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2015 February 4 - 10 [POLITICS]

Abe’s ambition for constitutional revision could endanger people’s lives and property

Akahata ‘current’ column

The other day, I heard from my journalist friend an interesting story regarding his report on the dispatch of Japanese Self-Defense Forces troops to Iraq. He said that he saw them putting on combat uniforms which were totally inappropriate.

Combat fatigues are designed to camouflage soldiers in order to prevent them from being easily seen by the enemy.

According to my friend, because a desert landscape predominates in Iraq, U.S. soldiers wear camouflage fatigues which use a color pattern composed of gray and beige. The SDF troops, however, were wearing jungle fatigues with green camo print and a “Hinomaru (rising sun)” flag mark on chest in an attempt to be distinct from other troops.

The reason for this choice according to my friend was that the SDF were sent to Iraq to provide reconstruction support in line with the Japanese Constitution banning the SDF from taking part in military operations and that with its unique outfit, the SDF intended to display to Iraqi people that its mission is not to join military operations.

While approximately 5,000 soldiers of the U.S.-led multinational force were killed in the Iraq War, no SDF personnel died during their mission. Their Japanese nationality and non-camouflage fatigues protected them from being attacked.

The dispatch of the SDF to Iraq, however, has led to diminishing of Japan’s brand image as a “peaceful nation” and allowing extremist groups to regard Japan as an enemy state like the U.S. and Britain. As an extension of this change of perception, the latest Islamic extremist group’s kidnapping and executions occurred.

Japanese citizens in the Middle East region have been put in a situation where they have to fear for their lives and may even have to hide their Japanese nationality. Prime Minister Abe Shinzo noted his desire to revise Article 9 of the Constitution in order to “protect” Japanese people’s lives and property. He does not understand that to the contrary this desire “endangers” people’s lives and property.