GSDF has secret military action plan to repel assumed enemies

Contrary to what the government has so far explained to the people, the Ground Self-Defense Force's internal document shows that it has secretly drawn up plans for fighting assumed enemies invading Japanese territory.

Ogata Yasuo, Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors, revealed the document during his questioning in the Upper House Audit Committee meeting on April 2. The document, drawn up in 1997, is entitled the "concept of study of anti-personnel," which includes the GSDF's defense strategy and the secret long-term defense estimate plan.

The secret plan assumes several emergency situations for the SDF to cope with militarily, such as fighting country "Z," a U.S. adversary invading Hokkaido in northern Japan; and repelling country "X" invading the Kyushu region in southern Japan, in order to be in control of the East China Sea.

Ogata pointed out that country "X" is China and country "Z" Russia.

The plan also includes a joint military action with U.S. Forces to cope with "sanction, retaliation, and threat" of independent guerrillas and commandos against Japan. Such a joint action is exactly what the Japan-U.S. Defense Cooperation Guidelines supposes and will involve Japan in U.S. wars of aggression and intervention in other countries.

Defense Agency Director General Saito Toshiji in answer to Ogata had to admit that the plan called the "Long-term defense estimate" was secretly made at the GSDF chief of staff level, and that even the agency's director general was not aware of it. Ogata said, "We can't overlook that such a plan has been secretly made without reporting to the Diet."

Insisting that the GSDF is not calling any country an imagined enemy, Saito refused to make the plan public on the grounds that it will reveal Japan's defense strategy to the world. (end)