Japan Press Weekly

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2008 May 28 - June 3 [SDF]

Shii rebukes Fukuda’s call for force deployment to Afghanistan

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on June 1 rejected Japanese Prime Minister Fukuda Yasuo’s call for the deployment of Ground Self-Defense Force units to Afghanistan, emphasizing the JCP’s opposition to the SDF’s overseas missions that involve the use of force in violation of the Constitution.

He made the remarks in answer to reporters’ questions at a news conference in Naha City, Okinawa, regarding Prime Minister Fukuda Yasuo’s statement that the government is considering sending the GSDF in Afghanistan.

Shii pointed out that the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is deploying land forces in Afghanistan to target Taliban forces. “This is an act of war,” he said.

The JCP chair went on to say, “Deploying the SDF to Afghanistan under these circumstances is tantamount to taking part in war. It is incompatible with the government interpretation of the Constitution to the effect that ‘No SDF deployment to combat zones,” and ‘No use of force.’”

Noting that Chief Cabinet Secretary Machimura Nobutaka had stated that the government “always has in mind the need to obtain the Democratic Party’s consent,” Shii said, “This is very dangerous because DPJ President Ozawa Ichiro is in favor of Japan’s participation in ISAF missions. We must caution against the common ground shared by the LDP and the DPJ.”