ID :
37325
Thu, 12/25/2008 - 12:29
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/37325
The shortlink copeid
Aso welcomes defense troops back from Iraq mission+
NAGOYA, Dec. 24 Kyodo - Prime Minister Taro Aso welcomed at a ceremony on Wednesday the homecoming of Air Self-Defense Force troops stationed in Kuwait for Japan's airlift mission for Iraq.
About 180 ASDF personnel returned from Kuwait, where they were based, over the
past week, largely concluding Japan's nearly five-year mission in Iraq that
began in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion of the country.
''I feel proud of the achievements each and every member has earned by doing
their best in their duties with a strong sense of mission,'' Aso said before
about 230 ASDF personnel and family members who gathered for the event.
Col. Yasuji Kitamura, who led the transport unit during the mission, handed the
unit flag to Gen. Kunio Orita, commander of the ASDF Air Support Command, who
then passed it over to Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada.
Some 130 troops remaining in Kuwait for a backlog of work are scheduled to come
home by the end of March.
In March 2004, the ASDF started transporting goods and supplies for Japanese
ground troops deployed in Iraq from a base in Kuwait to an airfield near
Samawah, where they were providing humanitarian and reconstruction support.
After the withdrawal of the ground troops in July 2006, the ASDF began
providing logistical support mostly for U.S.-led multinational forces by
airlifting personnel and supplies between Kuwait and Iraqi cities including
Baghdad.
Of the roughly 46,500 personnel transported by the ASDF during the mission,
more than 30,000 are believed to have been U.S. troops and those from
multinational forces.
In a civil lawsuit case, the Nagoya High Court said in April that the ASDF's
airlift activities have violated Japan's war-renouncing Constitution, for
supporting multinational forces that were operating in what was considered a
war zone. The court, however, rejected the demand to suspend the ASDF
operations.
On Wednesday, a group of lawyers who represented the plaintiffs in the lawsuit
issued a statement saying, ''A dispatch to Iraq, which was a battleground, has
left a deep scar on the Constitution's pacifism ideals and the postwar
history.''
Japan ordered the ASDF to pull out of the region last month.
==Kyodo
2008-12-24 22:21:36
About 180 ASDF personnel returned from Kuwait, where they were based, over the
past week, largely concluding Japan's nearly five-year mission in Iraq that
began in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion of the country.
''I feel proud of the achievements each and every member has earned by doing
their best in their duties with a strong sense of mission,'' Aso said before
about 230 ASDF personnel and family members who gathered for the event.
Col. Yasuji Kitamura, who led the transport unit during the mission, handed the
unit flag to Gen. Kunio Orita, commander of the ASDF Air Support Command, who
then passed it over to Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada.
Some 130 troops remaining in Kuwait for a backlog of work are scheduled to come
home by the end of March.
In March 2004, the ASDF started transporting goods and supplies for Japanese
ground troops deployed in Iraq from a base in Kuwait to an airfield near
Samawah, where they were providing humanitarian and reconstruction support.
After the withdrawal of the ground troops in July 2006, the ASDF began
providing logistical support mostly for U.S.-led multinational forces by
airlifting personnel and supplies between Kuwait and Iraqi cities including
Baghdad.
Of the roughly 46,500 personnel transported by the ASDF during the mission,
more than 30,000 are believed to have been U.S. troops and those from
multinational forces.
In a civil lawsuit case, the Nagoya High Court said in April that the ASDF's
airlift activities have violated Japan's war-renouncing Constitution, for
supporting multinational forces that were operating in what was considered a
war zone. The court, however, rejected the demand to suspend the ASDF
operations.
On Wednesday, a group of lawyers who represented the plaintiffs in the lawsuit
issued a statement saying, ''A dispatch to Iraq, which was a battleground, has
left a deep scar on the Constitution's pacifism ideals and the postwar
history.''
Japan ordered the ASDF to pull out of the region last month.
==Kyodo
2008-12-24 22:21:36
