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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 11 TOKYO 000803 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR E, P, EB, EAP/J, EAP/P, EAP/PD, PA; 
WHITE HOUSE/NSC/NEC; JUSTICE FOR STU CHEMTOB IN ANTI-TRUST DIVISION; 
TREASURY/OASIA/IMI/JAPAN; DEPT PASS USTR/PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE; 
SECDEF FOR JCS-J-5/JAPAN, 
DASD/ISA/EAPR/JAPAN; DEPT PASS ELECTRONICALLY TO USDA 
FAS/ITP FOR SCHROETER; PACOM HONOLULU FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR; 
CINCPAC FLT/PA/ COMNAVFORJAPAN/PA. 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO PGOV PINR ECON ELAB JA
 
SUBJECT:  DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 03/24/08 
 
INDEX: 
 
(1) Close-up 2008 - Move to amend law banning child porno: More 
children victimized with spread of child pornography on Internet 
(Mainichi) 
 
(2) U.S. Ambassador to Japan Schieffer: Japan also should punish 
simple possession (Mainichi) 
 
(3) Poll on Fukuda cabinet, political parties (Nikkei) 4 
(4) Opposition may again call on Ishiba to resign as defense 
minister (Mainichi) 
 
(5) Vacuum in BOJ governorship (Part 2): Responsibility heavy for 
acting governor (Tokyo Shimbun) 
 
(6) Masaaki Shirakawa to serve as first acting BOJ governor in 
postwar period (Mainichi) 
 
(7) Rivalry evident among Kantei, MOD and LDP for leadership in 
reform of MOD (Tokyo Shimbun) 
 
(8) South Korean President Lee seeks trilateral framework with Japan 
and China for environment and FTA issues; Suggests inviting Emperor 
at "proper time" (Nikkei) 
 
(9) U.S. military serviceman arrested for allegedly assaulting 
police officers (Okinawa Times) 
 
(10) Naha prosecutors indict U.S. Marine for counterfeiting U.S. 
20-dollar bills (Okinawa Times) 
 
(11) Editorial: 5 years after Iraq war-Important lesson given to 
Japan (Sankei) 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Close-up 2008 - Move to amend law banning child porno: More 
children victimized with spread of child pornography on Internet 
 
MAINICHI (Page 3) (Full) 
March 22, 2008 
 
Yumi Isozaki, Eriko Horii, Takashi Sakamoto 
 
Child pornography circulates across the borders on the Internet and 
is copied. Following the international move to tighten controls over 
child pornography, Japan's ruling and opposition parties, too, have 
begun moving to amend the Law for Punishing Acts Related to Child 
Prostitution and Child Pornography. The Mainichi looked into the 
moves in Japan toward amending the law. 
 
"When I was a little girl, I was abused by an adult and was 
photographed. As long as the photos taken at the time are still 
available somewhere even now, I can neither marry nor have a baby." 
"If someone can change the current situation, please do so to help 
me to get out of this situation." 
 
The Japan Committee for UNICEF, which began gathering signatures to 
call on the government to amend the law, held a news conference in 
Tokyo's Nagata-cho on March 11. In the news conference, Agnes Chan, 
the ambassador of the Japan Committee for UNICEF, read victims' 
 
TOKYO 00000803  002 OF 011 
 
 
experiences and stressed: "It's wrong to possess pictures that may 
deprive children of their normal lives." 
 
According to the National Police Agency, cases of arrests in 
connection with child pornography in 2007 numbered 567. The number 
of victim children reached 304, a 20 PERCENT  increase from 2006. Of 
them, six were children preschool age and younger. Behind the 
increase of child porno are the spread of personal computers and 
cell phones with cameras. Most images were taken in the midst of 
child prostitution or sneak photographing and were copied later to 
be handed from one to another on the Internet or via e-mails. 
 
Putting such images on display or exchanging them is subject to 
punishment even under the current law. Seiji Yoshikawa, deputy 
director of the Internet Hotline Center (in Tokyo's Minato Ward), an 
organization that receives reports about illegal and harmful 
information found on the Internet, made this comment: "As long as 
demand (simple possession of child porno) continues, there will be 
no end to supply (displaying and providing child porno)." 
 
This center received 1,609 reports last year regarding child 
pornography that was displayed openly. The administrator of a 
server, which provides a location for display, has no obligation to 
delete the child pornography of whoever posts it on websites. But if 
the simple possession of child pornography is determined as 
violating the law, it will be judged as illegal if the administrator 
fails to take action against it despite knowing it is child porno. 
 
The Internet industry, too, is expecting the controls will be 
tightened. Naoya Bessho, director of the Legal Department of Yahoo 
(in Minato Ward), which is supportive of the Japan Committee for 
UNICEF, said: "We monitor illegal information, but there is a limit 
to what one company can do. Punishing simple possession will help to 
stop the spread of child pornography." 
 
Opinions divided over possible abuse of right to investigate 
 
With the law set to be reviewed in three years after being amended, 
it was supposed to have happened last year. But the law was not 
reviewed in actuality because such was not regarded as a priority 
issue in the divided Diet, where the ruling bloc has no control of 
the Upper House. 
 
A sudden policy shift, however, came around on Feb. 6. Lawmakers, 
including Sadakazu Tanigaki, chair of the ruling Liberal Democratic 
Party's (LDP) Policy Research Council, and Yukio Edano, former chair 
of the major opposition Democratic Party of Japan's (DPJ) Policy 
Research Council, were invited to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo (in 
Minato Ward). At the embassy, a U.S. State Department official asked 
them to tighten the regulations, saying, "It's only Japan and Russia 
among the Group of Eight countries (G-8) that have yet to ban simple 
possession." With the G-8 Toyako Summit in Hokkaido in July in mind, 
the LDP, at the order of Tanigaki, set in motion discussion (on 
banning the simple possession of child pornography). 
 
Whether to ban simple possession has been discussed whenever debate 
was held on the subject, but the issue has been shelved every time 
so far. The key to amending the law lies in the question of whether 
to come up with a measure to remove the concern voiced by the DPJ 
that banning the simple possession could lead to abusing the right 
to investigate. Edano pointed out: "Japan's investigators lean 
heavily on confessions. The concern is that cases where those who 
 
TOKYO 00000803  003 OF 011 
 
 
(received images of child porno that was sent unilaterally by 
someone) and who are not aware that they possess it may be punished. 
But I think some ideas are necessary to curb the circulation and 
production of child porno. It is possible to punish only those who 
are well aware that they intentionally received child pornography." 
The DPJ will shortly form a project team to deal with the matter. 
 
Another challenge in this connection is what to do about animated 
cartoons, comics, and video games. 
 
The simple possession of a Japanese-made animated cartoon was found 
guilty both in the U.S. and Canada in 2005. But in this regard, too, 
a cautious view is deep-rooted in the LDP with one member insisting, 
"It's difficult to draw a clear line between the freedom of 
expression and simple possession." Another member argued: "No child 
is being victimized in actuality (in a cartoon)." 
 
The junior coalition partner New Komeito, which established a 
project team at the end of last year, inspected Tokyo's Akihabara, 
where animated cartoons are mass-sold. 
 
The chair of the team, Kaori Maruya, a House of Representatives 
member, said: "We want to deepen discussion on the matter of freedom 
of expression." 
 
(2) U.S. Ambassador to Japan Schieffer: Japan also should punish 
simple possession 
 
MAINICHI (Page 3) (Full) 
March 22, 2008 
 
Why is the United States calling on Japan to amend the Law for 
Punishing Acts Related to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography? 
The Mainichi interviewed U.S. Ambassador to Japan J. Thomas 
Schieffer about this question. 
 
There are clear links between the act of looking at child 
pornography and sexual crimes toward children. According to one U.S. 
survey result, 85 PERCENT  of those who were found guilty of 
obtaining images (of child pornography) on the Internet had sexually 
abused minors. 
 
In the U.S., comics and animated cartoons are also subject to the 
ban on the simple possession of child pornography. Comics and 
animated cartoons do not have images of actual children, but they do 
not seem to be useful in terms of nurturing children, and they also 
seem to be providing people impetus to commit crimes. 
 
The Internet is a wonderful invention, but when it comes to child 
pornography, the Internet helps link together those living in the 
underground of society who commit crimes (against children). It also 
results in expanding the market (of child pornography). Because 
Japan has yet to ban the simple possession, Japanese police 
authorities have been unable to take part in international 
investigations and their absence from the investigations has led to 
trouble in terms of exposing cases of child pornography, which is 
spreading across the world. 
 
Those who oppose a ban on the simple possession argue that the ban 
could lead to confusion in the right to investigate. Certainly, that 
is a rational concern. Whatever legislation may come out, it would 
be troublesome if it is abused. But we must not forget at the same 
 
TOKYO 00000803  004 OF 011 
 
 
time that even at this very moment, children are being exploited for 
pornography, and are being abused. I would like Japanese lawmakers 
to work on whatever wording would be appropriate in order to prevent 
abuse of the right to investigate. 
 
Can you imagine the fear of the victims? Child pornography is a 
crime that cannot ever be ever forgotten by the victims. No one 
wants to see children abused and exploited. This is not an issue 
that only Japan faces. The international community must work 
together and declare and end to it. 
 
(3) Poll on Fukuda cabinet, political parties 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
March 24, 2008 
 
Questions & Answers 
(Figures shown in percentage. Parentheses denote findings from the 
last survey conducted in February.) 
 
Q: Do you support the Fukuda cabinet? 
 
Yes 31 (40) 
No 54 (48) 
Can't say (C/S) + don't know (D/K) 15 (12) 
 
Q: Which political party do you support or like now? 
 
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) 40 (39) 
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ or Minshuto) 30 (31) 
New Komeito (NK) 3 (4) 
Japanese Communist Party (JCP) 3 (3) 
Social Democratic Party (SDP or Shaminto) 2 (1) 
People's New Party (PNP or Kokumin Shinto) 1 (1) 
New Party Nippon (NPN or Shinto Nippon) 0 (0) 
Other political parties 1 (0) 
None 15 (16) 
C/S+D/K 5 (5) 
 
(Note) The total percentage does not become 100 PERCENT  in some 
cases due to rounding. 
 
Polling methodology: The survey was taken on Mar. 21-23 by Nikkei 
Research Inc. over the telephone on a random digit dialing (RDD) 
basis. For the survey, samples were chosen from among men and women 
aged 20 and over across the nation. A total of 1,574 households with 
one or more eligible voters were sampled, and answers were obtained 
from 865 persons (55 PERCENT ). 
 
(4) Opposition may again call on Ishiba to resign as defense 
minister 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full) 
March 22, 2008 
 
The Defense Ministry has disclosed the results of its investigation 
into the collision of the Maritime Self-Defense Force Aegis 
destroyer Atago and a small fishing boat, as well as its punishment 
for those who involved in the Aegis collision. With this, the 
ministry intends to bring the curtain down on the series of 
misconducts involving its personnel. The opposition camp, however, 
is going to step up its offensive at concentrated deliberations 
 
TOKYO 00000803  005 OF 011 
 
 
today in the House of Councillors, arguing that the Defense Ministry 
bears heavy responsibility for having made false explanations. The 
opposition may demand again that Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba 
step down from his post. The government will likely find it 
difficult to steer itself. 
 
Ishiba apologized in a press conference on March 21, saying: "I 
offer an apology to the public. Based on specific problematical 
points discovered through the investigations, I will steady 
implement truly effective measures to prevent a recurrence of 
similar incidents." Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda told the press in a 
strong tone: "I want (Ishiba) to build a new system based on a deep 
repentance for having made improper conducts." A senior New Komeito 
member said: "We are not satisfied with the report, but the ministry 
punished those involved. So the ministry must go to the next step to 
maintain its organization." 
 
However, Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) Secretary General Yukio 
Hatoyama stated: "(The defense minister) should have felt grave 
responsibility for his false remarks." The largest opposition party 
has no intention to loosen its pursuit of Ishiba. Intertwined with 
such important issues as highway tax revenues and the selection of a 
new governor of the Bank of Japan, whether Ishiba should step down 
or stay on in his current post will likely be brought up as a topic 
of discussion. 
 
(5) Vacuum in BOJ governorship (Part 2): Responsibility heavy for 
acting governor 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 1) (Abridged) 
March 21, 2008 
 
The Bank of Japan governor changes every five years. As if to 
coincide with transitions of power at the BOJ, stock prices have 
always faced turning points in the past. 
 
The BOJ governor was last replaced in March 2003. The 225-issue 
Nikkei Stock Average also began surging around the time Toshihiko 
Fukui replaced Masaru Hayami. In fact, in the five years of Fukui's 
tenure, the stock average rose 1.5 fold from 8,195 to 12,260. 
 
Meanwhile, following the power shift in 1989 from Satoshi Sumita, a 
former Finance Ministry official, to Yasushi Mieno, a former BOJ 
executive, the stock average plunged from the 38,000 level to the 
19,100 mark. 
 
Eiji Kinouchi of the Daiwa Institute of Research noted: "They were 
not all coincidental. They were affected by shifts in monetary 
policy." 
 
In the early 1990s, Mieno was focused on bringing an end to the real 
estate bubble. As BOJ governor in the country's turbulent period 
from its economic bubble to its burst, Mieno implemented dynamic 
monetary policies, raising the official discount rate three times 
and lowering it seven times. 
 
Mieno also locked horns with then Liberal Democratic Party 
Vice-President Shin Kanemaru, who threatened that the government 
would fire him unless he lowered the discount rate further. The 
Japanese economy eventually slipped into a long recession following 
the bursting of the bubble economy, and the BOJ's monetary policy 
management drew fierce public criticism. 
 
TOKYO 00000803  006 OF 011 
 
 
 
It has been 15 years since then. Concerns are mounting that the 
global financial markets would be thrown into turmoil and that the 
global economy would slowdown due to the subprime loan crisis in the 
United States. As seen in the yen's rapid appreciation against the 
dollar and the falling stock market, the environment surrounding the 
BOJ of the post-Fukui period is becoming severe to an extent that 
brings back memories of those days. 
 
The BOJ governorship remains unfilled at this economic turning 
point. Former BOJ Governor Fukui said in his farewell press 
conference: "It is doubtful whether or not the BOJ can work well 
without the top post being filled for a long time." 
 
Fukui, who assumed office during the economic expansion phase, aimed 
at normalizing the interest rate, raising the interest rate twice by 
breaking away from the quantitative easing policy. 
 
Fukui managed to set the policy interest rate at 0.5 PERCENT  by 
engaging in a dialogue with the market and fulfilling his 
accountability to the public by utilizing his speaking skills and 
ability to give examples. 
 
The tidal flow has markedly changed. The monthly economic report for 
March categorically described the Japanese economy as pausing. 
Prices of goods have risen due to soaring crude oil prices and the 
prices of basic necessities, such as food, have also visibly shot 
up. 
 
The longest postwar economic expansion is hanging by a single thread 
in its seventh year. Some have even begun voicing concerns about 
stagflation, a period of time characterized by high inflation and 
recessionary conditions. A retired BOJ official said: "The central 
bank might return to the zero-interest-rate policy instead of 
normalization, as it is pressed to lower the interest rate." 
 
The central bank chief is required to show clearly a direction of 
monetary policy management to the market. It is questionable how far 
Deputy Governor Shirakawa Masaaki can bear that responsibility as 
acting governor. Will monetary policy administration shift once gain 
once the new governor is installed? The BOJ's policy management 
remains unclear. 
 
(6) Masaaki Shirakawa to serve as first acting BOJ governor in 
postwar period 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full) 
March 22, 2008 
 
In an abnormal situation in which the post of BOJ governor  will 
become vacant for the first time in the postwar era, Masaaki 
Shirakawa (58) will assume a heavy responsibility as acting monetary 
policy watchdog.  He has been installed in the post based on his 
well-appreciated capability to plan and formulate BOJ monetary 
policy as a working-level official. Though he calmly said, "It is 
impermissible for BOJ operations to reach an impasse due to the 
absence of a governor, and I strongly feel my responsibility," 
tension showed on his face. 
 
Since entering the BOJ in 1974, Shirakawa served in a series of 
important posts at the central bank and directly experienced the 
emergence of the bubble economy and its collapse. His advantage is 
 
TOKYO 00000803  007 OF 011 
 
 
that in his career, he had the experience of taking every kind of 
measure in dealing with financial and deflationary crises facing the 
Japanese economy. As he described it, the situation entailed the 
possibility of leading toward recession. The measures he adopted 
included the introduction of quantitative money easing measures, 
which was unprecedented in the world, and the buying of stocks from 
banks. 
 
On March 7, he received a phone call from Prime Minister Yasuo 
Fukuda asking him to assume the post of deputy BOJ governor. He 
immediately replied, "I would like to accept your offer." 
 
He has returned to the BOJ after a year and a half of teaching at 
Kyoto University's graduate school. The environment surrounding the 
BOJ is severe with the U.S. economy facing a financial crisis due to 
the subprime mortgage problem. 
 
He noted: "The central bank has two tasks: stabilizing prices and 
the banking system. Its task involves much more than one thinks." In 
setting the bank's monetary policy, he will find himself engaging in 
acrimonious exchanges with the market and politics. Tough it is not 
certain how long he will serve as acting governor, he said, "I would 
like to do my utmost so that my words will carry weight." 
 
(7) Rivalry evident among Kantei, MOD and LDP for leadership in 
reform of MOD 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Abridged slightly) 
March 23, 2008 
 
A fierce tug-of-war is going on between the Prime Minister's Office 
(Kantei), Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and the Liberal Democratic 
Party over the reform of the Ministry of Defense (MOD) in the wake 
of a series of misconduct by MOD, including the recent collision 
between an Aegis destroyer and a small fishing boat. Holding clearly 
different motives, coordinating the three parties' views into a 
single plan is likely to face difficulty. 
 
At present, MOD reform is being discussed at three venues: MOD 
groups by theme; the government's Council on Reform of the Defense 
Ministry established last December; and an LDP Security Research 
Commission subcommittee launched on March 19. 
 
There is no consistency among the responses of the three groups. 
 
Following the Maritime Self-Defense Force's cover-up last October of 
the amount of fuel provided to a US supply ship in the Indian Ocean 
and other misconduct, Ishiba has embarked on reform of MOD with the 
aim of ensuring civilian control. 
 
The fuel underreporting incident was followed by other scandals, 
including one involving former Administrative Vice-Defense Minister 
Takemasa Moriya. This led the Kantei to establish the government's 
reform council, concluding that MOD is incapable of reforming 
itself. 
 
Following the Aegis accident, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has also 
ordered Ishiba to advance MOD reform. Given the prime minister's 
seal of approval, Ishiba has begun exhibiting renewed enthusiasm to 
reform MOD, launching a new special team in the ministry. 
 
Ishiba's plan is to radically reorganize civilian personnel from 
 
TOKYO 00000803  008 OF 011 
 
 
internal bureaus and uniformed personnel from each staff office of 
the three SDF forces into three units each responsible for building 
up defense capabilities, employment, responses to the Diet and 
explanation to the public. 
 
Alarmed by this move, the LDP's subcommittee has been desperately 
trying to prevent the Ishiba plan from becoming a predetermined 
policy course, as was evidenced by its decision to produce a reform 
plan In April. 
 
(8) South Korean President Lee seeks trilateral framework with Japan 
and China for environment and FTA issues; Suggests inviting Emperor 
at "proper time" 
 
NIKKEI (Top Play) (Full) 
March 24, 2008 
 
(Yamaguchi, Seoul) 
 
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak met with members from four 
economic newspaper companies of Japan, South Korea, Britain, and 
China at the Blue House on March 22. In the interview, Lee proposed 
that Japan, South Korea, and China should promote discussions on a 
free trade agreement (FTA) and environmental issues under a 
trilateral framework. He then called for expanded cooperation in 
Northeast Asia. Lee also suggested that it may be a good time for 
the Japanese Emperor to visit South Korea. On the current political 
turmoil in Japan over the selection of a next Bank of Japan (BOJ) 
governor and other issues, Lee said: "It is desirable for Japan to 
restore political stability." 
 
For the first time after assuming office on Feb. 25, Lee gave an 
interview to members of domestic and foreign press corps - Japan's 
Nikkei, South Korea's Maeil Business Newspaper, Britain's Financial 
Times, and China's Economic Daily News, including Shigeru Komago, 
editorial board head of the Nikkei head office in Tokyo. Talks on an 
economic partnership agreement (EPA) between Japan and South Korea 
have been suspended since November 2004. Although the president 
remained cautious about resuming bilateral negotiations, he 
indicated an eagerness to move forward talks on a Northeast Asia FTA 
that would also include China as a core member, besides Japan and 
South Korea, saying: "I think that if each of the countries within 
the region work together, a free trade zone may be possible." He 
then called on Japan also to play a positive role in promoting this 
initiative, remarking: "By coordinating efforts, Japan, China, and 
South Korea will be able to become competitive in the global 
market." 
 
On environmental issues, which will be high on the agenda at the 
Lake Toya Summit in July, Lee stated: "A considerable portion of the 
issues can be resolved in Northeast Asia. South Korea, China, and 
Japan should establish a cooperative mechanism that produces 
substantial results." The environment ministers of the three 
countries meet periodically, but he called for higher-level talks. 
 
In reference to bilateral relations with Japan, Lee stated: "I share 
Prime Minister Fukuda's foreign policy of seeking to improve 
diplomacy within Asia. It will be possible for South Korea and Japan 
to further develop their bilateral relationship." Lee also hinted at 
the possibility that during his planned visit to Japan on April 
20-21, he would extend an invitation to the Japanese Emperor to 
visit South Korea, though he stopped short of making a definite 
 
TOKYO 00000803  009 OF 011 
 
 
statement. 
 
Asked for his view about Japan's current political turmoil being 
caused by the government's inability to make policy decisions in the 
Diet with the opposition controlling the House of Councillors, Lee 
said: "I hesitate to comment. Prime Minister Fukuda just assumed 
office." But he added: "It is desirable for South Korea and Japan to 
stabilize their political situations and smoothly cooperate with 
each other." To expand the framework of bilateral cooperation, Lee 
thus implied his hopes for an early settlement of the confusion, 
even while being careful so as not to interfere in Japan's domestic 
affairs. 
 
On issues related to North Korea, the president said: "Consideration 
should be given to such humanitarian issues as North Korea's 
abductions of South Koreans." Regarding the issue of North Korea's 
nuclear program, Lee emphasized: "(North Korea) should fulfill the 
promises it made in the six-party talks," urging Pyongyang to 
implement what it had promised in the six-party talks, including the 
declaration of all its nuclear programs. President Lee expressed his 
resolve to continue efforts to persuade the North to move the 
denuclearization process forward, under the policy of launching 
large-scale aid to the North on the condition of its 
denuclearization while calling on it to resume North-South talks. 
 
(9) U.S. military serviceman arrested for allegedly assaulting 
police officers 
 
OKINAWA TIMES (Page 31) (Full) 
March 22, 2008 
 
Naha Police on March 21 arrested at the scene U.S. Marine Corps 
Sergeant Aaron Sansarik (TN: phonetic), based at Camp Zukeran, on 
suspicion of assaulting two police officers. The 26-year-old Marine 
sergeant allegedly scratched a police sergeant, 45, and a senor 
policeman, 28, on the street in Naha at around 6:45 p.m. that day. 
The two police officers, who were asked for help by the suspect's 
estranged wife, went to check on the couple. When the two policemen 
tried to prevent the U.S. serviceman from grasping at his wife, they 
were pushed down. 
 
(10) Naha prosecutors indict U.S. Marine for counterfeiting U.S. 
20-dollar bills 
 
OKINAWA TIMES (Page 31) (Full) 
March 22, 2008 
 
In connection with the discovery of counterfeit U.S. 20-dollar bills 
in central Okinawa last November, the Okinawa Public Prosecutors 
Office on March 21 indicted U.S. Marine Corps First Sergeant Phillip 
¶C. Scott, 20, assigned to Camp Kinza, on charges of counterfeiting 
foreign currency and passing it. U.S. military authorities handed 
him over to Naha prosecutors on the 20th. The indictment says that 
the first sergeant made 42 counterfeit 20-dollar bills by copying a 
genuine 20-dollar bill at his housing in Camp Kinza. He reportedly 
passed eight bogus bills in the cities of Urasoe and Okinawa last 
Nov. 10 and 12. 
 
(11) Editorial: 5 years after Iraq war-Important lesson given to 
Japan 
 
SANKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
 
TOKYO 00000803  010 OF 011 
 
 
March 21, 2008 
 
The Iraq war started on March 20, 2003. Since then, five years have 
now passed. The leaders of Britain and other major countries that 
took part in the Iraq war have changed now. U.S. President Bush will 
leave in January next year. More than 35 countries supported the 
Iraq war. At this point, when we look back on the Iraq war and the 
course of events so far, we can actually feel an important lesson 
given by the Iraq war to Japan. 
 
The Iraq war overthrew Iraq's dictatorship. Former Iraqi President 
Saddam Hussein has already been executed. However, we cannot say 
Iraq is peaceful now. Currently, the United States keeps 160,000 
troops in Iraq. U.S. military casualties are nearing 4,000. 
Meanwhile, Iraqi fatalities number more than 100,000, with more than 
4.26 million refugees in and outside Iraq. 
 
Critics have pointed to mistakes in America's Iraq policy. President 
Bush cited the Hussein regime's weapons of mass destruction as 
justification for the war. This justification, however, is now 
groundless. There was another justification, which was an "Al Qaeda 
link." In this case as well, the U.S. military, in its recent 
detailed report, said there was no evidence. 
 
However, it is too simplistic to conclude that there was no 
justification for the Iraq war. 
 
The Iraq war is on the same track with the 1991 Gulf War that was 
touched off by the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 under the 
Hussein regime. 
 
Hussein's Sunni-led regime, backed by the Baath Party's 
dictatorship, ignored United Nations Security Council resolutions 
even after Iraq's defeat in the Gulf War and did not fulfill its 
obligation to scrap and verify its weapons of mass destruction. The 
Hussein regime was also rumored to have slaughtered 5,000 Kurds 
using chemical weapons. The U.S. military report also noted that the 
Hussein regime carried out training for terror attacks, such as 
suicide bombings, and backed terrorist activities in and outside 
Iraq for the purpose of remaining in power. 
 
The most horrifying of all about Saddam Hussein was his reign of 
terror. Hussein named politicians who went against him, and he 
ordered that they be executed by at once. We cannot say it was 
meaningless to overthrow such a dictator and a rogue state. 
 
The major objective of the Iraq war was to help Iraq build a 
democratic state. The question is how. 
 
With the autocracy's collapse, the Shiites, which constitute a 
majority of Iraq's population, gained momentum. Meanwhile, there 
have been sectarian struggles between the Shiites and the Sunnis 
with their radical militant groups' repeated terror attacks against 
each other. The Kurds in the northern region of Iraq strongly desire 
to become independent. International terrorist elements infiltrated 
Iraq while taking advantage of that country's complicated situation. 
Iraq was thrown into even more serious confusion. In December 2005, 
however, Iraq held the first election for its national assembly 
under its new constitution and somehow became a parliamentary 
democracy. 
 
President Bush, reflecting on insufficiency in the initial phase of 
 
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the U.S. military's operation in Iraq, sent 30,000 more troops to 
Iraq In February last year. It was a wise judgment. According to a 
U.S. military announcement, there was a decrease in terror attacks 
in Iraq of 70 PERCENT from June last year through February this 
year, and there was also a decrease in sectarian attacks of 90 
PERCENT . The Brookings Institution, a U.S. research organization, 
also cited an improvement in public security and an increase in oil 
production, saying that those who conclude that the Iraqi political 
situation is hopeless are not aware of the new developments. We can 
see bright prospects. 
 
The deployment of Self-Defense Forces troops to Iraq was an 
important touchstone for Japan to determine its future course of 
action. 
 
The Ground, Air, and Maritime Self-Defense Forces have been tasked 
with humanitarian and reconstruction assistance and security 
assistance in Iraq under a special measures law. The GSDF was 
engaged in medical support, water supply, and other services like 
repairing public facilities. Its activities in Iraq started in 
January 2004 and ended in September 2006. The ASDF is still 
conducting airlift activities for the multinational forces and the 
United Nations. 
 
Upon Japan's SDF deployment, the Diet argued over whether the SDF's 
destination was a combat area or not. What if Japan had given up on 
its Iraq dispatch? Japan would have been labeled a country that 
caved in to terrorism, and Japan undoubtedly would have lost not 
only the confidence of the United States-Japan's most important 
ally-but also the confidence of the international community. 
 
Japan depends on the Middle East for 90 PERCENT  of its oil imports, 
so stability in Iraq is a matter of life and death for Japan. The 
ASDF's mission in Iraq is of vital importance in the sense of having 
the Japanese public realize again how important the Japan-U.S. 
alliance is. Japan will be pressed for a decision on the extent to 
which the SDF will act in concert with the international community. 
 
In the meantime, the ruling and opposition parties have yet to 
debate permanent legislation for Japan's international peace 
cooperation. The current special measures law, under which the MSDF 
has resumed its refueling activities in the Indian Ocean, will 
expire next January. The Diet does not have much time to create a 
permanent law. The war on terror will continue. It is time for Japan 
to be determined to defend its national interests. 
 
SCHIEFFER