Japan will send ships to support U.S.
effort as soon as bill clears legislature
By David Allen, Stars and
Stripes
Japanese officials say they’ll send a destroyer and other ships to support the
U.S.-led campaign in Afghanistan as soon as a bill clears the Diet broadening the use of
their Self-Defense Forces.
According to Japanese news reports, one of the first ships to be dispatched would be a
destroyer with the Aegis air-defense system. It would be used as part of Japan’s
"rear-area" support of the campaign.
Kyodo News reported Friday that a senior U.S. Department of Defense official said the
U.S. would welcome such support.
"If it could be used operationally … I think we would obviously welcome an
Aegis-class destroyer," the unnamed official said.
Japan and the United States are holding talks on Japan’s possible involvement in
the campaign once the bill, pushed by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, is passed.
Koizumi wanted restraints imposed on the SDF by the country’s pacifist
constitution loosened to allow Japanese air, ground and sea noncombatant to support,
including the transport of munitions, to the United States and its allies.
Once the bill is passed, Japan is expected to add to the three officers stationed in
Hawaii as liaison officers to the U.S. Pacific Command.
In response to criticism from the Japanese press that Koizumi was pressured by the
Washington to broaden the use of the SDF, Shunji Yanai, the Japanese ambassador to the
United States, said Japan "voluntarily made the decision."
He said there were no specific requests from Washington. The SDF bill, he said, is
intended to enable Japan to provide as much military support as possible without violating
its constitution, written by the United States at the end of World War II, which renounces
the use of force to settle international disputes.
Defense Agency Chief Gen Nakatani said using the Aegis-class destroyer as a
"back-up" would not violate that mandate.
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