The ruling party on Friday approved its final draft of a proposed revision of Japan's pacifist constitution that would drop a clause outlawing war and give the military a greater role in international security, officials said.
Article 9 of Japan's current constitution — drafted by U.S. occupation forces and unchanged since 1947 — bars the use of military force in settling international disputes.
It also prohibits maintaining a military for warfare, though the Japanese government has interpreted that to mean the nation can have armed troops to protect itself, allowing the existence of its 240,000-strong Self-Defense Forces.
The Liberal Democratic Party's final draft cuts the "no war" clause from Article 9, and outlines an expanded role for the military.
In the approved draft, released on the party's Web site, the section currently titled "Renouncing War" will be renamed "National Security."
The change is part of a general push by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's government to give Japan a larger military and diplomatic profile in the world. Koizumi's party has also long campaigned for replacing the U.S.-drafted constitution with Japan's own.
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In an effort to calm worries about a resurgence of Japanese militarism, the draft said Japan remains a pacifist nation and renounces the use of military force to settle international disputes.
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"The draft completely overturned the pacifist principle of the current constitution," said opposition Social Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima, calling it a "serious challenge to postwar democracy and totally unacceptable."
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They're moving fscking fast. Why?
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