Japan Plans to Help Bear Costs of Gulf Action

The Japanese government has told the Bush Administration it plans to unveil a series of proposals next week to help the United States bear the huge costs of the American military operations in the Persian Gulf, sources said Thursday.

The package will be aimed at heading off growing criticism in this country that Japan--and other U.S. allies--are benefiting from the massive U.S. troop deployment in the Mideast but not paying enough to offset the costs to the American economy.

“People want to know, ‘Where’s Japan in all of this?’ ” Rep. David Nagel (D-Iowa), who has held 37 town meetings in his district over the past month, told The Times. “People are not satisfied with our being the policeman for the world and our allies not paying.”

In another interview, Rep. Dante B. Fascell (D-Fla.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said his committee plans to ask the Administration to explain how the expenses of the military operation are being shared among U.S. allies. With Japan and other U.S. allies heavily dependent on oil from the gulf nations that the deployment is intended to protect, the issue of cost-sharing is expected to dominate congressional debate when Congress returns to Washington after Labor Day.

“Our government is now giving urgent consideration to what further we can do,” Takayuki Kimura, a spokesman for the Japanese Embassy in Washington, said in an interview.

According to both U.S. and Japanese sources, the government of Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu early next week probably will announce an increase in the “host nation” support it pays to the United States for the costs of American military facilities in Japan.

Japan also is likely to announce a package of economic aid for America’s strategic allies in the Mideast, such as Egypt and Turkey, the sources said. There were no estimates Thursday of exactly how much Japan will spend or how much this will save the United States. By current estimates, the United States will spend an extra $1.5 billion before October for the military buildup--even if no shots are fired.

Some critics in this country are now arguing that Japan should send its own personnel to the Mideast instead of simply sending money to help pay for the military operations of other nations.

“That’s what they did during the earlier oil crises. They paid their way out,” says Ronald Morse, a Japan scholar at the Economic Strategy Institute. “They always try to buy their way out of everything. They should be contributing some resources other than just financial.

“Japan is a military power. It has a bigger defense budget than Britain. That doesn’t mean we should ask them to send troops for battle, but they could supply airlift capabilities. They could provide food and supplies for the troops.”

The Administration has been pressing Japan to help out directly in the military operations in the Middle East by doing such things as contributing minesweepers or other ships. “When we all face a shared military risk, we want them to be in front along with everyone else,” one senior State Department official said.

However, Japan continues to argue that any military help--minesweepers, other ships or merely direct Japanese payment for the costs of U.S. Mideast operations--would violate Japan’s constitution, which renounces the use of military force for purposes other than self-defense.

“As you know, we have our constitution, which stems from the regrettable experience in the Second World War and limits our contribution in the military area,” Kimura said.

Sources said that Japan may try to satisfy the Administration’s requests by sending Japanese medical, transportation or other noncombat personnel.

The Japanese Embassy in Washington has become increasingly concerned about the extent to which the Mideast crisis will revive and intensify the debate in Congress over how much Japan should contribute to U.S. defense costs.

“We know the potential mood in Congress,” one Japanese official said. “Once Congress returns, there could be a debate over whether Japan is free-riding. We are very much aware of the situation, and we have been sending the message from our embassy (to Tokyo).”

California Rep. Barbara Boxer (D-Greenbrae) told The Times this week she believes Congress may demand payment from Japan for the Mideast operations on the assumption that United States is making the biggest financial commitment, even though the Japanese are more dependent on oil from the region.

Rep. Pat Schroeder (D-Colo.) has already announced that her Armed Services subcommittee will hold hearings soon on the question of how much Japan, West Germany and other allies are contributing to the gulf military operations.

At the same time, the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, is expected to publish a long-awaited report in September that is supposed to list the countries that benefited most from the U.S. action in the Persian Gulf that protected Kuwaiti oil tankers under the American flag during the Iran-Iraq war.

Schroeder, who headed a congressional panel on the subject of “burden-sharing” for U.S. defense costs, also has urged that the United States move its troops from West Germany to the gulf, leaving the Germans to defend themselves.

Bush Administration officials say that while pressing Japanese officials to help out as much as possible in the current crisis, they have also tried to keep in mind how sensitive the issue is in Japan.

“For them, this is a major breaking point in the post-postwar world,” one senior official said. “The question is, how far beyond mere financial capabilities do they go? We have been quietly telling them areas in which they could help.”

Another Administration official said that in addition to pressing for financial help, ships and minesweepers, Bush has asked Prime Minister Kaifu to provide some new logistic support on behalf of American forces in Asia and the Pacific--support that will enable the United States to shift some military resources to the gulf.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Nakayama is planning to return to Tokyo this weekend after a trip to several Middle East countries, including Saudi Arabia, Oman, Jordan, Egypt and Turkey. U.S. and Japanese officials said that after Nakayama’s return, the Japanese government is expected to work out the final details of its plans for helping the international effort against Iraq.

Times staff writer David Lauter, in Kennebunkport, Me., contributed to this story.