Japan's Abe Set to Change Country's Pacifist Policy --- TOKYO—Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to make a historic shift in the country's six-decade-old pacifist policy, achieving a long-standing personal aim but potentially alienating voters. -- Citing "fundamental changes" in Japan's security situation, Mr. Abe's cabinet was planning to issue on Tuesday a reinterpretation of Japan's constitution allowing the nation's Self-Defense Forces to aid allies under attack, officials said. Until now, Japanese governments have said the U.S.-written postwar constitution forbade the nation from using military force except in narrow cases of self-defense. -- The broader interpretation, permitting what is known as collective self-defense, could commit Japan to shouldering a heavier military burden in its alliance with the U.S. -- A draft of the cabinet statement, viewed by The Wall Street Journal, says the new interpretation allows the SDF to exercise military power when "another country closely connected" to Japan is attacked. Mr. Abe and his aides have said this would pave the way for Japan to shoot down ballistic missiles that were fired from, say, North Korea at U.S. military bases in Guam, even if Japan itself weren't directly targeted. -- "It is essential to prevent armed conflict and threats to our country by further improving the effectiveness of Japan-U.S. security arrangements and enhancing our alliance's power of deterrence," the draft statement says. -- U.S. officials including President Barack Obama have endorsed the change. "Washington reckons it's about time," says Grant Newsham, defense researcher at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies. "A more assertive Japan is a force multiplier—at a time when U.S. defense budgets are shrinking and the [U.S. military is] hard-pressed to maintain an adequate presence in the region." - More, WSJ, http://online.wsj.com/articles/japans-abe-set-to-make-change-in-countrys-pacifist-policy-1404129400