National security concerns in Afghanistan
Posted by Matt Dioguardi on January 15th, 2008
In a recent op-ed the editors’ of the WSJ state:
- Under the leadership of recent Prime Ministers Junichiro Koizumi and Shinzo Abe, Japan began to accept more responsibility for its own national defense and to play a larger role in international security affairs. It remains to be seen whether Mr. Fukuda fully shares his predecessors’ vision of a revitalized, strong Japan, but last week’s vote suggests he understands what’s at stake.
Japan is “accepting more responsibility for its own national defense” by venturing off to refuel ships and patrol the waters off Afghanistan?
No, I don’t think so. Rather it’s finally seeing the real price of its security alliance with America. So much for the free security lunch.
Let’s make a guess, the more and more America pushes this time, and the more and more the Japanese government acquiesces, the more they will be punished at the polls come election time. We’ll see.