Just recently in japan major changes were made to article 9 of there constitution that was written after world war 2. In a 148-90 vote the country gave the SDF (special defense forces aka there military lessened restrictions. They have long been used strictly for defense and humanitarian needs. These new regulations give them a military presence in the pacific and east asia. The cause for this change was pressure from their allies primarily the US to "protect our interest". Countries in the area have become concerned. Like many people in the japan who have been very angrily protesting it I disagree. This change goes against what japan stood for for the past 70 years. In the wake of the destruction caused by world war two the anti-war anti and nuclear weapons positions has been a shining example. One that more countries including our own should follow. Now the high moral ideal of the country are being challenged cause of us that's a serious problem
Article: http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/19/asia/japan-military-constitution/?iid=ob_homepage_deskrecommended_pool&iref=obinsite
Increased military presence can be frightening more often than not. I think that sometimes, when we as America are dealing with our foreign affairs, we should place ourselves in the other countries' shoes. We as Americans are not used to seeing our military on duty patrol civilian area's unless there has been a state of emergency delclared, and if we did it would probably raise some alarm. We should consider factors like that before influencing other countries to do what we would not.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tymie. We really need to consider the small things because they can actually lead to big problems. Convincing other countries to do something we do not do, which probably means we don't know much about it, is not a good idea.
ReplyDeleteI actually heard about this a while ago, it was pretty maddening. Japan, as one of the safest countries in the world, does not need to have military presence within the country- and not at all outside of the country! I find the former policy admirable in a sense that they're not trying to police other countries like the U.S does (and is doing in Japan) with their military force, and instead will commit to defend themselves only and provide humanitarian aid. I can imagine why Japanese people are angry too. Could this have something to do with the South China Sea conflict?
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