Cablegate: Implementation of Transportation and Logistics
VZCZCXYZ0009
OO RUEHWEB
DE RUEHKO #6326 3050821
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 010821Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7957
INFO RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN PRIORITY 1217
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 1625
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY 1324
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PRIORITY 9532
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 5104
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 1989
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 2418
RHMFIUU/COMUSJAPAN YOKOTA AB JA PRIORITY
UNCLAS TOKYO 006326
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR PM/PPA ROSATI AND S/CRS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: MASS MARR KPKO JA
SUBJECT: IMPLEMENTATION OF TRANSPORTATION AND LOGISTICS
SUPPORT ARRANGEMENT
REF: STATE 179500
1. Pursuant to reftel, Embassy Tokyo Political Officer called
on Akihito Teruuchi of the MOFA Foreign Policy Bureau's
recently created Special Task Force for Stabilization and
Reconstruction (J-STAR). Teruuchi, who attended the October
10 meeting in Moscow, was familiar with the Transportation
and Logistics Support Arrangement (TLSA) issue and was
expecting to receive our proposal. He affirmed that Tokyo
welcomes and is very interested in a mechanism that allows
for information gathering and sharing. However, he added the
caveat that Japan's ability to participate in on-the-ground
support for peacekeeping operations is potentially limited by
its laws and Constitution which place strict restrictions on
the activities of its Self Defense Forces. Political Officer
acknowledged this, but highlighted that assisting countries
to transport or sustain forces involved in humanitarian or
peacekeeping operations did not necessarily involve becoming
involved in confrontational military operations and might
involve merely the provision of funding to enable others to
take more direct action. Teruuchi said that he will share
our nonpaper with others in the government and that Japan
will reply as quickly as possible.
2. Teruuchi noted that Ambassador Masato Kitera, who led
Japan's delegation at the October 10 Moscow meeting, has
recently been designated as the Ambassador in Charge of
Stabilization and Reconstruction and now heads the Foreign
Policy Bureau's J-STAR unit. As such, he is the counterpart
of S/CRS Ambassador Herbst.
SCHIEFFER