The Japanese constitution reads thus:
“ARTICLE 9. Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. (2) In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.”
Today we learned that Japanese Coast Guard members on board the illegal Japanese whaling ship Nisshin Maru threw seven flash grenades onto the Sea Shepherd vessel the Steve Irwin in Australian waters in the Antarctic Ocean injuring two Shepherds. In the same incident a shot was fired hitting the Captain of the Steve Irwin, Paul Watson, in the chest. If not for his Kevlar vest and metal badge Watson may well have been killed.
The Shepherds have been tracking Japanese ships for months. Whaling was outlawed internationally for commercial purposes in 1986. The Japanese whalers claim that they are hunting down hundreds of whales for “scientific” purposes. After they’re done with the science the whales find themselves on the market; priced for the conspicuously wealthy.
The Steve Irwin promises to continue to shadow and “hunt” the whalers. They claim to have prevented even a single Japanese whaling kill for the last four and a half weeks. You can follow the progress of Operation Migaloo here. Fair play to the Shepherds and hopes for their safety.
Rustbelt Radical 