June 6, 2015
Japan’s Self-Defense Forces might have been dragged into all U.S.-led wars after 1990 such as in the Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq wars as well as anti-IS airstrikes, if the overseas dispatch law currently under discussion as part of the package of war legislation had existed in Japan at that time.
Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Akamine Seiken during his questioning at a House of Representatives committee meeting on June 5 shed light on the assumption of troop dispatch in past situations.
In the meeting, Akamine focused on Article 3 Paragraph 2 of the planned international “peace assistance” law, dubbed the permanent law to dispatch SDF units abroad.
This paragraph states that overseas deployment of SDF troops will be possible if the UN General Assembly or Security Council recognizes a situation as a “threat to the peace” or as a “breach of the peace” and adopts a resolution calling on its member states for “measures” to respond to this situation.
In response to the JCP representative, an official of the National Security Secretariat said that the requirement written in Paragraph 2 will be met even if a UN resolution does not actually call for military measures to be taken. He accordingly admitted that a dispatch of the SDF abroad will be formally possible.
In other words, if a UN resolution regards a particular situation or country as a “threat to the peace” or as a “breach of the peace” and calls for “measures” whether by military or non-military means, the SDF will be able to engage in “logistics support” in U.S. military actions against the specific country.
The establishment of the permanent dispatch law will allow Japan to use a UN resolution as an excuse to have the SDF provide “logistics support” for a U.S.-led “coalition of the willing” which continues conducting airstrikes against the Islamic extremist group IS.
Regarding ways to decide on SDF participation in such “support”, Defense Minister Nakatani Gen avoided presenting specific criteria, saying, “It is ultimately up to the prime minister.”
Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Akamine Seiken during his questioning at a House of Representatives committee meeting on June 5 shed light on the assumption of troop dispatch in past situations.
In the meeting, Akamine focused on Article 3 Paragraph 2 of the planned international “peace assistance” law, dubbed the permanent law to dispatch SDF units abroad.
This paragraph states that overseas deployment of SDF troops will be possible if the UN General Assembly or Security Council recognizes a situation as a “threat to the peace” or as a “breach of the peace” and adopts a resolution calling on its member states for “measures” to respond to this situation.
In response to the JCP representative, an official of the National Security Secretariat said that the requirement written in Paragraph 2 will be met even if a UN resolution does not actually call for military measures to be taken. He accordingly admitted that a dispatch of the SDF abroad will be formally possible.
In other words, if a UN resolution regards a particular situation or country as a “threat to the peace” or as a “breach of the peace” and calls for “measures” whether by military or non-military means, the SDF will be able to engage in “logistics support” in U.S. military actions against the specific country.
The establishment of the permanent dispatch law will allow Japan to use a UN resolution as an excuse to have the SDF provide “logistics support” for a U.S.-led “coalition of the willing” which continues conducting airstrikes against the Islamic extremist group IS.
Regarding ways to decide on SDF participation in such “support”, Defense Minister Nakatani Gen avoided presenting specific criteria, saying, “It is ultimately up to the prime minister.”
