Aid mission a test of integrated command

The government has sent about 1,000 Self-Defense Forces troops on a mission to aid victims of the powerful earthquake that occurred in waters off Sumatra, Indonesia, and the enormous ensuing tsunami. Japan has never sent so many SDF members overseas before. The recent dispatch shows that we have expanded the scope of the SDF's role in the international community.

The latest SDF mission was the fifth of its kind to be carried out under the Japan Disaster Relief Team Law. The mission should be regarded as epochal in many respects.

First, the scale of dispatch has never been greater. Second, the mission was part of an international cooperative effort made by many countries. Third, the Ground, Maritime and Air Self- Defense forces joined to form two groups that were sent on the mission.

The government intends to revise the Self-Defense Forces Law with the aim of expanding the list of SDF missions to include international peacekeeping activities. If the SDF can successfully carry out their mission in the stricken areas, the public will be more apt to recognize the necessity of revising the law, which could expedite achieving that goal. -- The Yomiuri Shimbun, Tokyo