Japan again...

...has come to the forefront in that they are becoming a practical nation with regard to their preparedness for what seems to be the threat of a major war in the not too distant future.

Back on August 24, 2006, I wrote the following in my blog titled: A Peaceful Country Prepares For War:

"The people of Japan have had good reason not to want to engage in military struggles ever again. They learned a lesson about the consequences of unfettered military at the end of WWII. It is a lesson that luckily the rest of the world has not had to learn in the same manner as has Japan. Japan was the only country to have ever been attacked by nuclear weapons. They paid a heavy toll for their aggression in WWII. They learned a lesson and learned it very well. For the past 61 years Japan has not developed a military capable of even defending itself."

Don't let what I wrote above be taken out of context, because in the same piece I also wrote the following:

"The Japanese are practical people in most respects. The one thing I do not believe they have been at all practical about for many years since WWII was the defense of their own nation from attack. They had an extremely limited military, they depended upon other nations too much. Now things seem to be changing. They are stocking up on defensive missiles. These are missiles that were developed to shoot other missiles out of the air. Those other missiles, the ones the Patriot missiles shoot down, they are not defensive in nature they are offensive, aggressive – they may well carry a nuclear warhead. North Korea is about to develop nuclear weapons, that is if they have not been successful at it already. Iran is developing its nuclear capabilities while snubbing its nose at the United Nations resolution that has forbidden it to do so. The Japanese are a smart people, and they long for peace, they have lived as a peaceful nation for 61 years. Yet they are smart enough to live by an old axiom: They who long for peace must prepare for war."

Now let me direct you this article Japan's quiet successor vows to restore army from News.scotsman.com @
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1410482006


According to the article:

"SHINZO Abe is planning a revolution in Japan which will see the return of a full-strength imperial army for the first time since the Second World War. "

Mr. Abe is the "certain" successor to the prime minister of Japan. It sounds like he has some clout, especially since the article states he won his election with about 2/3 of the vote. If he actually takes over as prime minister, he will be the first person born after WWII to have been elected to said position. He has some strong ideas about changing the way things work for Japan militarily. For instance, as per the same article:

"Instead, he spoke of revising the United States-imposed Constitution, which forbids Japan from having a full-fledged military, passing legislation to allow Japanese troops to be deployed overseas and making it possible for Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defence with the US."

He is an apparent hawk or at least wants to make it appear that way. This does not mean he is readying to start a war in the region, but it sure looks as if he wants Japan to be ready in case a war breaks out. Why the sudden change; my guess is essentially what I said in my earlier piece, Japan has realized they are bordered by enemies and potential enemies who would see Japan as a target of opportunity.

Japan remilitarizing is a dangerous move as far as other nations may see it, but one that assuredly will have Japan at least ready to defend herself if the need ever arises. With the U.S. military spread out the way it is now, and with the US military as the primary defender of Japan, who can blame them.

Read my earlier piece from August 24 @

http://ballseyesboomers.blogspot.com/2006/08/peaceful-country-prepares-for-war.html

If you have read it already, reading it now may help to put things in perspective.

All the best,

Glenn B

Its not 'our' job, its 'their' job...

...and we are not going to help them do it, we are going to help the bad guys make 'their' job tougher by giving them a place to hide. In essence this seems to have been said a lot lately, but this time I refer to a recent incident of great sadness.

The 'our' to whom I refer in the above sentence is the city of Houston, Texas. The 'their' to whom I make reference is the federal government. The issue at hand is illegal immigration and the results of 12 million illegal aliens being in this country. One of those results, the sad incident at hand, was the alleged capital murder of Police Officer Rodney Johnson. Despite Officer Johnson's killing, allegedly by an illegal alien he had just arrested for driving without a license, the chief of police of the Houston Police department defended Houston PD's policy of not enforcing the federal laws against illegal aliens.

Chief Harold Hurtt had this to say, as per an article at Chron.com @ http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4208808.html

"If the government would fulfill their responsibility of protecting the border," he told reporters Friday afternoon, "we probably would not be standing here today."

If the federal government (I imagine this is the government to which he refers, unless in means the government of Houston or Texas, or maybe Mexico) actually went full force (within the realm of reason and legality) to enforce current Immigration and Nationality laws there is always the distinct likelihood that many illegals would still enter the United States over the southern border. I agree it then would have been less likely that the suspect would have killed the police officer, but certainly not impossible. Then again, if Houston, TX was not a haven for illegal aliens, in as much as the police refuse to help enforce federal immigration laws, then this also would have been much less likely to have happened. Hurtt takes the stand it is someone else's fault that this was able to take place, and therefore he shrugs off any responsibility of himself, his department or his city and state. That is a shame because it is a trend we have been living with for all too many years.

I remember, over the course of my still ongoing 27 year career in federal law enforcement, many arrests I made of suspected felons, and those suspected of misdemeanors, on state charges. Can you imagine that; the federal government, as part of its daily routine, has its law enforcement officers and agents making arrests for state, city, and other local governments like counties. Yet when it comes to returning the courtesy and cooperation, state governments often tell the federal government to pound sand if the violations involve illegal aliens.

An indirect result of such policies was the killing of Officer Johnson; it is a crying shame, and I mean that with all of my sympathy to the family and loved ones of the fallen officer. Yes the federal government should be doing a better job, but yes so too should the states, the cities and other local governments. As I seem to recall our nation is the UNITED States of America, not the discombobulated states of anarchy.

Bear in mind that neither of these failures, that of the feds, or that of the locals, was a direct reason that the officer got killed. They were indirect reasons though, reasons that may have been avoidable had their been better cooperation between the states and the feds, and had their been better anti-illegal alien policies in place across the board. These illegal aliens are interlopers, invaders of a sort. They come here to take what U.S. Citizens and legal resident aliens have, and they take it by illegal means. If an illegal has so little respect for our nation and its laws as to have his or first act on our soil be one that is a crime, then they will likely have little respect for any of our laws after that. Just look at this one suspect in this case. He is the almost the perfect example of that first act of illegality, though if he at first entered the United States illegally is in question. What did he do illegal. I can tell you at least a few things:

He committed an illegal act prior to 1999, as per the article:

"Quintero was deported as an illegal felon in 1999, following a charge of indecency with a child, Brown said."

So he may not have entered illegally the first time round, but he was deported for a crime. What does he do next illegally in the USA; well as far as we know he entered the US illegally after deportation.

Then he follows the course of what so many others have done illegally, he allegedly continues to commit crimes. What were those crimes, well here are just the few we know of:

He allegedly gets a job, this would be illegally as he has no right or privilege to work within the USA.

He allegedly drives without a license.

He allegedly kills a police officer.

He allegedly fires another shot at the tow truck driver thereby allegedly attempting another murder.

There are some other crimes listed in the article too.

It is about damned time that people get their heads out of their asses and realize that illegal aliens coming into our country has to be our number one concern domestically, and that this problem is directly part of our national security issues. It must also be one of the driving forces behind our votes on election day this November, and it should be a driving force during the presidential elections 2 years from now. If the politicians for whom you are going to vote are not all for a strong enforcement of our Immigration laws, strong enforcement of our national boundaries, removal of illegal aliens from within our borders, a policy of no amnesty or anything like it for illegal aliens, a policy of reasonable legal immigration, strong enforcement of national security, and for a complete revamp of our immigration and nationality laws then you absolutely are wasting your vote.

Don't let Officer Johnson's death have been in vain. Do something about it by helping to rid our nation of this scourge of 12 million illegal aliens. Vote for a secure USA.

All the best,
Glenn B