President Bush's speech

The central theme of U.S. President George W. Bush's address was a request to Congress for a supplementary budget of US$87 billion to maintain a troop presence in Iraq while the reconstruction process continues.

At the same time, Bush characterized Iraq as 'the central front' in the fight against terrorism and asked Japan and countries in Europe and the Middle East to provide financial assistance, which he characterized as a 'contribution.'

It is just too much to ask other nations to provide financial contributions without specifying the anticipated future of Iraqi self-rule and discussing ways to achieve it.

There must be a clear change of direction to win wide international support, rather than have everything decided in Washington, and have the United States lead the rest of the world. Such a policy change will also strengthen the coalition against terrorism.

Japan should not simply agree to any request for financial assistance just because it comes from the United States. The precondition for Japan and other members of the international community to begin providing all-out help with Iraq's reconstruction is that there be a clearly established plan from an interim Iraqi government to begin rebuilding their nation with the cooperation of the United Nations.

-- Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo