President Shinzo Abe contrite after news Japan’s military withheld activity logs from ministry
Tokyo — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe apologised in parliament over the second government documents scandal in a month, after an opinion poll showed the latest controversy had inflamed public disapproval. The most recent scandal relates to Japanese troops’ logs from Iraq, where they were dispatched starting in 2003 to show support for the US-led military campaign. Opposition legislators have said Japan self-defence force officers’ failure to inform the defence minister that they had found such documents threw doubt on civilian control over the military. "This damages trust, not just in the defence ministry and the self-defence forces, but the government as a whole," Abe said on Monday in response to questions in parliament. "I want to apologise sincerely to the people." While Japan’s fractured opposition has gained little support from Abe’s woes, growing public dissatisfaction damages his chances of victory in a Liberal Democratic Party leadership election in September. Earlier...
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