TOKYO —

Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada admitted during a meeting with British business secretary Peter Mandelson on Monday that ending Japan’s refueling mission in the Indian Ocean could have a negative impact on countries involved in U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in and around Afghanistan, Mandelson said. Okada made the remarks as Mandelson called on Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama the same day to continue the mission.
   
‘‘He acknowledged that if Japan disengaged from the current refueling facility that it offers, then this might send a negative signal to other countries which are part of the coalition effort,’’ Mandelson told reporters after talks with Okada in Tokyo. Japan has said it plans to call back the Maritime Self-Defense Force when a temporary law backing the mission expires in January, with Okada saying that the country will ‘‘not simply’’ extend its mission.
 

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5 Comments

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  Yelnats at 02:08 PM JST - 6th October

  Of course they would look bad if they stop helping out.

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  YuriOtani at 02:30 PM JST - 6th October

  Okada San, it also makes us look like the servants of the Americans. The Americans will just have to do the deed themselves. Please use your spine and just say no.

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  Sarge at 06:30 PM JST - 6th October

  "The Americans will just have to do the deed themselves"

  Why should we? Japan doesn't benefit from a world with fewer terrorists? I just don't get this attitude...

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  teck at 11:40 PM JST - 6th October

  It could all just be a political ploy to gain votes. Now that they are in power, if they cannot keep their promise to end the mission, they may even find reasons to justify continuing it. After all, once they are in power, who's going to stop them?

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  YuriOtani at 12:26 PM JST - 7th October

  Sarge, the Japanese are not the servants of the Americans. Some of us wonder about the basic premise of the war on terror. Could not a general war on a group of people regardless of their guilt just continue the conflict? Look why does America have to force itself on the rest of the world? Really it should be able to do the job itself. A few tankers does not make a lot of difference. The new Japanese government is trying to change things to the betterment of the people of Japan.

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