  SDF to establish Joint Staff Office to be ready for overseas combat -- Akahata editorial, November 16The Defense Agency has begun operational preparations for the integration of the three Self-Defense Forces from next year, currently being undertaken by the Ground, Maritime, and Air SDF respectively. The agency is requesting a budget for the next fiscal year that will establish an integrated staff council under the newly posted "joint staff council chief." It is reportedly planning to establish a "central quick response group" that will command overseas dispatches of the SDF. Work to prepare the SDF for full-fledged combat abroad has reached a serious stage with SDF taking part in the U.S.-led multinational force in Iraq. Reorganizing into 'standing joint force' The operational integration of the three Self-Defense forces means combining the Ground, Air, and Maritime SDFs and placing them under "the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff" even in peacetime just like the U.S. Armed Forces. This is a departure from the present SDF posture under which the three forces are operating separately. Why does the SDF need to keep in step with U.S. forces concerning basic structure? If the SDF is still chiefly tasked to carry out logistic support such as transport in Iraq as part of the multinational force, there is no need for the SDF to change the present operational setup. In making this decision, the Koizumi government conceives acceding to the U.S. demand that Japan use military force abroad by adversely changing the Constitution. It is precisely with this in mind that the government is trying to make changes in the way the SDF operate. Under the plan, the Ground SDF will carry out ground battles together with the U.S. Army, while the Air and Maritime SDFs jointly support them. The SDF Law has already been changed to allow the Joint Staff Council chairman, under the approval of the Defense Agency director general, to establish and direct a unified command for the three forces assigned to engage in overseas mission like peace keeping operations (PKO). This revision, however, allowed the Joint Staff Council chairman to perform his job only after a dispatch order because they are not standing forces. By contrast, the new plan will allow the joint commander to command drafting overseas operational plans and domestic exercises to this end on a daily basis. Under the new operational integration plan, the "joint staff office chief" will have full authority, and 519 SDF personnel will serve with the joint staff office to support its chief. If such tremendous power is given to the "joint staff office chief", civilian control may only be in name. This is what leaders in "uniform" have long wanted since the founding of the SDF. Past governments, however, have rejected the concentration of powers in the hands of people in "uniform" on the grounds that too much power for the military led to the war of aggression. On May 31, 1954, at the Upper House Cabinet Committee, then Director-General of the Security Agency (predecessor of the SDF) Kimura Tokutaro who became the defense agency chief two months later said, "We shouldn't repeat the evils we experienced in the past." This is the reason why the present Joint Staff Council chair is only responsible for the affairs of the JSC and its power is decentralized to each chief of staff. The planned operational integration will go back on the lessons we learned from the past. A first step toward constitutional revision Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro pushes forward the planned operational integration not only to provide logistic support for U.S.-led multinational forces but also for Japan to perform its role under the Japan-U.S. military alliance by providing combat support, including the use of force. It is impermissible to prepare for a mechanism to carry out full-fledged combat operations abroad, which is the real purpose, while seeking for constitutional revisions. (end) |