On December 21, 2012, The Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of Japan quietly posted a press release entitled “Completion
of the activities by the Japan’s Self-Defense Force personnel dispatched to the
UNDOF” at the Gloan Hights in Syria. “Completion” may be somewhat
misleading if you consider the following excerpt:
“Considering
the current situation on the ground, the Government of Japan has arrived at the
understanding that it is difficult for both the Japanese transportation unit
and the staff officers to continue playing a meaningful role within the mission
while ensuring safety of the personnel and, therefore, decided to pull all
personnel out of the UNDOF area of operations.”
Japan
now has exactly one UN peacekeeping operation in which the Self Defense Force
is engaged remaining, as this Jan.
15 Yomiuri report marking the
JSDF departure from the Ben-Gurion Airport points out. That’s in South Sudan,
where you may remember that then-Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa had been
very reluctant to involve Japanese troops. This is remarkable when you also
remember that it all started with the 1993 Gulf War, when Japan was razzed for ponying
up 10 billion dollars and little else during the fighting. This led to troops
on the ground in Samara and more generally in PKO activities worldwide and to a
serious push to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council as part of
an “international contribution” drive. Now, the Japanese focus is on the regional,
24/7, and the Abe administration is doing nothing visibly to reverse that.
Greatness begins at the near-abroad? In a way, it’s not surprising that Abe is
channeling the Meiji leaders.
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