Japan Halts Indian Ocean Mission

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Nov 1, 9:10 AM (ET)
By KOZO MIZOGUCHI


TOKYO (AP) - Japan's defense minister ordered ships supporting U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan to return home Thursday after opposition lawmakers refused to support an extension of the mission, saying it violated the country's pacifist constitution.
The move is not expected to have a major impact on the U.S. operations, though American officials have urged Tokyo to maintain its commitment. Despite the setback, Japan's Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda vowed to pass legislation that would let Japan to take on at least a more limited role in fighting terrorism in the region.
"In order to fulfill our responsibility for international efforts toward eradicating terrorism, we do need to continue our refueling mission," Fukuda said. "The government will do all it can to pass the special bill for the refueling mission so we can restart our mission as soon as possible."
Japan, America's top ally in Asia, has refueled coalition warships in the Indian Ocean since 2001, but opposition parties, bolstered by recent election wins, effectively scuttled the mission by raising concerns it was too broad and possibly violated the constitution.
Legislation had been passed repeatedly to renew the mission, but the latest extension expired Thursday amid a stalemate in parliament. Japan refueled its final ship on Monday.
The two ships in the mission - a destroyer and a refueler, with 340 troops aboard - were to begin heading for Japan later Thursday. They were expected to take about three weeks to return, navy spokesman Kozo Okuda said.
"We were able to complete this mission because of your pride and training," Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba said in a message broadcast to the troops. "We all await your return."
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer and envoys from coalition countries met with Japanese lawmakers on Wednesday and stressed the importance of Tokyo's refueling role. However, U.S. Defense Department Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters earlier in the week that the halt would not have "any operational impact whatsoever."
During its six-year mission, Japan provided about 126 million gallons of fuel to coalition warships in the Indian Ocean, including those from the U.S., Britain and Pakistan, according to the Defense Ministry.
Still, analysts said the political disarray in Tokyo could have repercussions with the U.S. alliance. "I think ending the mission would give the impression to the U.S. that Japan is not fulfilling its responsibility," said Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a political scientist at Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo.
The failure to extend the mission was seen as a major defeat for Fukuda, who is to visit the U.S. later this month. The prime minister took office just over a month ago after his predecessor, Shinzo Abe, resigned.
In an effort to placate the opposition, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is proposing narrowing the mission to refueling ships engaged in anti-terror patrols in the Indian Ocean. Until now, the mission also supported U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan. The new legislation would ban the refueling of ships involved in supporting troops on the ground in Afghanistan.
The LDP - which controls the more powerful lower chamber of Japan's parliament, or Diet - could muscle through approval of a more limited mission, allowing Japanese ships to eventually return. The opposition won control of the upper house in elections in August, and made blocking the Afghan mission a major campaign goal. Opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa and his Democratic Party of Japan oppose the mission because it does not have the specific mandate of the United Nations. Critics also say it violates the country's post-World War II, U.S.-drafted constitution, which forbids Japan from engaging in warfare overseas.

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A pacifist nation - nope, not buying it... Not to mention - they are not directly engaged, they are refueling ships @ sea.