Japan Press Weekly

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2013 June 26 - July 2 [SDF]

SDF invasion drills with US forces under guise of ‘defending islets’

Japan-U.S. joint military exercises, which were held recently with the scenario of “recapturing isolated islands,” have turned out to be drills for invading other countries, Akahata reported.

The 1,000-member Self-Defense Forces team took part in the drills conducted from June 10 through 26 in California. They carried out a landing exercise on June 17 on San Clemente Island off the coast of Southern California.

The military training was based on a scenario of recapturing an airport taken by enemy forces. U.S. marines on board Osprey transport aircraft landed near the island’s airport and regained control after firefights. SDF troops then unloaded vehicles carrying supplies from ships.

The U.S. 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) which participated in this training exercise is scheduled to be deployed to the West Pacific region in August. The true aim of these exercises was to “authorize” the MEU’s forward deployment.

Taking into account the territorial dispute with China over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, Japan’s Defense Ministry is considering arming the SDF with Ospreys and amphibious vehicles. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party has proposed establishing a Japanese version of the Marine Corps.

Meanwhile, military experts are raising questions about whether such forces will actually work to defend the Senkakus, which have neither beaches for amphibious landings nor flat areas for the tilt-rotor aircraft to land.

In fact, the two nations are jointly working to turn the SDF into invading forces to support U.S. attacks abroad.