Essay row shows risks of military supremacy
2008/11/13
Looking back to the time Gen. Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964) was dismissed by U.S. President Harry Truman (1884-1972), former Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, who died last year, said he felt as though he had been struck by lightning.
MacArthur had reigned like a king as supreme commander of the Allied powers during the post-World War II occupation of Japan.
He was removed due to actions and statements that disregarded U.S. government policy on the Korean War. Japan was surprised there existed someone with greater powers than the supreme commander. The dismissal may have opened young Miyazawa's eyes to the concept of civilian control.
Placing the military under the command of a civilian government is considered a basic principle of democracy. But it seems there is an impudent movement within the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to slight that principle.
Quite a few people must have sensed a "prewar mind-set," supposedly suppressed in post-war Japan, in the controversial essay by Toshio Tamogami, the Air SDF chief of staff who was ousted for his treatise.
Tamogami appeared as an unsworn witness before the Diet on Tuesday. During his testimony, he did not reflect on his essay, in which he opposed the official government position on World War II.
In answer to the question, "Do you think in your heart that the SDF should be allowed to openly use weapons?" Tamogami replied: "I believe so." After listening to his testimony on several matters, I have no choice but to say he is unfit to lead a team of 50,000 troops.
The Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors issued by Emperor Meiji (1852-1912) banned military personnel from becoming involved in politics. But the former Imperial Japanese Army of the Showa Era (1926-1989) defied the order and eventually led Japan to war.
Although I do not think we are returning to prewar times, if the people sense an ominous political overtone in an armed group, it could cause public anxiety.
Incidentally, Wednesday marked the 60th anniversary of the pronouncement of sentences by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, which tried war crimes committed during World War II.
Former Prime Minister Koki Hirota (1878-1948) was the only civilian to be executed following the trials.
The tragic fate of a prime minister who failed to keep military power in check reminds us of a dark age when civilian control was ineffective.
--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 12(IHT/Asahi: November 13,2008)
Sacked air force chief likens Japan to NKorea
TOKYO (AFP) — Japan's sacked air force chief likened his country's level of democracy to communist North Korea as the government Tuesday tried to calm a furore over his assertion Japan was not the wartime aggressor.
"If you are not allowed to say even a word that counters the government's statements, you cannot possibly call the country democratic," former general Toshio Tamogami told a press conference late Monday.
"It's just like North Korea," he said.
Tamogami was fired for writing in an essay that Japan was falsely accused of being the aggressor and calling for the nation to shed elements of its post-World War II pacifism.
He retired on Monday two years early rather than serve in a lesser position.
Tamogami said many Asian nations "take a positive view" of Japan's past military actions, seeing Tokyo as a bulwark against Western imperialism.
The scandal came at a bad time for Prime Minister Taro Aso, who criticised Tamogami's remarks but has raised controversy himself in the past for defending parts of Japanese colonialism.
The Yomiuri Shimbun daily Tuesday released a poll showing that more people disapproved of the Aso government's performance than approved of it for the first time since he took over in September. Approval stood at 40.5 percent.
Aso on Tuesday ordered Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada to scrutinise the case of Tamogami, especially the responsibility of his supervisors.
Hamada admitted he was in the dark about the essay until it was published.
Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone also told reporters that he has assured China and South Korea about Japan's position on the war.
Tamogami's thesis contradicted a 1995 statement issued by then prime minister Tomiichi Murayama and endorsed by his successors which apologised for Japan's past aggression and colonial rule in Asia.
China, the two Koreas and other Asian nations, which still have painful memories of Japan's aggression, strongly denounced Tamogami's remarks.
Refusing to let the scandal pass, Japan's opposition, which controls one house of parliament and is ahead in some polls, has decided to summon Tamogami to a parliamentary hearing, Jiji Press said.
The hearing is expected to prolong deliberations on extending a controversial naval mission supporting US-led forces in Afghanistan -- a top priority for Aso.
In his essay, Tamogami also said US president Franklin Roosevelt set up "a trap" that forced Japan to attack Pearl Harbor, but that the United States later tried to pin all war responsibility on Japan.
"I don't believe I am wrong," Tamogami told reporters, refusing to back down. "I didn't expect (the essay) would result in such a big thing."
"I had thought it's about time for Japan to accept" such views, he said. "But I might have judged wrong."
The commander of the US forces in Japan told a news conference the case would not affect the two countries' alliance. The United States stations more than 40,000 troops in Japan under a post-war treaty.
"The government of Japan was very quick to underscore that these were not the official views of the government of Japan or the Self-Defence Forces," Lieutenant General Edward Rice said, referring to pacifist Japan's military.
"So as we look to the future, I certainly as the commander of the US forces in Japan intend to continue to work very closely with the Self-Defence Forces," he said.
空幕長更迭―ぞっとする自衛官の暴走
こんなゆがんだ考えの持ち主が、こともあろうに自衛隊組織のトップにいたとは。驚き、あきれ、そして心胆が寒くなるような事件である。
田母神（たもがみ）俊雄・航空幕僚長が日本の植民地支配や侵略行為を正当化し、旧軍を美化する趣旨の論文を書き、民間企業の懸賞に応募していた。
論文はこんな内容だ。
「我が国は蒋介石により日中戦争に引きずり込まれた被害者」「我が国は極めて穏当な植民地統治をした」「日本はルーズベルト（米大統領）の仕掛けた罠（わな）にはまり、真珠湾攻撃を決行した」「我が国が侵略国家だったというのはまさに濡（ぬ）れ衣（ぎぬ）である」――。
一部の右派言論人らが好んで使う、実証的データの乏しい歴史解釈や身勝手な主張がこれでもかと並ぶ。
空幕長は５万人の航空自衛隊のトップである。陸上、海上の幕僚長とともに制服の自衛官を統括し、防衛相を補佐する。軍事専門家としての能力はむろんのこと、高い人格や識見、バランスのとれた判断力が求められる。
その立場で懸賞論文に応募すること自体、職務に対する自覚の欠如を物語っているが、田母神氏の奇矯な言動は今回に限ったことではない。
４月には航空自衛隊のイラクでの輸送活動を違憲だとした名古屋高裁の判決について「そんなの関係ねえ」と記者会見でちゃかして問題になった。自衛隊の部隊や教育組織での発言で、田母神氏の歴史認識などが偏っていることは以前から知られていた。
防衛省内では要注意人物だと広く認識されていたのだ。なのに歴代の防衛首脳は田母神氏の言動を放置し、トップにまで上り詰めさせた。その人物が政府の基本方針を堂々と無視して振る舞い、それをだれも止められない。
これはもう「文民統制」の危機というべきだ。浜田防衛相は田母神氏を更迭したが、この過ちの重大さはそれですまされるものではない。
制服組の人事については、政治家や内局の背広組幹部も関与しないのが慣習だった。この仕組みを抜本的に改めない限り、組織の健全さは保てないことを、今回の事件ははっきり示している。防衛大学校での教育や幹部養成課程なども見直す必要がある。
国際関係への影響も深刻だ。自衛隊には、中国や韓国など近隣国が神経をとがらせてきた。長年の努力で少しずつ信頼を積み重ねてきたのに、その成果が大きく損なわれかねない。米国も開いた口がふさがるまい。
多くの自衛官もとんだ迷惑だろう。日本の国益は深く傷ついた。
麻生首相は今回の論文を「不適切」と語ったが、そんな認識ではまったく不十分だ。まず、この事態を生んだ組織や制度の欠陥を徹底的に調べ、その結果と改善策を国会に報告すべきだ。
Japan Fires General Who Said a US ‘Trap’ Led to the Pearl Harbor ...
New York Times - United States
By NORIMITSU ONISHI TOKYO — A high-ranking Japanese military official was dismissed Friday for writing an essay stating that the United States had ensnared ...
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| Straits Times |
Straits Times - Singapore
TOKYO: Japan's air force chief was sacked yesterday for writing an essay in which he denied the country was an aggressor in World War II, a stance likely to ...
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