Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Japan Times
June 6, 2008 By Combined Dispatches
Japan plans to send a team to Afghanistan by the end of June to study the feasibility of dispatching Self-Defense Forces personnel to the country for reconstruction and logistic support activities, according to government sources.
The government plans to form a survey team comprising Foreign and Defense ministry officials, as well as SDF officers, because "getting an accurate grasp of the situation would be indispensable" to study the feasibility of such activities, a government source said.
A source familiar with Japan-U.S. relations said U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates expressed high expectations for SDF activities in Afghanistan when he met Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Singapore last Saturday.
A government source said the team is expected to assess what activities would be undertaken in Afghanistan, whether Afghanistan can be classified as a noncombat zone — a precondition for dispatching the SDF — and candidate locations to serve as a base for transporting supplies.
The members of the team will hold talks with officials of NATO's International Security Assistance Force, according to the sources.
Specifically, the government is considering having the SDF airlift humanitarian assistance materials for Afghanistan as part of ISAF nonmilitary activities, the sources said.
The government is expected to keep the dispatch of the team secret to ensure the safety of its members, they said.
Sending a team to Afghanistan was "under consideration," Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said Thursday. "The government regularly considers various ways and measures to contribute (to international society) as a peaceful nation, whether it is an investigation in the local area or other means," Machimura said.
"The situation in Afghanistan is a major concern among the international community and is likely to be discussed during the Group of Eight summit in Hokkaido in July, and troops of more than 40 countries are being dispatched. Whether or not to hold an investigation there is among the many issues that are under consideration," he said.
The government may include the plan in a revised antiterrorism special law to continue Japan's refueling support for multinational antiterrorism operations in the Indian Ocean beyond its expiration next January, according to the sources.
--Kyodo, Staff report
June 6, 2008 By Combined Dispatches
Japan plans to send a team to Afghanistan by the end of June to study the feasibility of dispatching Self-Defense Forces personnel to the country for reconstruction and logistic support activities, according to government sources.
The government plans to form a survey team comprising Foreign and Defense ministry officials, as well as SDF officers, because "getting an accurate grasp of the situation would be indispensable" to study the feasibility of such activities, a government source said.
A source familiar with Japan-U.S. relations said U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates expressed high expectations for SDF activities in Afghanistan when he met Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Singapore last Saturday.
A government source said the team is expected to assess what activities would be undertaken in Afghanistan, whether Afghanistan can be classified as a noncombat zone — a precondition for dispatching the SDF — and candidate locations to serve as a base for transporting supplies.
The members of the team will hold talks with officials of NATO's International Security Assistance Force, according to the sources.
Specifically, the government is considering having the SDF airlift humanitarian assistance materials for Afghanistan as part of ISAF nonmilitary activities, the sources said.
The government is expected to keep the dispatch of the team secret to ensure the safety of its members, they said.
Sending a team to Afghanistan was "under consideration," Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said Thursday. "The government regularly considers various ways and measures to contribute (to international society) as a peaceful nation, whether it is an investigation in the local area or other means," Machimura said.
"The situation in Afghanistan is a major concern among the international community and is likely to be discussed during the Group of Eight summit in Hokkaido in July, and troops of more than 40 countries are being dispatched. Whether or not to hold an investigation there is among the many issues that are under consideration," he said.
The government may include the plan in a revised antiterrorism special law to continue Japan's refueling support for multinational antiterrorism operations in the Indian Ocean beyond its expiration next January, according to the sources.
--Kyodo, Staff report