Japan will prepare for the dispatch of its Self-Defense Forces to lend noncombatant support to U.S. forces should Washington take retaliatory action against terrorists, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced Wednesday.
Gist of Koizumi's response planThe following summarizes the seven-point plan that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced Wednesday as the nation's response to last week's terror attacks in the United States: * Take steps to enable the Self-Defense Forces to provide logistic support, such as medical services and supply shipments, to the U.S. military in the event of a retaliatory strike. * Strengthen security measures at important facilities in Japan, including U.S. military bases. * Dispatch SDF ships to gather information. * Strengthen international cooperation over immigration control. * Provide humanitarian and economic aid to neighboring and other relevant countries, including emergency economic assistance to Pakistan and India. * Aid refugees fleeing areas hit by the potential U.S. action, possibly as part of humanitarian aid by the SDF. * Cooperate with other countries and take appropriate steps to ensure there is no confusion in the economic systems of Japan and the rest of the world.
In a nationally televised evening news conference, Koizumi declared that Japan will "take swift legal steps" to allow the SDF to engage in logistic, medical and other nonmilitary support for the U.S. in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington.