Japanese military seeks greater cooperation with United States

[Modbert]

Japanese military seeks greater cooperation with United States

TOKYO - Japan's military, citing worries about North Korean belligerence and an increasingly aggressive China, wants to cooperate in unprecedented ways with the United States and is even considering a departure from its long-standing policy against putting its troops into the line of fire in areas outside Japan, Japanese defense officials said Thursday.

In an interview, Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said Japan was studying how to provide U.S. forces with logistical support in case of a conflict on the Korean Peninsula. It is also trying to determine how it could launch missions to evacuate civilians from the peninsula in support of a U.S. operation, he said

Kitazawa's statements, made during a visit here by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, underscore a significant improvement in relations between the United States and Japan since the last time Gates visited, in October 2009. They also highlight a substantial risk that Japan is taking, moving to bolster its military profile in a region with strong memories of World War II.

Certainly interesting developments as Japan continues to mount it's defenses in more ways than one against the possible threat of an attack by China.

 

[elvis]

They should attack Manchuria again.

 

[Baruch Menachem]

I think they are more afraid of fallout from what is going on in Korea. The third generation of the Kim dynasty seem pretty clueless, so all kinds of bad things could happen after dear leader goes.

 

[Gadawg73]

Crank up the Enola Gay.