Japan shies away from Afghan plan

The government will likely drop plans to dispatch Self-Defense Forces to Afghanistan to assist U.S-led forces on the ground, a move that could bring about criticism from Japan's allies, sources said Thursday.

Tokyo has received requests from both the U.S. military and North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces to commit troops on the ground. But strong opposition continues to brew within the ruling coalition, particularly from junior partner New Komeito.

The dispute makes it highly unlikely that the government will soon be able to come up with legislation that would allow a dispatch of SDF troops to the country where fighting continues.

"There are too many obstacles to unite the ruling coalition as one," said Taku Yamasaki, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's Research Commission on Foreign Affairs.

Recently, a senior Japanese government official told a visiting U.S. Defense Department official that it would be "difficult for Japan to provide additional support" to Afghanistan.

For the time being, the government hopes to pass a bill in a Diet session in autumn to extend the current special measures law, which expires on Jan. 15, 2009.

The extension would allow Japan to continue the Maritime SDF mission in the Indian Ocean to refuel U.S. and other ships involved in anti-terror activities in Afghanistan. Japan has been providing tankers to the region as part of its efforts to support the war on terror following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

However, the fighting against the Taliban and other anti-government forces in Afghanistan has become prolonged, and the United States and NATO countries seek to increase troop levels amid the deteriorating situation. Tokyo has come under increasing pressure to do more in Afghanistan.

Japan had hoped that a dispatch of ground forces would give it leverage in the Japan-U.S. alliance, particularly as potential rifts have emerged between the two countries, including Washington's recent decision to remove North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Japan could also face criticism on another front.

A U.N. resolution on which the dispatch of multinational forces to Iraq is based is set to expire at the end of this year. That means an Air SDF mission in Iraq may have to be withdrawn.

The Ground SDF's reconstruction mission in a relatively safe part of southern Iraq ended in 2006.

With only a refueling mission operating in the Indian Ocean, concerns are spreading that Tokyo might be criticized for contributing only money, as was the case in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, to the anti-terror efforts.

U.S. and NATO officials are seeking transport helicopters and personnel for logistical support in Afghanistan for joint military-civilian provincial reconstruction teams and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

In June, the Foreign Ministry and the Defense Ministry sent a fact-finding team to Afghanistan and neighboring Tajikistan for a possible dispatch of GSDF CH47 Chinook transport helicopters and ASDF C130 Hercules transport aircraft.

But concerns were raised about how to ensure the safety of SDF members in light of continued suicide bombings and terrorist attacks in the country.

In particular, Defense Ministry officials opposed the U.S. request for CH47 helicopters on grounds that the choppers, which fly at low altitudes, would be vulnerable to attacks by surface-to-air weapons.

Akihiro Ota, head of New Komeito, told reporters last week he was "extremely wary" about a dispatch of SDF troops to the Afghan mainland.

Without New Komeito's support, it would be impossible for the government to pass bills through the Diet because opposition parties, led by Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan), hold a majority in the Upper House.

Tokyo sees it necessary to continue the refueling mission in the Indian Ocean and hopes to submit an extension bill during the extraordinary session that may be convened as early as late August.

However, that plan is expected to face strong resistance from the opposition camp.

Tokyo is also considering increasing support for civilian humanitarian assistance currently undertaken by the Japan International Cooperation Agency and nongovernmental organizations.(IHT/Asahi: July 19,2008)