  Stop sending warships to the Indian Ocean -- Akahata editorial, October 29The government has revised the basic plan relating to the Anti-Terrorism Special Measures Law to extend by six months the term of Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) activities in the Indian Ocean in support of U.S. warships after it expires on November 1, and to carry out fuel supply operation to U.S. helicopters on U.S. ships. With this six-month extension, the MSDF will be deployed in the Indian Ocean for 3.5 years. MSDF to support U.S. Expeditionary Strike Group In the Indian Ocean, where the United States has carried out a war in retaliation for the 9/11 attack, SDF ships have been assigned to supply fuel for U.S. warships taking part in the war on Iraq as well as ships operating as part of the "retaliatory war" on Afghanistan. The MSDF has so far delivered a total of 375,000 kiloliters of oil costing 14.3 billion yen to warships of ten countries, including those of the United States and Britain. Of the total 430 missions of fueling, 247 were for U.S. ships, suggesting that the MSDF has mainly served U.S. Navy ships. Although the Japanese government tried to conceal the MSDF's fuel supply operations for U.S. ships which are carrying out strikes against Iraq, anyone can obtain the information from U.S. military websites. For example, the MSDF in February 2003 fueled the Yokosuka-based U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk while it was engaging in two operations simultaneously, attacks against Afghanistan and the "Southern Watch operation" to strike Iraq's radar sites when preparations for the war against Iraq were underway. When the Kitty Hawk returned to its homeport at Yokosuka in May 2003, its captain at a press conference confirmed the fact that it received oil from the MSDF tanker and shared with it with two U.S. escort ships. The December 11, 2003 issue of the U.S. Navy 5th Fleet newspaper reported that on December 5, 2003 in the North Arabian Sea, Japan's oil supplier Tokiwa fueled the U.S. Assault Landing ship Peleliu, the Landing ship Germantown, and the Missile Cruiser Port Royal. All these ships belong to the 1st Expeditionary Strike Group that the U.S. Bush administration formed to carry out its preemptive strike strategy. It is very serious that Japan's oil supplier Tokiwa has supplied U.S. warships with aircraft fuel used by carrier-loaded helicopters because such refueling operations contravene the basic plan for the implementation of the Anti-Terrorism Special Measures Law. The government decision to change the basic plan is tantamount to overlooking the contravention, accepting U.S. pressure to extend the law's term. The U.S. Navy is performing two duties simultaneously in the Indian Ocean. One is its operation against Afghanistan and the other against Iraq. Thus, U.S. military operations are indivisible. After repeated questions asked by JCP Dietmembers armed with U.S. documents, Ishiba Shigeru, the director general of the Defense Agency at the time, had to acknowledged the fact, stating, "They may be assigned to missions of Operation Enduring Freedom (in Afghanistan), Operation Southern Watch (in Iraq), or Operation Northern Watch." MSDF ships are fueling U.S. warships in violation of the Constitution because it is an act connected to the use of force. It also conflicts with the government explanation that the Japanese SDF are not allowed to take part in any action connected with the use of force which runs counter to the special measures law on terrorism. The government should immediately withdraw the MSDF from the Indian Ocean. Multinational cooperation is effective It is a common wish of all humanity to establish a world free of terrorism and war. The three years of fighting in Afghanistan has proved that a retaliatory war cannot "eradicate terrorism". At Jinghua University in Beijing on October 11, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that fighting terrorism was best achieved through cooperation and information-sharing between states, not the use of force. The Japanese government must stop supporting the retaliatory war against terrorism in submission to the United States, and instead work for a peaceful world order to be established in solidarity with the international community with the United Nations at its center. (end) |