Hiroyuki Hosoda

Powell told a Sept. 13 Senate hearing "it's unlikely that we will find any stockpiles" of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, a statement that observers say could hurt Tokyo's case in supporting the U.S.-led war against Iraq last year.

Hosoda said it is unclear if Powell was saying that the United States had failed to discover WMD despite its search or that U.S. intelligence about Iraq's WMD program was flawed from the start.

Hosoda said Japan supports the war in Iraq not only because of the WMD issue, but due to various other factors, including U.N. resolutions, Iraq's reactions to them and Iraq's past invasions of other countries.

"We have to confirm what (Powell) exactly said and then examine if it has anything to do with past judgments of the government (on the war on Iraq)," Hosoda said.

The Japan Times Weekly: Sept. 25, 2004
(C) All rights reserved