TOKYO MEDIA REACTION - IRAQ AND US-DPRK

UNCLAS TOKYO 004114 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR I/RF, PA/PR/FPC/W, IIP/G/EA, EAP/PD, R/MR, EAP/J, EAP/P, PM; USTR FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE; TREASURY FOR OASIA/IMI; SECDEF FOR OASD/PA; CP BUTLER OKINAWA FOR AREA FIELD OFFICE; PACOM HONOLULU FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO JA SUBJECT: TOKYO MEDIA REACTION - IRAQ AND US-DPRK NUCLEAR TALKS LEAD STORIES: Top stories on Wednesday morning include the resignation on Tuesday of a ruling LDP member from the Upper House over a campaign violation in the recent election. ¶1. "How to Get out of Iraq Quagmire" The liberal Tokyo Shimbun editorialized (9/5): "The Maliki government is facing a crisis following a number of suicide bombings and a series of resignations of cabinet ministers. Although the Bush administration is looking at scaling back the US presence in Iraq, Washington should not foist all the responsibility for the current quagmire there on the Iraqi government.... Four and a half years have passed since the start of the war, and President Bush has been unable to restore public security in Iraq despite the deployment of additional US troops.... The president's surprise visit on Monday to Iraq's Anbar Province, where public order has improved, appears to be aimed at seeking a troop reduction prior to the 2008 presidential election by stressing the positive results produced by the surge. Major terrorist attacks, however, are continuing all over Iraq, and the number of Iraqi victims is unlikely to decline. In the US, calls for the resignation of Prime Minister Maliki are growing among lawmakers from the Democratic Party. The Maliki administration is a legitimate government elected by the people of Iraq. The US, which launched this unjustified war, has likely come to realize the limits to its ability to control a nation by force alone. Washington therefore has no choice but to support the Maliki administration." ¶2. "Complete Denuclearization Imperative" The liberal Mainichi wrote in an editorial (9/5): "The US and the DPRK agreed during their recent bilateral working-group meeting in Geneva that Pyongyang will disable its nuclear facilities and declare all of its nuclear programs by the end of the year.... We hope that North Korea will keep its word and move toward irreversible denuclearization by completely abolishing its nuclear facilities.... The agreement is questionable, however, as North Korea has claimed that Washington promised to delist it as a state sponsor of terrorism. Although the US dismissed the idea that this will happen anytime soon, it is clear that Washington is considering delisting the DPRK in the future.... Delisting North Korea is an important card that can be used to settle the various issues involving that country. The US must play this card carefully in order to realize denuclearization with no loopholes...." DONOVAN