Hardly after the 66th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima, Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara said Japan should perform simulated nuclear weapons tests to maintain its presence on the world stage.
Ishihara said at a press conference that the Obama administration has been conducting subcritical nuclear tests and computer simulations since 2010, even after Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize for his commitment to non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. (The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration’s Stockpile Stewardship Management Program conducts subcritical nuclear tests to see if components such as uranium or plutonium degrade over time.)
Ishihara said: “Japan should do something similar to those simulations. Japan needs to send a message that it could possess nuclear weapons any time. We have a huge stockpile of plutonium.”
This quote seems to confirms my suspicion that Japan is a de facto nuclear state–it has acquired the technology and components for a nuclear weapon, but hasn’t assembled one yet.
Ishihara continued: “If we don’t show more military force, we’ll definitely lose our presence on the world stage. The U.S. is developing other weapons too, some of which rely on satellite positioning technology developed by Japan. We should consider developing weapons like that.”
Ishihara has apparently forgotten or doesn’t care that Japan’s constitution forbids the establishment of offensive military forces, and that Japan has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. But I suppose neither of those technicalities will prevent Japan from seeking a loophole if necessary.
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
