By Peggy Gish
Christian Peacemaker Teams
February 26, 2005

Three CPTers and three delegates, along with an Iraqi driver, translator, and journalist approached the entrance of Camp Samawah, the Japanese military base in southern Iraq. We had the impression that the Japanese were avoiding many of the negative ways other international forces have had of operating and had better relationships with the Iraqi people around them. We made the four- hour trip to Samawah to talk to Japanese soldiers and learn about their experience and presence here.

At the first checkpoint, a guard told us that we couldn’t talk to any officials because we didn’t have an advance appointment. We persisted, “Are there any lower rank officers or any common soldier we could talk to?” We started chatting with the guards. One said they were mostly engineers and here to help with reconstruction. We noticed everyone carried guns.

Meanwhile the Iraqi journalist with us had found out that there was a public relations department, and asked if we could meet their staff. The guards finally relented, and soldiers took us to another gate.

Three public relations soldiers met with us and wanted to know what we would do with information we would get. CPT didn’t quite fit the press category, but if we wrote reports to churches and individuals, we would have to meet the same requirements. “You wouldn’t be allowed to publish information about our activities in Iraq without having the manuscript approved by our office,” one told us. “Your completed registration must be approved by the Public Information Director before we can answer any questions.”

“Could we just talk to you personally?” we asked. “A Japanese soldier’s voice is a public, not a private voice,” he answered, keeping his amiable manner. “We want to cooperate with you but we can’t right now.”

A soldier gave us a copy of the seven-page “Application for a ‘JSDF (Japan Self-Defense Force) Accredited Correspondent ID Card’ and Undertaking to Comply with the Ground Rules.” Each visitor was required to supply personal and legal information, attach a photo, and be vaccinated against four diseases. One had to agree to a long list of proper behaviors and to not disclose information that may harm the security of Japanese troops or lower the local people’s confidence in the JSDF. Applicants would have to travel to the base to submit the form, which would take up to a month to be processed. This would make it almost impossible for future CPT delegations.

On the way out, I asked a soldier some personal questions and then what he thought about the Japanese forces in light of Article Nine of the Japanese Constitution, outlawing any Japanese standing army or military initiatives. He didn’t answer.

We had heard that there has been less violence associated with the Japanese forces in Iraq. If their work was rebuilding, why did they need to hide what they were doing? What were they hiding? All the regulations we were told were to assist entry into the base, seemed actually intended to keep the truth in and the public out.