego peace and stability for permanent conflicts.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected]. His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.” http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs.
