Hiromu Nonaka, a senior member of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), lashed out at Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Friday for allegedly moving Japan in "the wrong direction" by hastily trying to deploy the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) in response to the terror attacks on the United States, Kyodo News reported.
"It's wrong to have the same policy thinking as that during the Persian Gulf War" when Japan came under fire for its slow response to the global campaign to help drive Iraq out of Kuwait, Nonaka, former LDP Secretary General, said in a speech in Kyoto, western Japan.
"I am worried the current policy of making Japan visible and mobilizing the Self-Defense Forces is moving our country in the wrong direction," he said.
Nonaka also blasted uniformed officers at Japan's Defense Agency for taking advantage of the proactive sentiment.
"I cannot condone (them) for arranging the protection of the U. S. aircraft carrier (Kitty Hawk) with the escort of Maritime Self- Defense Force (MSDF) ships and trying to deploy an Aegis destroyer (to the Indian Ocean)," he said.
Japan is moving to send its warships overseas to provide logistic support for U.S. antiterrorism operations.
(Xinhua News Agency 09/29/2001)
