Here in Japan the clock is ticking. The one on the special Anti-Terrorism law, the one that authorizes JMSDF ships to refuel ships supporting operations in Afghanistan. This week the oldest ship in the United States Navy was drawn into the argument. The Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) is vowing to defeat the bill and are citing this as an example of where the law could lead:
A Japanese peace group said last month that the logbook of the U.S. oil ship Pecos and other materials suggested the Maritime Self-Defense Force ship Tokiwa in February 2003 gave illegal logistic support for the war in Iraq by indirectly supplying oil to the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk, which took part in the war.
That was the start of the argument this week. Japanese TV has run so many videos of refueling hoses going across, you would think I was back aboard the USS Coral Sea showering in aviation fuel that always found its way into the water system. (I’ll have to tell you the story of how my roommate once set our sink on fire sometime…….Like any proper naval aviation professional, I got my conning along side qual-but mostly I slept through along side times).
Now the ship count is expanding:
Minshuto member Kazuhiro Haraguchi alleged in a Lower House Budget Committee session that the MSDF fuel went to the Aegis destroyer USS Paul Hamilton, “one of the core ships used by the United States in the Iraq war.”
Haraguchi said the fuel provided by the MSDF was used in the Iraq war, a violation of the anti-terrorism special measures law.
The law, under which the MSDF has been providing fuel in the Indian Ocean, is limited to supporting coalition efforts to fight terrorism in Afghanistan.
Government officials have been denying for the past few days in the Diet that the fuel was diverted to U.S. ships involved in the Iraq war. The government plans to submit a bill to the Diet to continue the refueling operations after the current law expires on Nov. 1.
The Paul Hamilton is said to have launched at least 50 Tomahawk cruise missiles during the Iraq war, the most by any U.S. Navy ship.
If this all seems odd to you, rest assured its just like politics in the US. This is about the opposition party flexing its muscles. When Abe-san was in office it seemed like it was working, mainly because Abe behaved like a buffoon. Now that Fukada is Prime Minister-well the DPJ have a much tougher fight on their hands. Only, Ozawa-san (DPJ leader) like Nancy Pelosi has yet to realize it.
However for now, DPJ is going to keep trying-partially enabled by the fact that anything related to the Iraq war is very unpopular here. Moreover, there is an undertone of feeling that Abe and his policies were going too far when Japan had more important domestic issues that still need to be dealt with. However the debate is definitely an odd one. I still amazed at some of the evidence the DPJ and the peace group are producing. Like the Kitty Hawk deck log. How the heck did they get that? They also have a copy of the Kitty Hawk’s command history.
Its been interesting to watch some of the TV coverage-there was shouting in the Diet today-but I could not tell if it was about this issue or the bigger issue of postal reform. Prime Minister Fukada has asked Ozawa-san to meet with him to discuss a compromise-lots of folks think it will be tough for him to dodge that.
And in the mean time………like sands through the hour glass, the clock keeps ticking.
Anyone can order copies of deck logs. Take a look here.
Learn something new every day…………..
I would have thought you had to FOIA them and they would have to be vetted by somebody first.
It never failed to surprise me how the Japanes always overhyped their importance to US operations like OEF and OIF.
The US Navy conducts our unreps with their oiler on our way to the gulf, east Africa, Diego Garcia et al for the same reason the USS Cole used Yemen’s port as a refueling station: politics. The State Department wants to keep good relations with Japan and the Japanese want to lecture Americans about their “sacrifices”. I haven’t been to Japan for several years, Skippy, but how many Japanese these days actually believe their “contribution” could actually make or break the war effort. I seemed to remember that alot of Japs were complaining along the lines of how much America owed them. I wonder if any of that’s changed since then.
Any observations Skippy?
I don’t have to give you GPS coordinates to tell you that their ships refuel well out of harm’s way. I don’t have problems with support personell – far from it – but I’ve NEVER heard US Sealift Command crews and contractors complain in droves to me about how much America owes them. We’re on the same team.
There are some people in Japan who also want to expand their own warfare capabilities to make Japan the regional power in the hemisphere and use the US military as a scapegoat for all the criticisms of this kind of agenda. It goes like “Japan has no choice but to become a military power because the Ugly Americans are forcing us to do it. If you have a problem with our military aspirations, don’t blame us, blame the Yanqis (yes, I know what that word means among the Japs).
A few thousand pounds of JP5 isn’t worth this. Apparently, the command doesn’t think so either. Had a buddy on a submarine who told me they were doing alot of construction on Guam several years ago (2003-2004 I think). Rummy made a deicision to remove several thousand troops from Korea and Japan back stateside because they were being inhibited/depracated by local politics. He said it was really funny because the Japanese and Koreans politicians initially tried to sabotage and suspend the move back to US turf (or tried to get the troops relocated to another part of their country). What was even more hilarious was that the Koreans and Japanese tried to make it look like it was their “victory” to “kick out” our troops about a year after Rummy’s decison was made and after the money for new housing and maintenance expasion had been allocated.
Use a USNS out of Guam for our unreps and cut the useless Japs and Roks off the roster. If they want accolades without the necessary achievements, make them do it at somebody else’s expense. Their troops elsewhere in places like Kurdistan can be similarly maligned but I’ll let others conduct the turkey shoot. Plenty of people are well aware that our “allies” are primadonnas posing for the cameras.