Word: pacifist
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...that's begun changing. Over the past few years, Japanese forces have taken part in operations in Iraq and the Indian Ocean. Conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last month elevated Japan's Defense Agency to a full-fledged Cabinet-level ministry, and is aiming to change the country's pacifist constitution, which could open the door for more frequent foreign deployments for the SDF. "For the past 50 years, Japan intentionally ignored the matter of defense," says Toshiyuki Shikata, a defense analyst at Teikyo University. But now, he adds, Japan is waking up to its own military power...
...that's changing. Over the past few years, Japanese forces have taken part in operations in Iraq and the Indian Ocean. Conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last month elevated Japan's Defense Agency to a full-fledged Cabinet-level ministry, and is aiming to change the country's pacifist constitution, which could open the door for more frequent deployments of the SDF abroad. U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's Feb. 20-22 visit to Tokyo included talks on expanding coordination between American and Japanese forces. "For the past 50 years, Japan intentionally ignored the matter of defense," says Toshiyuki Shikata...
...Meanwhile, in his first four months in office, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has seemed out of touch with the national mood. While Japanese say they're most worried about stagnant wages, a fragile pension system and growing social disparities, Abe has chosen to prioritize plans to revise Japan's pacifist constitution. While parents fret about declining academic standards, Abe's response has been to pass a reform bill that will attempt to make children more patriotic, and may bring back physical punishment to schools. "I'm not sure that constitutional revision should be the No. 1 issue," says Sadakazu Tanigaki...
...Your important story about the illegal settlement outpost of Migron, in the West Bank, erroneously referred to Peace Now as a "pacifist group." The organization was established in 1978 by 348 senior Israeli officers and combat soldiers to urge their government to sign a peace treaty with Egypt. Peace Now has supported some Israeli military measures, including Israel's military response to Hizballah gunmen who crossed from Lebanon into Israel to kidnap two soldiers in the summer of 2006. Our objection to the construction and expansion of Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories does not stem from a pacifist philosophy...
...needs to be made clear that, while critical questioning of our government’s actions constitutes legitimate dissent, the violent methods and crackpot theories of movements like the LaRouchians’ only damage the debate. When such groups are viewed as just another set of pacifist protesters, it means that we have trivialized the anti-war movement, undermining its reputation and ability to act. The Bush administration has repeatedly tried to portray the entire anti-war movement as crazy fanatics; allowing mainstream protesters to become indistinguishable from people like the LaRouchians makes these attacks even more effective...