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On October 31, the body of an Asian-looking young man was found in Baghdad. The Japanese government confirmed that it was that of KODA Shosei who had been taken hostage by a militia. He was killed under the very eyes of Prime Minister KOIZUMI Junichiro, who kept on saying Japan would not yield to the terrorists, and refused to pull the Japanese Self-Defense Forces troops out of Iraq. Koizumi had Koda killed while he knew very well that there was no room for negotiation if he flatly refused the kidnappers' demand. To Koizumi, the continued occupation of Iraq is more important than the life of a Japanese citizen.
Koizumi wishes the occupation to continue in order to secure oil interests, to engage in reconstruction projects, and to make the SDF really capable of killing people. He deserted the life of a young man for the sake of the interests of Japanese global capital.
Now that even the Bush administration has admitted the nonexistence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, it is obvious to anyone that there was no legitimacy in the war against Iraq. If it were not for Koda's kidnapping case, the unjust occupation should immediately be ended, and the SDF should withdraw from Iraq.
Nevertheless, Koizumi is trying to prolong the period of SDF's stationing in Iraq, and even to increase its staff there. This is because Koizumi thinks it necessary to keep the presence of the SDF in Iraq in order to carry out the January elections for a provisional assembly, and give justification to the puppet Allawi regime in cooperation with Bush and Blair. In fact, the Japanese government announced in the donor countries' conference for the Iraq reconstruction held in Tokyo on October 13 and 14 that it would offer 40 million dollars for the election expenses.
Even during the recent Chuetsu Earthquake in Niigata prefecture, Koizumi, who deserted a Japanese young national in Iraq, did not even care to show up at the Emergency Relief Headquarters for earthquake victims, but preferred being at a movie award presentation. He is thoroughgoing in his disregard for life, the qualities requisite for an avowed friend of Bush who has no qualms in killing more than 100,000 innocent Iraqis for no valid reason.
Bush, Blair and Koizumi can coldly sacrifice precious lives of their citizens for the sake of the interests of global capitalism. It is the sacred responsibility for world peace movements and for the humanity to expel these war-mongers from the earth.
At the same time, we can never tolerate the terrorist act that killed Koda, for it is an act which goes hostile to the struggles for liberating Iraq and winning the withdrawal of occupation forces. The resistance should be directed against the occupying forces, not against civilians. Such terrorist acts by armed groups are to relativize the US atrocities, or state terrorism, and give pretext to the military retaliation. It only profits the enemy.
We must strengthen our solidarity with the Civil Resistance in Iraq that is struggling for the withdrawal of occupying forces, and to build a free and egalitarian Iraq by nonviolent means. We must realize the withdrawal of all the occupying forces from Iraq in solidarity with anti-war movements around the world. We must stop the Japanese government from prolonging the period of stationing of the SDF.
Our condolences on the death of Koda are to show our determination to prevent more life from being sacrificed, by winning the withdrawal of the SDF and all the occupying forces from Iraq.
October 31, 2004 Movement for Democratic Socialism (MDS)
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