Japanese Destroyer Leaves Port to Resume Refueling Mission

Last year’s election may have given Japan’s opposition party partial control of the Diet, forcing the government to suffer deep embarrassment by having to pull its ships out of their “anti-terror” mission in the Indian Ocean, but that particular issue seems to be resolved:

The destroyer Murasame left this port south of Tokyo, to be joined later by a tanker. The ships’ refueling mission, in support of U.S.-led forces patrolling the Indian Ocean, was to begin in two to three weeks.

“Japan will fulfill its global responsibilities,” Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba said at a send-off ceremony attended by about 200 people. “This mission is highly appreciated abroad. It is a very important mission.”

A small group of protesters stood outside the base’s gate waving banners and shouting slogans opposing the mission, but there were no incidents or arrests.

Japan had refueled ships since 2001 in support of U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, but was forced to abandon the mission last November when the resurgent opposition blocked an extension of the operation.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party overcame the logjam earlier this month by forcing a law through parliament with its vast majority in the powerful lower house.