Comments on: Japan won’t “just sit and wait for its own death”

By: War Is Boring

War Is Boring — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 01:33:30 +0000

[...] Robert Kaplan at the The Coming Anarchy notes something this blog predicted months ago, that the recent North Korean rocket test is [...]

By: ROK Drop Weekly Linklets - June 7th, 2009 | ROK Drop

ROK Drop Weekly Linklets - June 7th, 2009 | ROK Drop — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 22:01:35 +0000

[...] Does Japan have the right to launch pre-emptive strikes? [...]

By: Munro Ferguson

Munro Ferguson — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 23:08:04 +0000

CZ, thanks, read it and commented.

Bob Harrison, I would argue what would it cost (in realms beyond simple currency?) And is that cost manageable? I think my comment at mutantfrog (follow Curzon’s link) might address your comment here.

By: Bob Harrison

Bob Harrison — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:53:59 +0000

Japan has among the most sophisticated launch vehicles in the world (H-2 rocket I think) which for the time being are used for peaceful space exploration purposes. Japan is also sitting on top of the worlds largest pile of plutonium, a byproduct of their nuclear energy industry which is the largest in the world (save for France and the USA).
If they decided to, they could build nuclear warheads, weaponize them and put them on top of their peaceful rockets and have a nuclear arsenal more powerful and sophisticated than China’s.
Of course it would take one hell of a provocation to get the only victims of nuclear warfare to follow this path. The real question is: what would it take?
I imagine they would have to seriously doubt the strength or commitment of the USA’s nuclear umbrella in the face of a belligerent threat.
Meanwhile Obama talks about nuclear disarmament….

By: Curzon

Curzon — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 01:44:14 +0000

Mutantfrog had a good conversation in the comments on this recently, although more focused on Japan having a nuclear capability, not an offensive capability:
http://www.mutantfrog.com/2009/05/28/krauthammer-on-japan-nukes/