Japan Press Weekly

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2008 April 16 - 22 [SDF]

JCP criticizes government’s reaction to high court ruling on ASDF mission in Iraq

Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi criticized the government for adamantly disregarding the Nagoya High Court ruling that the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force’s participation in airlift missions in Iraq is in violation of the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution.

Speaking at a news conference on April 21, he said that the ruling is “epoch making” in that it found that the ASDF’s airlift missions in support of U.S. forces not only violates Article 9’s paragraph one that prohibits Japan from resorting to military force as means to settle international disputes. He pointed out that the court also said that the ASDF mission deviates from the mandate of the Special Measures Law on Humanitarian and Reconstruction Assistance in Iraq, which allows the ASDF to carry out activities in Iraq based on the Japanese government’s interpretation of the Constitution.

He also criticized the ASDF Chief of Staff for jokingly stating, “I don’t care what the court has ruled,” and Foreign Minister Komura Masahiko for remarking, “I will just read it when I have some free time on my hands after leaving the Foreign Ministry.”

Ichida stated, “The remarks by these officials are absolutely unforgivable because this means that the government is undermining the very foundation of a law-abiding democracy.”

Referring a study that found that a million Iraqi civilians have been killed since the start of the war in 2003, Ichida stated, “The war in Iraq has caused so many casualties and the war there is bogged down in a quagmire. A serious reevaluation is called for.”
- Akahata, April 22, 2008