Fighting international terrorism

The United States has resorted to a very rough gambit. It cannot complain if it is accused of having been unable to conduct diplomacy.

The fight against terrorism cannot be achieved without the understanding and cooperation of the international community. Diplomatic efforts are more important than anything else in that fight. But it appears that Britain was just about the only country that was informed of the military action by the United States beforehand, and Japan and almost all other countries learned about it from American officials after the event.

For the United States, it must be unbearable to hear talk that the use of force was designed to draw attention from the scandal surrounding the president. It is hard to imagine that the fight against international terrorism can be fought efficiently against such a background. We cannot help but wonder how much consideration the president gave to this before he made the momentous decision.

-- Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo