Don’t be among the hypocrites

Regarding the May 11 editorial “Preventing use of nuclear weapons“: Japan’s refusal to sign the international anti-nuclear weapons statement is completely reasonable and consistent with its current defensive policy.

Japan should not seek to join [four NATO countries] Denmark, Iceland, Luxembourg and Norway in calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons. I am not taking a position on the idea of global nuclear disarmament, but if Japan truly wants to work to abolish nuclear weapons, Japan must first step out from beneath the U.S. nuclear umbrella.

In line with the quote that is often attributed to Gandhi, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

Furthermore, the pro-abolition article fails to make a logical argument regarding disarmament, as it descends into appeals to emotion and accusations of bad faith on the part of the Japanese government. Much like the rhetoric in the U.S. gun-control debate, the author argues that if you are not in favor of abolishing nuclear weapons, then you must be in favor of killing innocent people, or at least be indifferent to the suffering of people on whom nuclear weapons have been used.

joseph jaworski
taragi, kumamoto
