With a successful snap election on the books, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has turned his eyes to his longstanding goal of amending the Constitution of Japan to allow the nation to declare war on its enemies - but this is a task easier said than done. On Monday, Abe vowed to see the constitution amended to remove Article 9, which reads "the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes." The article adds that Japan may not maintain "land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential." The 1947 constitution was written at a time when Japan was utterly ravaged following World War II, not to mention under US occupation. The belligerent behavior of Imperial Japan caused the Americans to pressure the feeble post-war government into the strict restrictions on Japanese use of military force. But that was 70 years ago. In 2017, Japan has the e
Comments
Post a Comment