JAPAN: Scrapping Article 9

One of the strangest examples of misguided idealism in those innocent first days after World War II was Article 9 in the constitution which Douglas MacArthur handed down to the Japanese. Says Article 9: "The Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation, and the threat or use of force as a means of settling international disputes. Land, sea and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained." After Korea, Douglas MacArthur himself had to direct a semantic flanking movement around Article 9. Japan's "ground self-defense force" now counts about 115,000 men; its "coastal self-defense force" numbers 210 ships (about 70 on lease from the U.S.); its "self-defense air force" has 3,000 men, 20 propeller-driven aircraft and the promise of U.S. jets to come.

Last week Japan's new nationalist Premier, Ichiro Hatoyama, announced that his first move to correct occupation-made law would be to scrap Article 9 of the constitution, "because this Article is open to misinterpretation and leads to much unnecessary confusion."