The Promise
"Mills: What can you do when the whole world
has its eyes on you?
Garcian: Almost everything. Destroying one or two nations, heh,
it's an easy task here.
The promise made
thirty years ago wasn't a
guarantee,
it was only the beginning of a
countdown.
Look at them,
they're headed toward hell.
Mills: What's sad is that we've gotten used to this, I mean our
senses. It's pathetic.
Garcian: That doesn't necessarily mean that we're not human.
Mills: Okay, now you're not helping."
When Garcian spoke of the
promise.
The promise he is referring to is Article 9 of the
Japanese U.S. peace constitution.
ARTICLE
9
"Aspiring sincerely to
an international peace based on justice and order, 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.
第九条 日本国民は、正義と秩序を基調とする国際平和を誠実に希求し、国権の発動たる戦争と、武力による威嚇又は武力の行使は、国際紛争を解決する手段としては、永久にこれを放棄する。
"In order to accomplish the aim of
the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as
other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of
belligerency of the state will not be
recognized."
二 前項の目的を達するため、陸海空軍その他の戦力は、これを保持しない。国の交戦権は、これを認めない。
Article 9 is a no war
clause.
In other words, the country of Japan renounced it's right to bear
arms.
The promise made was that the U.S. will come to Japan's aid if
Japan were to be attacked by foreign sovereign forces.
However in Killer 7 when Japan was attacked by nukes from the
"Eastern threat" the United State hesitated to make a move &
decided to wait & see the true "test of Japan's value".
Note:The true "test of Japan's
value" for the U. S. Government was nothing more than determining
what benefit the U. S. would receive from Japan's destruction.
If the U. S. had received fewer concessions and benefits from
Japan's destruction, the Fireworks are likely to have been
launched.
"Beginning of a countdown" refers to the
current unstable geo political climate of East Asia. (North
Korea,China,etc.)
The situation has gotten so unsteady that Japan can't abide by
article 9 for much longer. Here's some quotes for
reference...
"Some wounds have been
self-inflicted: Japanese officials, including Abe before his
elevation to prime minister, have continued to visit the Yasukuni
war shrine.
But it isn’t all Japan’s fault.
Countries like China and South Korea themselves are increasingly
nationalistic and have used anti-Japanese sentiment for political
advantage.
Neither can seriously believe
that Tokyo will again invade and occupy them. Beijing’s stench of
hypocrisy is particularly strong, given its own historical public
amnesia."
"Finally, acting as everyone’s
protector puts Washington in the front lines of virtually every
regional controversy. There is no intrinsic reason why America
should, for instance, care who controls the Paracel, Spratly, or
Dokdo/Takeshima Islands. But if its defense clients care, the U.S.
is inevitably involved.
In short, military alliances risk
becoming transmission belts of war — in this case with the People’s
Republic of China.
In a future world of an
assertive, powerful China, is the U.S. better off with a gaggle of
weak allies dependent upon it, or a coalition of strong,
independent friends able to constrain Beijing on their own?
Obviously the latter."
"Some wonder whether Tokyo could
be trusted with the bomb. Do they mean compared to unstable
Pakistan or authoritarian China? The Japanese do not possess a
double dose of original sin.Moreover, the U.S. government now risks
Los Angeles to protect Tokyo. Facing down China in a crisis would
not be the same as confronting Serbia or Iraq. Americanizing and
nuclearizing disputes between China and its neighbors is a policy
of potential catastrophe.
There are many reasons for
Washington and Tokyo to remain close friends, and many issues upon
which the two nations can cooperate. However, the alliance needs to
be updated for a new age.
Japan should
become a normal nation with normal defense responsibilities. The
transformation won’t be easy, but it is both necessary and
inevitable. Washington should make the process as smooth as
possible."
Read more at "Normalize relations with Japan"
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