Japan Finally Grows Some Balls: Oil Embargo Against Iran is an Act of War - Japan, China and S. Korea Opt Out

Update at bottom!


Good News! Centuries of American hegemony and imperialism have just been given a black eye. Japan, following China's and South Korea's announcement, has stated that it will not abide by an oil embargo against Iran. It is the right choice. 


I think that Japan would know a thing or two about how oil embargoes lead to war. The USA under Franklin Delano Roosevelt instituted an oil embargo against Japan that lead to the moderate Japanese government of the time being ousted for a more hard line militarist government that soon lead Japan into total war.

A US enforced oil embargo against Japan in July 1941 lead to this in December 1941.

We have US presidential candidate Ron Paul repeatedly stating that embargoes lead to war and we have history as proof that embargoes lead to war too. Japan was the victim of a US led embargo in July 1941 which lead to the ouster of the then moderate Japanese government of Fumimaro Konoe to the hard core right wing nationalist government of Hideki Tojo that lead Japan to war with the United States and England. The militarists insisted, with good evidence, that the Americans were unreasonable and impossible to be dealt with. They came to power and the rest is, as they say, history. 


Here is what Ron Paul says about embargoes:

Embargoes and blockades are acts of war under international law. Americans should know this. That's why, in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy did not call the blockade of Cuba a "blockade" but called it a "Quarantine."


Considering embargoes, the following information came out at the Tokyo War Crimes Trials - the defense of Japan by court appointed US lawyers - and meetings with lawyers in Washington. These transcripts and points were covered up by subsequent US governments for decades.

The website of revisionist historian C.W. Porter, quoting word-for-word from official documents writes:

On December 7, 1928, a group of distinguished Senators gathered in the Capital Building at Washington D.C. to discuss ratification of the Briand-Kellogg Peace Pact, an instrument whose purpose was to “abolish aggressive war”.

Among those present was the author of the Pact, Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg.

During the course of the recorded discussions, the following exchange took place:

“Q: Suppose a country is not attacked - suppose there is an economic blockade...?

A: There is no such thing as a blockade [unless] you are in war.

Q: It is an act of war?

A: An act of war absolutely... as I have stated before, nobody on earth, probably, could write an article defining 'self defense' or 'aggressor' that some country could not get around; and I made up my mind that the only safe thing for any country to do was to judge for itself within its sovereign rights whether it was unjustly attacked and had a right to defend itself and it must answer to the opinion of the world.”

The above was quoted during the Tokyo Trial by American defense council to show that Japan's War of the Pacific, according to the very terms of the Brian-Kellogg Pact itself, did not and could not constitute "aggression".

Briand-Kellogg Peace Pact, signed by US president Calvin Coolidge 

in 1929, made embargoes an act of war.

Like I mentioned Japan has seen with her own eyes (China and Korea too) what happens when a nation is backed into a corner with an embargo. That's probably the biggest reason they want no part of it.

The article continues:

Japan’s War of the Pacific was a war of self-defense for the following reasons: 

- blockade is an act of war (p. 43,051);

- every nation is the judge of what constitutes self-defense (ibid); 

- self-defense is not limited to defense of the national territory (p. 42,239); 

- Japan was provoked into a war of self-defense (pp. 43,050-175);

The Americans froze Japanese assets (in violation of a treaty) and began to embargo oil. It was demanded, as a condition to restoring normal relations, that Japan sign an agreement with various other nations who had never before been party to the negotiations, including Thailand and Soviet Russia (pp. 43,678-98).

To obtain agreement with the other nations in accordance with this demand could have taken months or years; and might never have been possible. Japan had enough oil for a few months only. A conference was held at which it was decided that if there was to be war, it must come now; by spring Japan would be too weak to fight. In any case, the attack on Pearl Harbor was an act of utter desperation. The oil embargo meant the destruction of Japan’s independence and perhaps survival as a nation. (emphasis mine)

(Through an oil embargo) Japan faced immediate military defeat in China; total industrial collapse at home; and destruction through coastal shelling of all the major cities by any one of five traditional enemies (America, Britain, China, the Netherlands, and particularly the Soviets).

Oil had been supplied to Japan for two years in the teeth of hostile public opinion. It was believed essential to keep war out of the Far East;

When this did not work, Japan was forced into war, crushed with atomic bombs, and her leaders hanged for “aggression”. (Read more here).

Could anyone in the world be so naive to think that the USA isn't just itching for a war with Iran and is hoping that, with sanctions and illegal embargoes, that they can trick Iran into firing the first shot - like the USA did to Japan - even if it would be legally justified as "self-defense" under international law? Law or no law, you know the USA (a government who has ignored international law for years) would try to claim the moral high ground by saying, "But they fired first!"

One guess which is the US navy? How dare the Iranians

threaten us with their mighty dreadnoughts off the shores of their own country?

This information needs to become common knowledge for people, especially Americans (who will never be taught the truth in school or on American mass media), to realize that these sorts of actions, namely economic war in the form of things like oil embargoes, by the US government are acts of war and we the people must rise up and stop this madness. It seems that the USA is just waiting for an excuse to turn Tehran into a gravel parking lot. This must be stopped.

That China, Japan and Korea have put their collective foot down and said, "No!" is a great sign that the US empire is finally deflating; especially when you realize that, since 1945, Japan and South Korea have been the staunchest of American allies. This rejection of US will is a total embarrassment for the US government.


It couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch of folks.


Yahoo News Reports in Japan Refuses to Stop Iranian Oil Imports:

Japan's foreign minister said Monday that his country would not stop imports of Iranian oil, striking a rare note of divergence with the United States during a visit to Washington.

After talks with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (war-mongerer) that focused mostly on North Korea, Japan's Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba highlighted Japan's sanctions imposed on Iranian institutions due to concerns over its nuclear program.

But Gemba said: "I conveyed my view that there is a danger of causing damage to the entire global economy if the imports of Iranian crude oil stop."

Think about it. Of course Japan has to say "No!" Not only do embargoes start wars, Japan just suffered through the nightmare of March 11, 2011. The earthquake, tsunami and then Fukushima nuclear disasters leading to half of all of Japan's electrical needs being stopped due to nuclear power plant's termination of service. Throw on top of that reconstruction costs and you have a Japan that cannot afford to pay higher bills for oil!


Oil is already over $102 dollars a barrel today! What will happen to Japan's economy if oil hits $250 a barrel as some analysts have predicted?

This is the kind of propaganda Americans are fed. What? How dare the Iranians taunt US warships off the coast of Iran! I wonder how Americans would feel if Chinese warships were buzzing the coastline of California?

Thank god that, like I said, Japan finally has the guts to stand up the the USA. Or, as Americans would say, finally Japan has, "Grown some balls!" I wonder if Obama will make ridiculous statements like Bush did with his "Coalition of the Willing" that included about 8 minor countries that were paid off to support the invasion of Iraq?


Well, Obama can make those statements, but when three of the world's top economic powerhouses don't join in, the USA is starting to look more and more like a paper tiger.


Not a moment too soon. 


UPDATE: What timing! Zerohedge confirms my thesis on the USA pushing Iran towards war with this report on Iran this morning in Hyperinflation Comes to Iran: 


Hyperinflation has struck again, this time at ground zero of the most sensitive geopolitical conflict in ages: Iran. EA WorldView reports:

An EA source reports that a relative in Tehran ordered a washing machine for 400,000 Toman (about $240) this week. When he went to the shop the next day, he was told that --- amidst the currency crisis and rising import costs --- the price was now 800,000 Toman (about $480). Another EA source says that the price of an item of software for a laptop computer has tripled from 50,000 Toman to 150,000 Toman within days.

, and gave America the green light to enter the war.

And so the opportunity cost for the Ahmedinejad regime to preserve its status quo gradually grinds to zero, as the entire economy implodes (courtesy of a few strategic financially isolating decisions) making further escalation virtually inevitable, in a 100% replica of the US-planned Japanese escalation that led to the Pearl Harbor attack.

...Need I say more? The military industrial complex (and criminal government) of the United States must be stopped from constantly destabilizing regions and causing wars. The true terrorists of our times are easy to identify... And they don't live in caves in Afghanistan... Washington D.C. is their mailing address.

China to Send Troops to North Korea

Well, what did I tell you? The United States and South Korea have been playing with fire and antagonizing North Korea and getting us very close to a war. From today, the idiots who run the Japanese government will start military exercises with the United States in the East China Sea.

I've written many times that these military maneuvers can lead to no good outcome.


One might remember that, even though North Korea was making very bellicose comments about the maneuvers, they suddenly seemed to back down and went silent.


Well, now we know. It seems that the Chinese and the North Koreans have outflanked the USA (and South Korea and Japan) once again.


It has now been reported that China and North Korea are discussing the deployment of Chinese troops in North Korea for the first time in over 20 years. The report from Press TV:

China and North Korea are reportedly discussing details of a plan allowing Chinese army forces to be deployed in the communist country for the first time in about two decades.

Citing an anonymous official at the presidential Blue House, the South Korean Chosun Ilbonewspaper reported on Saturday that the troops “would protect Chinese port facilities” in the Rason special economic zone near the Sea of Japan (East Sea).

“North Korea and China have discussed the issue of stationing a small number of Chinese troops to protect China-invested port facilities,” the unnamed official told the newspaper.

“The presence of Chinese troops is apparently to guard facilities and protect Chinese nationals,” the official added.

US imperialist military fools! Now, do you think you can be whacking the North Korean hornet's nest without getting very severely stung?


The USA must stop antagonizing North Korea!


USA out of Japan. USA out of South Korea. USA out of Asia.    

South Korea & United States Continue to Provoke North Korea

South Korea & United States Continue to Provoke North Korea. Why is this game of brinksmanship continuing?

News reports from Russia TV:

South Korea Continues to Provoke and Antagonize North Korea

Just when North Korea lowers tensions by agreeing to come to talks, South Korea announces a live fire drill that would piss off anyone!

From ABC News:

South Korea says it will hold its largest-ever live-fire drill near the military border with North Korea on Thursday, just as tension on the peninsula eases after Pyongyang's attack on a southern island.

The drill, involving artillery, fighter jets and the largest number of personnel in a peace-time exercise, comes after the South's live-fire artillery exercise on Monday on the island of Yeonpyeong and is bound to infuriate the North.

North Korea this week offered to re-admit UN inspectors concerned about its nuclear weapon program, leading to speculation of a resumption of six-party disarmament talks and a general sigh of relief around the world that the crisis had passed.

I wrote before that this entire episode is calculated to provoke North Korea. Is there anyone in the world who could possibly doubt the purpose of South Korea and the United States to start an international incident that could lead to war?


My case rests.

US Meddling in the Koreas Continues

The news this morning about what is going on over in Korea is not good. The saber's are rattling.

North Korea is accusing the US of goading South Korea into provoking North Korea (and rightly so). I can't believe that South Korea is actually going to go through with military exercises on a contested island, in North Korean waters!

The last time South Korea pulled that stunt, North Korea fired back on them... Of course.

Here is proof that South admitted firing first in the last incident in November of 2010:



Now, anybody with a lick of common sense must be scratching their head and wondering, "Why is South Korea going to do these sorts of live-fire exercises again?"

You know they would never do this without US approval. Think about it for even one second, does anyone think that South Korea would be so belligerent and boisterous if they knew the US wasn't standing right beside them? Why are these people risking a hot war?

Chinese News Xinhuanet reports:

PYONGYANG, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Saturday accused the United States of goading South Korea into provoking it, the official news agency KCNA reported.

South Korea's plan to hold firing drills again on Yonphyong Island was an "intolerable tease" and "absolutely unfair bellicose provocation," a spokesman for DPRK's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Saturday.

The move would lead the situation on the peninsula to an explosion and bring about tragic disasters if it broke the bottom, he said.

The DPRK has sent warnings that provocateurs who infringe on its sovereignty and territory would be punished "firmly and unmercifully." It is not empty talk, the spokesman said.

He pointed out that the United States should be blamed for South Korea's manipulation over the second shelling incident, as it has openly supported the provocation of South Korea and threatened the DPRK over its defense measures, ignoring opposition from neighboring countries and the international community.

The article then goes on to point out that, in upcoming live-fre drills, no matter where South Korea fires, the shells will land in North Korean territory.

South Korean declared Dec. 16 that a live fire artillery drill would be held in waters south-west of Yonphyong Island near the disputed maritime border on a selected day from Dec. 18-21, depending on weather conditions.

The situation on the peninsula has been getting tense since the exchange of artillery fire on Nov. 23 between South Korea and the DPRK, which killed four people.

No matter where the firing was directed, all of the shells would fall into the DPRK's territorial waters, as Yonphyong Island is in the territorial waters of the DPRK, the country's foreign ministry said in a statement on Nov. 24.

Is there any nation in the world that would tolerate live-fire exercises in their own territory by another country? I think not.

Regular reader, Andy, also sends along an excellent article that shows that this disputed boundary was arbitrarily decided by the USA and has never been recognized by North Korea. He also adds, "The islands should be returned to North Korea and the borders redrawn consistent with international law."

I completely agree.

There is nothing good that comes out of having the USA flexing military muscle around in Asia - or anywhere else in the world for that matter.

USA out of Asia!

Japan Needs to Kick the US Empire Out!

The title reads: Japan Needs to Kick the US Empire Out! Yes. We do. We need to before those meathead militarists get us stuck in another war.


When the shooting started the other week between North and South Korea, one of my best friends seemed to jump the gun and started to blame North Korea's Kim Jung Il. Like most people would.


But I smelled a rat. When you stop and think about it for a second you know that North Korea doesn't want a war with anyone. They can't win, and, if things escalate and get out of hand, they could get blown back to the stone age.


No. The government wonks and Kim Jung Il's family all have it quite nice the way it is, thank you, there's no way they will be rocking the boat unless they are really being pushed. Why in the world would Kim Jung Il and the higher ups in the North Korean government risk their jobs or worse? 


Everyone knows what happened to Saddam Hussein.


No, I suspect (I'm sure) the responsibility for this North Korea and South Korea mess lies squarely on the shoulders of the USA.


The USA needs to prop up the failing dollar; a war is good for that. 


The USA needs to make a presence near China to stir up tensions; a war in Korea is good for that.


Ron Paul spoke about those two subjects here.

Here is an article that spells it all out pretty well and how the USA and South Korea are, for political and economic purposes, swatting a hornet's nest. It is entitled "Spiralling Out of Control: The Risk of a New Korean War From Global Research:


By the end of December, South Korea plans to hold another round of artillery drills on islands lying in disputed waters, including, dismayingly enough, Yeonpyeong Island. Nothing could be calculated to be more provoking under the circumstances. In preparation for the response to the drills that are expected from North Korea, island defenses are being beefed up. South Korea has added multiple rocket launchers, howitzers, missile systems and advanced precision-guided artillery to the Yeonpyeong arsenal.


Now, today, another piece of the puzzle is reported: Japan needs to pay the USA another $2.2 billion dollars a year for imperial stormtroopers on Japanese soil. From Yahoo News:


Japan's government agreed Tuesday to continue contributing $2.2 billion a year toward the cost of stationing American troops in the country. Under the agreement with the United States, Japan's share will remain at the current 188 billion yen ($2.2 billion) through March 2016. The current pact expires next March. Japan had sought a cut in its payment during months of negotiations on the renewal because of economic woes. But officials agreed on no reduction after tensions on the Korean peninsula and worries over China's growing military might highlighted the U.S. military's role as a deterrent for security threats.


(Thanks to News on Japan)


Gee, they agreed on no reduction until after tensions on Korea simmer down? How convenient! And what incredible coincidence that South Korea and the USA were having war games earlier this year when this entire ruckus between North and South Korea started! Thank God for US advisors helping out the South Koreans as they shell North Korean disputed waters!





Japan needs a Japanese government who will stand up to the USA and kick the US troops out of this country. There is no benefit to US troops in Japan.


Our Asian neighbors do not negotiate with us as equals as long as US troops are here and the US keeps interfering in the domestic affairs of our neighbors.


As my friend, Andy "in Japan" so succinctly put it: 


"How about a small suggestion regarding Korea. Namely, why don't outsiders like the Japanese and American party bosses butt out and let the Koreans deal with this sad situation? It's clear to me that without USA government troops on the ground, peace would have broken out decades ago and the cruel dictatorship in the North would be more easily ended."


Wiser words were never spoken! It should be obvious to anyone who is not asleep at the wheel that the US empire is dying and they will do anything - even start wars - to protect their position. It's what dying empires do.  


It's way past time that Japan got back into the family of Asian nations and gets out of the aggressive militarist US empire. 


US troops out of Asia! End the US empire!

  

Proof That Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan is Not Fit For Office

This man is a complete and total buffoon. Japan had colonized Korea from 1910 until the end of World War II in 1945.

It wasn't a friendly colonization, either. Korean young men and women were captured and shipped off to be used as slaves; the Japanese military government of Korea tried to outlaw the Korean language.

There is an entire encyclopedia of the foolish things the Japanese military government of Korea did. Needless to say, there is still a lot of bad blood between the two nations about it.

Let's hope that time and peaceful cooperation will heal these wounds and bring these two nations closer together.

Yes. Let's hope. Let's also hope that Japan gets rid of her idiot politicians, like Naoto Kan, the current Prime Minister who actually is stupid enough to suggest that Japanese troops could be on Korea soil again! What a moron!

From Tehran Times:

South Korean officials on Sunday brushed off as ""unrealistic"" Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan's remarks on a possible dispatch of his country's Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to the Korean Peninsula in case of contingencies. In a meeting Friday with the families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea, Kan was quoted as saying that his government plans to hold talks with South Korea on sending SDF to rescue the abductees in the event of a contingency in the region.

I think the wording of this article and comments by South Korea officials is spun to make them seem nicer than they really are. Most probably when they heard the mere mention of a Japanese Prime Minister even suggesting Japanese troops on Korea soil again, they probably blew their tops.

It seems these remarks caught the South Koreans off guard;

"I don't know in what context Prime Minister Kan's remarks were made," an official at the South Korean presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said, adding that they may not have come after thorough consideration. 

Get that last sentence? "They (the comments) may not have come after careful consideration!?" Hee har! Duh! You think so? Kan is a buffoon.

Kim Jong Il would just love for Japanese troops to be running around South Korea. That would be the best thing that ever happened to him. He has always said that South Korea and Japan are US imperialist "tools."

Hell, even a broken clock is right twice a day.

The Truth About North Korea and South Korea

There is nothing that happens on the Korean peninsula that doesn't affect Japan. But we must always use a cool head and be patient when making judgements and not jumping to conclusions.


The reports earlier today were completely blaming North Korea for agressive actions and killing civilians for no apparent reason.


The Lookout on Yahoo reported:

Early Tuesday, North Korea fired artillery shells at the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, which sits off the disputed maritime border between the two countries. The attack killed two South Korean marines and wounded 18 soldiers and civilians.  It prompted an exchange of fire between the two sides, involving around 175 artillery shells and lasting about an hour.

The North accused South Korea of having started the exchange by firing shells inside North Korean territory during a set of South Korean military exercises that the North called "war maneuvers."  The South denies that charge, saying that its soldiers were merely conducting military drills and that no shots fell in North Korean territory.

This report makes North Korea out to look like it is completely in the wrong.

But, then, a few hours later, the story changes.

From Yahoo News: 

The skirmish began when North Korea warned the South to halt military drills near their sea border, according to South Korean officials. When Seoul refused and began firing artillery into disputed waters — but away from the North Korean shore — the North retaliated by shelling the small island of Yeonpyeong, which houses South Korean military installations and a small civilian population.

Seoul responded by unleashing its own barrage from K-9 155mm self-propelled howitzers and scrambling fighter jets. Two South Korean marines were killed in the shelling that also injured 15 troops and three civilians.

We know that North Korea is run by some very paranoid people. We know that Kim Jong Il is sick and about to be replaced by his son. It's a pretty safe guess that the son is willing to show that he cannot be pushed around easily.

So why does South Korea antagonizes these people?

It is easy to imagine that North Korea would get very upset about belligerent military maneuvers near their maritime border. Then after they demand a halt, they are ignored. What would be their response?

If they fired shells into the water, it might look like they were poor shots with poor equipment. I can see why they would fire on a military base.

I am not excusing North Korea at all. They are dangerous and not to be messed with. 

I think that if you are messing with a hornet's nest and they buzz by your head and warn you to stay away, you'd better to stay away. Why in the world would South Korea fire shells into North Korean waters? What could possibly be the purpose of that besides starting a war