[sell_propaganda]

Doesn't Japan have a constitutional clause prohibiting militarization? Similar complaints have been filed against those ungrateful Germans who we defend. Now, plans for a post-Saddam Iraq are invoking post-WWII models including constitutional demilitarization. I can already hear someone saying, 50 years from now, "Iraq can't expect the US to eternally do its heavy lifting."

[Pearls Before Swine]

Re constitutional demilitarization:

It only works as long as the population wants it that way. Germany's military was limited by the Treaty of Versaille after World War I, and the area between the Rhine and the French border was troop-free. It was unpopular, and Hitler ditched it, building up to WW II.

If the Japanese sentiment demanded self-defence, a "piece of paper" wouldn't stop anything. Now, I'm not saying a nuclear Japan is necessarily a good thing--but I'm also getting tired of our kids being everyone else's shield in the interests of world peace.