Newsletter No. 1410
News-Analysis
July 12, 2009

 

THE COMING DPJ BETRAYAL ON THE INDIAN OCEAN MISSION

It is too often the case in politics that an opposition political party will take a principled stand against a questionable government policy, but after that opposition party wins an election and forms a government of its own, they then turn to what is mislabeled as “realism” and betray those who supported them for their original position.

Well, for those of us who have opposed the deployment of Japanese military forces in support of the so-called “War on Terrorism,” it would appear that we must prepare ourselves for just that kind of betrayal. Kyodo News is reporting today that the DPJ has decided to drop its pledge to halt the Indian Ocean refueling missions for the upcoming general elections. DPJ sources told the Japanese news agency that the DPJ has “modified its position to a more realistic stance.”

So remember that six-month battle in late 2007 when the DPJ demanded that the MSDF Indian Ocean mission be halted? Remember all those solemn declarations about how, on principle, it was impossible for the DPJ to agree to extend the mission any longer? Remember how former DPJ leader Ichiro Ozawa insisted repeatedly that the Indian Ocean mission was a clear violation of the Japanese Constitution itself?

Well… never mind all that. It wasn’t “realistic.”