Japan Press Weekly

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2015 June 10 - 16 [POLITICS]

Abe is telling a pack of lies about war legislation: SDF members

Akahata Sunday edition

In Diet deliberations over the government-proposed security bills, Prime Minister Abe Shinzo repeatedly claims that the war legislation will neither have the Japanese Self-Defense Forces engage in combat nor increase the risk of death of SDF personnel. However, active and former SDF members argue that Abe is telling a downright lie.

Recently, a Maritime SDF member was told by a senior officer, “The Japanese Communist Party is now calling for opposition to the security bills under the slogan ‘Let’s protect the lives of SDF members’. Don’t be taken in by what they say.”

This SDF member said to an Akahata reporter, “I’ve come to guess that I may be killed in war.” The MSDF has frequently conducted joint military exercises with the U.S. forces.

“PM Abe insists that dispatched SDF troops will not enter the areas where fighting is taking place. But in real wars, it is impossible to specify a certain area as ‘safe’. Even on the sea, we cannot know from which direction a missile would appear. If attacked, we will have no choice but to make a counterattack,” he said.

The prime minister also maintains that the safety of SDF troops will be secured as they will be involved in only logistic support in “rear areas”.

Another MSDF member said, “If SDF troops provide U.S. forces with fuel and ammunition, enemies will attack the SDF, regarding them as an essential part of the U.S. military.”

Maki Masaaki, 65, is an ex-warrant officer of the Ground SDF. He served as a unit leader managing logistical supplies.

“If supply corps were hit and damaged, the troops at the front will meet their fate. Without fuel, even high-performance tanks and warplanes are useless. Without food supplies, soldiers will die as well. The outcome of war depends on logistic support. Therefore, enemies attack logistics units before anything else. The prime minister’s argument is pure fantasy,” he said.

Doro Norikazu, 61, is a former sergeant of the GSDF. “Abe claims that if SDF units come under attack, they could halt their activities and evacuate. From a military viewpoint, however, it’s much easier to attack evacuating troops than fight with those who may counterattack. The prime minister is making up stories to overcome public opposition,” he said.

Former GSDF Leading Private Oshima Nobuyuki, 55, noted that in wars it is impossible to draw a line between combat areas and non-combat areas. “If enemies parachute from helicopters, that location will suddenly turn into a battlefield. Unlike chess, there is no rule in battlegrounds.” he stressed.

Oshima went on to say, “Thanks to the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution, we haven’t been forced to fight in wars abroad. I appreciate our predecessors who established the current pacifist Constitution. I cannot tolerate young people being killed in wars which are totally irrelevant to the defense of Japan. Japanese people are not slaves of the United States.”


Past related articles:
> Abe might dispatch SDF under war legislation to participate in ISAF-like force [June 4, 2015]
> 54 SDF members commit suicide after returning from abroad [May 28, 2015]