Commentary by Captain Paul Watson

Like a spoiled kid who owns the ball, threatens to quit the game, and take his ball home with him unless he gets to win, Japan has now threatened to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) unless it gets what it wants.

And what Japan wants is to kill whales, despite the fact that practically every other nation in the world (except for the retro-Vikings in Norway and Iceland) considers whaling to be barbaric, cruel, and unnecessary.

The Associated Press reported today that Japan is considering withdrawing from the IWC if no progress is made toward easing an international ban on commercial whaling according to its fisheries minister on Tuesday.

In other words, they get to kill whales or they leave the party.

The annual IWC party begins next week in Agadir, Morocco and because of Japan’s persistent bullying and threats, the delegates are expected to seek a compromise between pro and anti-whaling countries, which would legalize commercial whaling on a limited scale.

Stung in recent days by revelations of vote buying, Japan has now resorted to threats to leave the IWC and take whatever whales it wants, wherever it wants, whenever it wants. And rather than enforce the existing moratorium, some nations including the United States and New Zealand are apparently willing to throw the baby out with the bath water with the ridiculous compromise of allowing whales to be killed in order to keep Japan from killing more whales.

In other words, they are saying that we will have to kill the whales to save them.

This is not the first time that Japan has threatened to withdraw from the IWC and they are at it again. It is a “give us what we want or we will leave” attitude and some nations are willing to kiss Japan’s ass to do just that.

Japan’s new Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Masahiko Yamada was asked yesterday if Tokyo would quit the IWC if progress was not made toward easing the ban on commercial whaling. "I am considering various options," Yamada said. "This is really the final stage, and we're not sure how things are going to turn out."

The comments were the first by Yamada to reporters since assuming his post a week ago. He was one of several Cabinet ministers appointed by new Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society would not be upset if Japan withdraws from the IWC. Hopefully Norway and Iceland will follow suit, and no one will be left to pick up the tab for the expensive hotels, drinks, meals, and call girls that the delegates from the African, Pacific Island, and West Indies depend upon Japan to pay.

The IWC has lost all credibility and has not enforced any of its regulations, so it matters not if Japan is a member or not a member.

The advantage of a withdrawal is that there will be no pretense of legitimacy for illegal whaling activities.

The Japanese whaling fleet is targeting endangered and protected whales inside the boundaries of an established international whale sanctuary, in violation of a global moratorium on whaling, and in violation of the Antarctic Treaty.

For this reason, Sea Shepherd will once again send ships to the Southern Ocean under the name of Operation No Compromise to intercept and intervene against these unlawful activities. So far, despite all the boring and endless meetings, the only thing that has stopped illegal Japanese whaling has been intervention by the Sea Shepherd crew.

The time for talk is over. The IWC is a useless organization. Japanese stubbornness can only be countered with the language they best understand: profit and loss. We intend to continue keeping their financial losses high and their profits negated.

Operation No Compromise will be our seventh campaign to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, and it promises to be the most aggressive and dramatic campaign of them all.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/15/AR2010061500206.html