前空幕長問題

(Mainichi Japan) November 8, 2008

Gov't needs to assume responsibility for ASDF chief of staff's behavior

社説：前空幕長問題　政府の責任を明らかにせよ

It turns out that 95 Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) officers participated in the controversial essay contest run by a private corporation that led to the ouster of the air chief of staff. The winner of the contest, Toshio Tamogami, has been removed from his post as chief of staff of the ASDF because he wrote in his essay that to claim that Japan was an aggressor in World War II is a false accusation. A total of 235 essays were entered in the contest, so submissions by active-duty officers accounted for about 40 percent of them.

　「我が国が侵略国家だったというのはぬれぎぬ」などと主張する論文を書き航空幕僚長を更迭された田母神（たもがみ）俊雄氏が応募した民間企業の懸賞論文に、自衛官７８人が応募していることが明らかになった。応募総数は２３５件だから、３分の１が現職自衛官の作品だったことになる。

The Air Staff Office's education section had faxed guidelines for entering the essay contest to all ASDF units nationwide. Among the officers who submitted essays were at least 10 senior officers including a colonel, and more than 60 of the officers were assigned to the Sixth Air Wing, headquartered at Komatsu Air Base, which had been under Tamogami's command.

　空幕の教育課が全国の部隊にファクスで応募要領などを紹介していたことも判明した。７８人全員が航空自衛官で、１佐など佐官が１０人。６２人は田母神氏が司令を務めた第６航空団（司令部・小松基地）所属だった。

Tamogami said that he introduced the contest to the officers but did not order them to write essays for it. As the top officer of the ASDF and their former commander, however, did his distribution of information about the contest constitute de facto pressure to participate?

　田母神氏は、記者会見で「紹介はしたが、書きなさいとは言っていない」と語っている。しかし、空自トップでかつての上司の「紹介」が事実上、応募の圧力になったのではないか。

The Defense Ministry said it would confirm whether the essays that were submitted to the contest contained problematic content. But taking this step alone will not suffice. Prime Minister Taro Aso and Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada have a responsibility to clear up the following questions: What role did Tamogami play in prompting the submission of numerous essays written by ASDF officers to the contest? And what was the nature of the education section's dissemination of the contest guidelines (which could be construed as evidence of organizational involvement)?

　防衛省は応募作品の内容に問題がないか確認するという。が、それだけでは不十分だ。大量の自衛官が応募した経緯に田母神氏がどうかかわったのか、組織的関与と言える教育課の「紹介」の実情はどうだったのか－－これらを解明するのは、麻生太郎首相、浜田靖一防衛相の責任である。

What is incomprehensible is the judgment exercised by the government in its handling of Tamogami once the content of his essay had been disclosed.

　政府の判断で不可解なのは、田母神氏の論文が明らかになって以降の同氏の処遇をめぐる対応である。

In violation of an internal regulation, Tamogami had merely verbally described his essay's content to the head of the Defense Minister's secretariat and did not provide anything in writing. Furthermore, since Tamogami's essay legitimizes Japanese colonial rule in the prewar era and Japan's aggression during the war, it directly contradicts the government's position and is also critical of the government's view that exercising the right of collective self-defense would be a violation of the Constitution.

　田母神氏は、論文応募の際、書面を提出するという内規に反して官房長に口頭で伝えただけだった。さらに、その論文は戦前の植民地支配と侵略を正当化して政府見解に真っ向から反する内容であり、集団的自衛権行使を違憲とする政府の憲法解釈も批判していた。

After Tamogami spurned the defense minister's recommendation that he tender his resignation, the Defense Ministry considered firing him. However, since Tamogami indicated that he would request an internal hearing, the Defense Ministry reportedly calculated that such a procedure would "take time, and would require continued payment of (Tamogami's) salary," so it decided to allow him to retire at the mandatory retirement age.

　田母神氏が防衛相の辞職勧告を拒否し、防衛省は懲戒処分を検討した。ところが、手続きの一つである「審理」を田母神氏が求めたため、「時間がかかり、その間給与を払い続けねばならない」との理由で定年退職にしたというのだ。

But Tamogami's retirement has created a peculiar situation. While the defense minister and administrative vice defense minister have been punished for this affair, Tamogami himself has escaped punishment, and will be allowed to receive full retirement benefits. There are suspicions that he was allowed to retire in order to draw the curtain on this affair quickly so that it would not pose an obstacle to deliberations on the amendment to the new anti-terror law.

　しかし、その結果、おかしな事態が生まれた。防衛相や事務次官らが処分を受ける一方で、当の本人は何の処分も受けず、退職金を受け取ることができる。定年退職は、新テロ対策特措法改正案の審議の障害にならないよう早めの幕引きを図った結果ではないか。そんな疑念がわいてくる。

Tamogami was the superintendent of the Self Defense Forces Joint Staff College, which is a school for high-ranking officers. He had made his views about war responsibility and national security known in the past. It will be necessary to clarify whether the teaching that went on at the staff college contradicted the government's positions and policies.

　田母神氏は、幹部自衛官の教育機関である統合幕僚学校の学校長だったことがある。同氏はかねて戦争責任や安全保障に関する持論を表明していた。統幕学校で、政府見解、政府方針に反する「教育」が行われていなかっただろうか。この点も解明されなければならない。

The main question that must be asked is: Why is it that a person who has a distorted view of history and rejects the government's position is able to rise to the top of the ASDF? After becoming chief of staff, Tamogami had submitted an article to an internal ASDF journal whose content was similar to the essay that he submitted to the contest. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Kometio bear a heavy responsibility for appointing him head of the ASDF. We are waiting to hear Prime Minister Aso's views on this affair.

　最大の問題は、ゆがんだ歴史認識を持ち、政府見解を否定する人物がなぜ、空自のトップに上り詰めることができたのか、ということである。田母神氏は空幕長就任後、空自の隊内誌に今回と同趣旨の文章を寄せていた。同氏を空自トップに据えた自公政権の責任は重大である。麻生首相の考えをぜひ聞きたい。

毎日新聞　2008年11月7日　東京朝刊