<html> <dl> <dd><a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/geted.pl5?eo20020901a1.htm">http</a><a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/geted.pl5?eo20020901a1.htm">://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/geted.pl5?eo20020901a1.htm</a> <dd>September 1, 2002 <dd>JAPANESE VIEWS <dd>U.S. faces bigger issues than hitting Iraq <dd>By MASAMICHI HANABUSA <dd>Special to The Japan Times <dd>In America, a military attack against Iraq to remove <dd>President Saddam Hussein from power seems to be a <dd>foregone conclusion. U.S. newspaper reports have been <dd>rife with various battle plans proposed by the <dd>generals. <dd>However, U.S. President George W. Bush's single-minded <dd>pursuit of victory against the "terrorists" who <dd>perpetrated the infamous Sept. 11 attacks has its <dd>dangers. It would be particularly risky if top <dd>priority is given to attacking Iraq while more urgent <dd>problems, such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, <dd>the recovery of U.S. economic vigor and the precarious <dd>state of Latin American economies, are put aside. Bush <dd>would be better advised to spend the rest of this year <dd>attending to these more urgent issues. <dd>The world is more interdependent than Americans are <dd>prepared to accept. Any immediate attack would <dd>undermine innumerable delicate balances that exist <dd>among divergent forces and interests in the world. It <dd>is good, therefore, that the decision to go ahead <dd>seems to have temporarily been postponed until some <dd>time next year. Taking advantage of this respite, it <dd>would be worthwhile to tell our American friends how <dd>the average Japanese views a prospective U.S. military <dd>strike against Hussein. <dd>First, most Japanese are not convinced that Iraq is <dd>providing direct support to the al-Qaeda terrorist <dd>group. So far, the Japanese government seems to be <dd>giving Bush the benefit of the doubt. But when the <dd>attack comes and begins to directly affect Japan -- <dd>continued </dl></html>