Immediately after the attacks at the Brussels Airport and a downtown metro station on March 22, Belgium’s Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC) abruptly sent home a majority of the employees of the nation’s two nuclear power stations, ordering them to stand by until further notice. ISIS later claimed responsibility for both attacks.

　　　　　As regards why some 1,000 employees were sent home so suddenly with only a skeleton staff left behind to run the power stations’ seven reactors, Time magazine in its April 4 issue quoted a spokesman for the nuclear regulatory body as explaining: “Their backgrounds have all been checked thoroughly, but better safe than sorry.”

　　　　　This extraordinary measure reflected a grave fear on the FANC’s part that only one terrorist slipped into the ranks of the power stations’ employees could be enough for a major catastrophe. Time reports the decision “did not come out of the blue,” explaining it was based on “piecemeal but growing evidence” that ISIS was actively seeking weapons of mass destruction, including radioactive material.

　　　　　For instance, Time reports, police investigating the Paris attack by ISIS of last November 13 discovered “an unsettling bit of video footage at a suspect’s home. A camera had been hidden in the bushes and tilted to capture the front of the residence of a senior researcher at the Belgian Nuclear Research Center. That facility contains highly enriched uranium, which could be used in a nuclear weapon. The enriched uranium is intended for medical use, but in potent forms it could be dispersed in a crude explosive known as a ‘dirty bomb.’”

　　　　　Even if a city were attacked by terrorists with nothing more sophisticated than a “dirty bomb,” the damage it would suffer would still be devastating, with numerous victims. Experts have concluded that ISIS, eager to manufacture the ultimate weapons of mass destruction, put the researcher’s residence under surveillance in order to kidnap him and obtain radioactive materials.

　　　　　How capable are terrorists, including those with ISIS, of obtaining WMD? Last August, The Wall Street Journal speculated that Islamic State militants used mustard gas against Kurdish forces in Iraq. Now Time reports that ISIS has managed to create mustard gas in powder form.

Loose Control System

　　　　　Time notes that this is the first case of a terrorist group manufacturing its own chemical weapons since Aum Shinrikyo made its own sarin nerve gas back in the mid 90’s. In 1995 the Japanese doomsday cult released sarin gas in the Tokyo subway, killing 13 passengers and injuring more than 6,000 others. Obviously, the world remembers the incident far more vividly than we Japanese do.

　　　　　Although there are experts who view as only slight the possibility that ISIS could get its hands on some form of nuclear weapon, we should in fact take this threat quite seriously. One compelling reason we must do so is quite simply the loose security over radioactive material that exists around the world.

　　　　　There is an estimated 1.8 million tons of radioactive material spread across 130 nations. However, only 23 of them are said to have implemented reliable safety measures. In point of fact, radioactive material is not only stored in military facilities, but is also widely dispersed among civilian facilities such as hospitals and laboratories; it would be next to impossible to implement perfect safety measures at all of these facilities.

　　　　　This dangerous reality would have been behind the terrorists’ attempt in Belgium to obtain radioactive material at the Belgian Nuclear Research Center. This time, their attempt failed. However, it would be wise to anticipate more such attempts in the future and expect that one day they may succeed. Terrorism is entering a far more dangerous and troubling phase.

　　　　　Meanwhile, it is getting increasingly more difficult for governments to put terrorists under control. Young people driven to terrorism are unable to blend into the culture of their adopted countries, heavily influenced by the bigoted and violent teachings of ISIS. In the March 27 edition of The Yomiuri Shimbun, Brussels-based essayist Yuriko Ohno points out that many of the suspects of the terror attacks in Brussels were born in Belgium of immigrant parents and that the Molenbeek District of Brussels where they lived is a center of radical Islamic thought.

　　　　　Ms. Ohno, who frequently uses the subway station where the attack took place, observes with a sense of irony that out of an ordinary municipal district were born these young men who eventually developed such radical thoughts. Young people such as these feel isolated, and are driven to “the other side.” However, no effective solution to this problem is in sight. Nations have been quite unable to cope effectively with terrorists born and bred on their own turf. New acts of terrorism continue to be committed across the globe, and are now extending into Asia as well.

　　　　　A series of terrorist attacks has already taken place in Indonesia and Pakistan this year.

　　　　　On January 14, more than 20 citizens were killed at a shopping mall in central Jakarta. Six days later on January 20, 21 people were killed in the suburbs of Peshawar, northwestern Pakistan. Then on March 27, a terrorist’s bombing took the lives of 72 people in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore.

　　　　　The victims in Lahore outnumbered those in Brussels. And yet, there has been surprisingly little coverage of this incident by the Japanese press; I strongly believe that we Japanese must feel a far greater sense of danger from the fact that terrorism is now spreading across Asia, and that these acts of terrorism may very well eventually strike Japan.

American Dissatisfaction with USA-Japan Security Treaty

　　　　　Is it particularly because Japan has not fought a war over the past 70 years that we Japanese tend to regard terrorism as something that doesn’t affect us directly? It is not just the possibility of a terror attack that we must face squarely. The international geopolitical situation as a whole continues to change rapidly. If we fail to cope effectively with this new world, Japan could find itself in a very difficult position. I believe a host of changes now ongoing in the US are helping to jerk Japan back to a harsher yet more normal reality.

　　　　　President Obama’s declaration that the US no longer is the world’s policeman has brought about unwelcome changes in the world, especially China’s blatant adventurism and the increase in the sphere of influence of Islamic terrorist forces. Domestically, the Obama administration has prompted the rise of Donald Trump, who continues to make extreme and unsubstantiated remarks.

　　　　　While most of what Trump says cannot be taken seriously, he makes one pertinent point that we Japanese must grapple squarely with. That is his accusation that it is unpardonable that Japan is not required to come to America’s aid under the terms of the US-Japan Security Treat while America, on the other hand, is required to come to Japan’s aid.

　　　　　The repeated coverage by the US press of Trump’s remarks is making a growing number of Americans question whether the bilateral security treaty is too favorable to Japan. The administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and even the DPJ (Democratic Party of Japan) administration that preceded it, have made efforts to reinforce the bilateral relations. Regardless of such efforts, however, average Americans most likely will begin to show growing dissatisfaction with the “one-way” treaty. Such a sentiment is bound to adversely affect our relations with the US.

　　　　　We cannot depend on America forever; eventually, this “one-way” relationship will break down. With this in mind, I wish to note with strong approval the enactment on March 29 of Japan’s two new security laws, which enable Japan to exercise its right to collective self-defense. These new laws will at least allow us to assist our allies on a limited basis at a time when Japan itself must grapple more realistically with ways to safeguard its security in the face of the Chinese threat.

(Translated from “Renaissance Japan” column no. 699 in the April 7, 2016 issue of The Weekly Shincho)