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Fukuda Cabinet E-Mail Magazine No.2 (October 18, 2007)
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"This is Yasuo Fukuda. A week has passed since my last message and
I hope this finds you all well."
-- Message from the Prime Minister (Provisional Translation)
This is Yasuo Fukuda. A week has passed since my last message and
I hope this finds you all well.
Now that autumn is truly upon us and the thermometers are dropping,
I trust you will all take good care not to catch a cold.
Many of you might be familiar with the term "Anti-Terrorism Special
Measures Law" or have heard of it on TV or in the newspapers.
Yesterday, the Government decided to approve a new bill that
defines the conditions for continuing the activities of
the Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) in the Indian Ocean.
Now that this decision has been made, the bill will be placed
before the Diet for their deliberations.
Following last week's e-mail magazine, I received some comments
questioning the adequacy of the Government's explanation on this
matter.
I understand that the details of the MSDF's activities
in the Indian Ocean might be unknown to many people. This is
precisely why I am determined to make an effort to provide
ample and clear explanations in order to gain the people's
understanding of what the MSDF is doing, why it is doing what it is
doing, and why those activities must be continued.
We all vividly remember the series of terrorist attacks that struck
the United States on September 11, 2001. These attacks took
the lives of approximately 3,000 people, including 24 Japanese
nationals. As a result, the international community decided to
unite our efforts to prevent and eradicate terrorism.
Six years have passed since then. And at this very moment
in the Indian Ocean, the vessels of countries from around the world
are working together to crack down on the movements of terrorists
and trade in illegal drugs, which is a source of funding for
terrorism, and trade in arms.
The MSDF has taken on the responsibility of supplying fuel and
water to these vessels. We are thus playing a crucial role
in the fight against terrorism in the Indian Ocean.
Some readers of this e-mail magazine raised the question as to
why we need to engage in refueling U.S. vessels.
The MSDF's refueling activities are not confined to U.S. vessels
as many other nations, such as France, Germany, and Pakistan,
an Islamic country, are also participating in the fight against
terrorism in the Indian Ocean. The MSDF provides far more fuel to
these countries' vessels than it does to U.S. vessels. The MSDF's
activities are, therefore, strongly appreciated not only by the U.S.
but also by countries all over the world.
Admittedly, a single e-mail magazine message is not enough to
sufficiently explain everything there is to know about this issue
to ensure the people's understanding. However, I will make sure
that the Government's position on the MSDF's activities
in the Indian Ocean is also communicated to you by Chief Cabinet
Secretary Nobutaka Machimura, Minister for Foreign Affairs
Masahiko Koumura and Minister of Defense Shigeru Ishiba.
The Diet deliberations will begin soon. I am poised to continue to
carefully explain things again and again and to thereby steadily
gain the people's understanding.
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[What's New in Government Internet TV]
- Prime Minister's Week in Review (October 1 to 7, 2007)
https://nettv.gov-online.go.jp/prg/prg1437.html
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[What's up around the Prime Minister]
- Japan-Namibia Summit Meeting (October 16, 2007) and others
https://japan.kantei.go.jp/hukudaphoto/index_e.html
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[Fukuda Cabinet E-mail Magazine]
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https://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/forms/comment.html
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https://japan.kantei.go.jp/m-magazine/
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General Editor | : | Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda |
Chief Editor | : | Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Matushige Oono |
Publication | : | Cabinet Public Relations Office 1-6-1 Nagata-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8968, Japan |