ID :
79585
Sat, 09/12/2009 - 04:26
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/79585
The shortlink copeid
Kawamura, on Sept. 11 anniversary, worries about ending refueling ops
+
TOKYO, Sept. 12 Kyodo -
Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura reiterated concern Friday over the
incoming administration's policy to end Japan's refueling mission in the Indian
Ocean as the fight continues eight years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks
on the United States.
''If a new administration ends the refueling mission, I must say it would go
against the movements in the international community toward the elimination of
terror,'' Kawamura told a news conference.
''We must be thinking hard about how to move in step with the undertaking by
the international community toward eliminating terror,'' he said, ''and I'm
concerned that (the administration to be led by the Democratic Party of Japan)
lacks that (thinking).''
He then cast doubt on the DPJ's decision to form a coalition government with
the Social Democratic Party, saying, ''It's hard for me personally to wipe away
concerns about (the DPJ) joining hands with a party that has fundamentally
different ideas about national security.''
The DPJ plans to end the Maritime Self-Defense Force's refueling mission, in
place since 2001 in support of U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in and around
Afghanistan, when a temporary law authorizing it expires in January.
The party confirmed that policy with its coalition partners -- the SDP, which
had called for the mission's immediate end, and the People's New Party --
during policy consultations before they reached a coalition agreement
Wednesday.
On Friday, Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada joined Kawamura in questioning the
policy the DPJ administration is expected to pursue, saying that the past
administrations led by the Liberal Democratic Party have done what they thought
was best for the nation.
''Naturally, it's also best to continue that (mission), but if they say that's
different, I must wonder what could be there,'' he told a separate news
conference.
The U.S. Defense Department said Wednesday that the United States wants Japan
to continue the mission, prompting Japan's presumptive prime minister, DPJ
President Yukio Hatoyama, to suggest that he does not plan to change his
party's policy to end the mission when the law expires.
''We have greatly benefited from -- as has the world, for that matter -- from
Japan's participation in those efforts, and we would very much encourage them
to continue those efforts,'' Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters in
Washington.
Hatoyama told reporters the following day, ''We haven't been (formally) asked.''
The refueling mission was briefly halted in November 2007 after a temporary law
authorizing it expired. The operations resumed after a new law was enacted in
January 2008 and were extended to January 2010 after an amendment last
December.
==Kyodo
TOKYO, Sept. 12 Kyodo -
Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura reiterated concern Friday over the
incoming administration's policy to end Japan's refueling mission in the Indian
Ocean as the fight continues eight years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks
on the United States.
''If a new administration ends the refueling mission, I must say it would go
against the movements in the international community toward the elimination of
terror,'' Kawamura told a news conference.
''We must be thinking hard about how to move in step with the undertaking by
the international community toward eliminating terror,'' he said, ''and I'm
concerned that (the administration to be led by the Democratic Party of Japan)
lacks that (thinking).''
He then cast doubt on the DPJ's decision to form a coalition government with
the Social Democratic Party, saying, ''It's hard for me personally to wipe away
concerns about (the DPJ) joining hands with a party that has fundamentally
different ideas about national security.''
The DPJ plans to end the Maritime Self-Defense Force's refueling mission, in
place since 2001 in support of U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in and around
Afghanistan, when a temporary law authorizing it expires in January.
The party confirmed that policy with its coalition partners -- the SDP, which
had called for the mission's immediate end, and the People's New Party --
during policy consultations before they reached a coalition agreement
Wednesday.
On Friday, Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada joined Kawamura in questioning the
policy the DPJ administration is expected to pursue, saying that the past
administrations led by the Liberal Democratic Party have done what they thought
was best for the nation.
''Naturally, it's also best to continue that (mission), but if they say that's
different, I must wonder what could be there,'' he told a separate news
conference.
The U.S. Defense Department said Wednesday that the United States wants Japan
to continue the mission, prompting Japan's presumptive prime minister, DPJ
President Yukio Hatoyama, to suggest that he does not plan to change his
party's policy to end the mission when the law expires.
''We have greatly benefited from -- as has the world, for that matter -- from
Japan's participation in those efforts, and we would very much encourage them
to continue those efforts,'' Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters in
Washington.
Hatoyama told reporters the following day, ''We haven't been (formally) asked.''
The refueling mission was briefly halted in November 2007 after a temporary law
authorizing it expired. The operations resumed after a new law was enacted in
January 2008 and were extended to January 2010 after an amendment last
December.
==Kyodo