LDP draws up plan for enable SDF to join in battle operations abroad

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LDP draws up plan for enable SDF to join in battle operations abroad

A Liberal Democratic Party defense team on August 30 approved a draft bill to be enacted as a permanent law called the "International Peace Cooperation Law" that will enable the Self-Defense Forces to be dispatched abroad at any time.

The draft allows the SDF to take part in and use weapons in overseas security maintenance activities, making it possible for the SDF to be engaged in battle operations to suppress terrorism such as the U.S. forces are carrying out in Iraq.

The LDP's defense policy subcommittee, chaired by Former Defense Agency Director General Ishiba Shigeru, plans to discuss the draft with defense and foreign relations groups of the LDP after the inauguration of a new cabinet in September. It intends to start consultations on the draft bill with the other ruling party, the Komei Party, before the end of this year.

The draft bill enables the government to dispatch the SDF abroad on the grounds of a "request made by UN member states" including the United States or even of its own judgment, not necessarily requiring UN resolutions or the request of countries involved in conflicts.

It allows the SDF to be dispatched anywhere on the globe except where an international armed conflict is taking place, but it excludes terrorism and civil wars from its definition of "international armed conflicts."

The SDF units will be able to enter houses, detain residents, and even kill people if they are "suspected" of carrying arms or are "highly probable" to commit an assault or make a threat.
- Akahata, August 31, 2006