After ASDF's Iraq exit, what next?

Toshimitsu Ishima and Toshiyuki Fukushima / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff

The Air Self-Defense Force's airlift missions between Iraq and Kuwait officially ended Wednesday, but the conclusion of the five-year ASDF role has brought to light the difficulties Japan faces in making future contributions to the international security effort.

With the withdrawal of the ASDF from Kuwait, the government must now think anew what it can do to assist the war on terrorism.

At a ceremony to mark the pullout of the ASDF team Wednesday afternoon at Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, a U.S. Air Force colonel expressed, on behalf of the multinational force, gratitude for the activities of the ASDF members--whose deeply tanned faces told of the effort made.

Photo: Members of the Air Self-Defense Force salute at a ceremony marking the end of the ASDF mission at Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait on Wednesday.

"The ASDF unit made an important contribution to Japan-U.S. ties and the stabilization of Iraq," he said. "I'd like to express my heartfelt appreciation to all of you."

The temperature around the air base can climb above 50 C, with blinding sandstorms regularly shrouding the area.

The ASDF's C-130 cargo airplane crews often sweltered in scorching heat during takeoffs as they could not turn on the air-conditioning until reaching a high altitude because dust storms would enter the air inlets.

The U.S. colonel's warm words expressed the multinational force's highest level of appreciation for the work of ASDF members who had labored and sweated to help rebuild Iraq.

Under the special law to assist the reconstruction of Iraq, a Ground Self-Defense Force unit landed in Samawah, southern Iraq, in February 2004 to began reconstruction work.

One month later, three C-130 aircraft dispatched to the Kuwaiti air base began providing logistical support to the GSDF troops and multinational forces in Samawah.

In July 2006, the GSDF pulled out of Samawah, leaving the airlifts between Ali Al Salem Air Base and Baghdad as the SDF's main mission in the region.

An insurgent attack using shoulder-fired SA-7 antiaircraft missiles was an ever-present danger for the C-130 crews, so when coming in to land at Baghdad Airport the aircraft would perform a steep and rapid spiral. On takeoff, the C-130 would immediately climb steeply.

About 3,600 ASDF members were dispatched to the Kuwait air base and the ASDF carried out a total of 821 flights, transporting about 46,500 people and 673 tons of material. During the entire period of the mission no major problems occurred.

A senior ASDF official said the force's mission could be described as perfect. However, almost all of the ASDF unit's activities were kept under warps.

Japanese news reporters were allowed to visit the air base several times, including a visit in May last year, when then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe traveled to the base to boost the morale of ASDF personnel.

Following the decision by the government to pull the ASDF unit out, reporters were only permitted to go to the base to cover Wednesday's ceremony.

Behind the government's reluctance to publicize the ASDF mission was a fear that information about the C-130 flights and the people and materials it was to transport could have been used by insurgents to target certain flights. Insurgent attacks or ambushes at or near airports in Iraq were a constant threat, so while the government had an onus to inform the public, it also needed to keep sensitive military activities under wraps to ensure safety.

The question that then arose was: How can the government strike a balance between its responsibility to ensure the safety of ASDF activities while remaining accountable to the public to win public approval for the SDF's international cooperation missions?

At a press conference held Dec. 4, Takashi Saito, head of the SDF's Joint Staff Office, agreed the force had to disclose information about its activities, but he said it needed to strike a balance between protecting sensitive information and winning understanding from the public. Saito did not, however, elaborate on how this balance could be achieved.

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Afghanistan too dangerous?

In June, the government dispatched a fact-finding team to Afghanistan to explore the possibility of providing logistical support and transporting materials to the multinational forces there, including U.S. troops.

The team was dispatched because the government was aware that if the ASDF discontinued its airlift mission between Kuwait and Iraq, the international community, including the United States, likely would ask Japan not only to continue refueling coalition naval ships in the Indian Ocean but also to find ways to provide other forms of assistance.

The team found that the security situation in Afghanistan was worse than expected. It noted that the GSDF's CH-47 Chinook helicopters could be targeted by rockets launched from nearby mountains and that the helicopters' engines were not powerful enough to ensure they could avoid being hit.

As a result, the Defense Ministry and the Self-Defense Forces requested a budgetary allocation to upgrade the armor and engines of 54 CH-47 helicopters.

However, some ruling party members have cautioned against improving the function of the CH-47s, expressing concern that SDF personnel dispatched to Afghanistan likely would be caught up in fighting. Therefore, discussions on preparing a relevant law have not been held.

Military commentator Kensuke Ebata said the global community would lose faith in Japan if the SDF did not participate in international missions because the SDF is one of the world's best-equipped forces.

He added, however, that "since the whole of Afghanistan is a battlefield, any SDF members dispatched to that country would have to be better prepared than those serving in Iraq."

There also are those both at home and abroad who have called on the government to dispatch SDF members not only to Afghanistan but also to waters off the coast of Somalia to tackle the growing piracy problem.

However, according to one senior Defense Ministry official, SDF members have to play a "perfect game" in which no SDF members are ever killed.

There is no question the government will face a moment of truth when it addresses the issue of the SDF's participation in international missions next year.

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Fukushima is a Yomiuri Shimbun correspondent based in Cairo.
(Dec. 20, 2008)