Editorial: We strongly oppose passage of government-backed security bills

September 16, 2015 (Mainichi Japan)

#StandWithAhmed

Does Prime Minister Shinzo Abe think he's a prophet? "The public's understanding and support toward the security bills will undoubtedly spread after the bills are enacted and time passes," he told the House of Councillors special committee on special legislation on Sept. 14.

Saying that "people will understand in time" while having provided no convincing counterarguments to the many objections that have been voiced against the bills demonstrates the great extent to which Abe, full of conceit, belittles the public.

The objections toward the bills are not temporary, nor are they purely emotional. They are based on the real fear of the possibility that common sense will be distorted and Japan's accomplishments over the years as a peaceful nation will be sabotaged.

Japan's national security policy is the result of a delicate balancing act between war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution and the Japan-U.S. security treaty. It has comprised the solid backbone of post-World War II Japan, born from a coexistence of deep remorse for a reckless war and the realistic need to protect the country.