Japan Election Results in Loss of U.S. Military Aid

"The Democratic Party of Japan now has the most seats in the Upper House and will oppose Prime Minister Abe's plans to allow Japan's navy to continue to support the U.S. in the Indian Ocean for the war in Afghanistan, the party's leader Ichiro Ozawa said on July 31."

Bloomberg.com: Japan's LDP Loses Upper House to DPJ

For decades the U.S. has been working with Japan to get them to build up their military so that we didn't have to be their defacto defense. The problem has been that the Japanese constitution says that they cannot build one up and use it in foreign places. The LDP had done some things that bordered on military intervention, and was making progress on convincing its electorate that they needed to build up. However, in the July 29 election, the opposition party gained control of the Upper House of the Diet for the first time in decades. This party, the DJP, has vowed to pullback all foreign military operations, including those that are helping the U.S. right now in the Middle East.

This is yet another global election moving away from U.S. policy.

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