SDF must be willing to shed blood

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Alliance of Subordination

Japan-US alliance and SDF -- Part VIII

SDF must be willing to shed blood

The helicopter-laden destroyer (DDH) Hyuga passed under the Rainbow Bridge and appeared at Tokyo Port on June 16 to take part in an event marking the 50th anniversary of the 1960 revision of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty.

The full length of the destroyer is 197 meters, and its standard displacement is 13,950 tons, the biggest in the history of the Self-Defense Forces. The external appearance causes it to be called a helicopter carrier. The hangar running through from the bow to the stern can hold eleven helicopters (Hyuga public relations officer). In FY 2011, the second largest destroyer Ise will be commissioned. In FY 2014, a far larger helicopter carrier of 19,500 standard displacement tons will be commissioned.

Closer ties

What is the need for constructing such gigantic warships? The Defense Ministry says that the vessels should be used as on-sea bases deployed in various activities including international peace-keeping operations and responses to disasters.

When the then Defense Agency first applied for the budget to construct the helicopter carrier, the agency gave the explanation that it will cooperate and support activities in the Indian Ocean for a long period of time.

However, the U.S. preemptive attack strategy failed, and the Maritime Self-Defense Force sent to the Indian Ocean to support the strategy ended its mission. What will be the next major mission for the helicopter carrier? The PR officer said that a decision will come after a two-year trial period.

The Japanese and U.S. governments are seeking closer ties in the Japan-U.S. alliance, with an eye to U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Japan in November. The general public must closely watch how Japan's capability to send armed forces abroad, which was built up under the LDP-Komei government, will be actually realized.

Quest for more missions

An opinion poll on the SDF and defense, which the Cabinet Office conducts every four years, shows dispatches to disaster-hit areas come at the top for the last 20 years or so as a reason for the existence of the SDF.

To win public opinion, the Defense Ministry tries to play up disaster relief and humanitarian aid as the primary SDF mission. U.S. undersecretary of defense Michele Flournoy commented on the activities of the U.S. forces and the SDF in Haiti hit by a great earthquake, "Japanese SDF are increasingly deploying alongside their American partners to address humanitarian challenges in the region" (Asahi, July 15).

Moreover, sending the SDF abroad has entered a new stage, as seen in the sending of the MSDF to the seas off Somalia on the pretext of "countering piracy" and constructing a military base in Djibouti, the first attempt in the postwar era to build a military base abroad. An MSDF source in Djibouti said that the MSDF has the complete support of the U.S. forces.

This suggests that the SDF and the U.S. forces are seeking a new pretext that they can use to maintain the Japan-U.S. alliance on a global scale.

The SDF, however, are no organization specialized in disaster relief and other humanitarian activities, but clearly the armed forces.

Ex-SDF officer speaks his mind

At a symposium held on July 3 in Kanagawa Prefecture, a former SDF cadet spoke his mind, which would not be possible for him to do if he had remained in uniform.

"Unless Japan revises the Constitution and defines the SDF as a national military force, the SDF cannot win the trust of the United States. It is time to let them shed blood for Japan and the rest of the world, so that their martyring themselves for the state and their bereaved families will be honored."

Any SDF member should have vowed allegiance to the Japanese Constitution. The above statement amounts to a complete denial of the pledge. It is a call to change the SDF into an armed force that sheds blood together with the U.S. forces. This is diametrically opposed to what the public regards the role of the SDF to be.

- Akahata, July 26, 2010