As part of the constitution that was imposed on them when the US rebooted their government following WWII, Japan can’t activate its military except in self defense.
Their politicians have been complaining about that and trying to get rid of it for decades now, but in my opinion every country should have such a provision. Any sane politician claims they wouldn’t use the military unless someone else attacked first, so why give them the option at all?
Well, we see plenty of examples of “self defense” being proclaimed rather broadly. For instance Germany justified its participation in the NATO occupation of Afghanistan as “defending our freedom at the Hindu Kush”, because there is a self defense provision in the constitution. Otherwise creating some false-flag to justify “self defense” is also a standard tactic employed since centuries if not millennia.
As part of the constitution that was imposed on them when the US rebooted their government following WWII, Japan can’t activate its military except in self defense.
Their politicians have been complaining about that and trying to get rid of it for decades now, but in my opinion every country should have such a provision. Any sane politician claims they wouldn’t use the military unless someone else attacked first, so why give them the option at all?
Well, we see plenty of examples of “self defense” being proclaimed rather broadly. For instance Germany justified its participation in the NATO occupation of Afghanistan as “defending our freedom at the Hindu Kush”, because there is a self defense provision in the constitution. Otherwise creating some false-flag to justify “self defense” is also a standard tactic employed since centuries if not millennia.