That the manga was avidly read by members of the Self-Defense Forces only reinforced that impression.
While the Self-Defense Forces have been wooing the public for years, they've sounded more trumpets recently.
Shigeru Iwasaki, the top uniformed official of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, said last month.
In January, a Chinese naval vessel fixed its fire-control radar on a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Forces ship.
In 2006 several right-leaning congressmen were charged with colluding with the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC).
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Article nine of the constitution forbids Japan's military -- the Self-Defense Forces -- from waging war overseas.
"I think the Self-Defense Forces are ambivalent about ballistic missile defense, " says Isaku Okabe, a Tokyo-based defense analyst.
In 1999 she was kidnapped by the paramilitary group called the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC).
"I think the Self-Defense Forces are ambivalent about ballistic missile defense, " says Isaku Okabe, a defense analyst in Tokyo.
After decades leading the opposition, Japan's Socialist Party, with its unrealistic calls for abolishing the Self-Defense Forces, has faded.
"Someday terrorists will attack us, " says Toshiyuki Shikata, a former Self-Defense Forces general who works on disaster simulations and planning.
The United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia began negotiations with the Uribe government in July 2003, and demobilized some 31, 000 paramilitaries.
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About 30, 000 paramilitaries united under the group United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, formally demobilized between 2003 and 2006, but many are thought to have since regrouped.
The Foreign Minister of Colombia, Maria Consuela Araujo, has resigned after her brother was accused of conspiring with paramilitary groups, among them the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC).
Alvaro Arajo, the brother of Maria Consuelo Arajo, was arrested with four other pro-Uribe lawmakers last week on charges of meeting with the AUC (United Self-defense forces of Colombia) paramilitary leaders.
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The shooter was assigned to a small Special Operations Forces detachment working on so-called village-stability operations, a plan to raise local self-defense forces to protect Afghan villagers from the Taliban, a military official said.
An estimated 30, 000 troops of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) have laid down their arms and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN) are severely diminished.
CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Columbia: Moving toward more stability
While the Japan Coast Guard is responsible for protecting Japan's coastlines, the defense minister can order the Self-Defense Forces to be deployed for maritime security operations if the situation is considered beyond the coast guard's capabilities.
Such a step would allow Japan's Self-Defense Forces to launch a pre-emptive missile strike at an enemy's military target when an imminent attack on Japan from that specific site is confirmed, officials for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party said.
WSJ: Japan's Military Moves Toward Pre-Emptive Strike Capability
The Uribe administration is under attack because the demobilization of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) and the resulting peace process has led to the opening of old and new wounds, revealing links between the paramilitary and the political establishment.
CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Columbia: Moving toward more stability
Their troubles began when the Supreme Court issued an advisory opinion which found that the Justice and Peace Law introduced by the government, that set the rules for the 2003-2006 disarmament of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) paramilitaries, was synonymous with impunity.
After all, under the Japan-U.S. Defense Cooperation agreement, Japan's Self-Defense Forces would be allowed to engage for the first time in detailed planning with U.S. forces to meet a range of contingencies, including non-combat support, in the event of conflict in the East Asian region.
That Japan and here I mean not just the Japan Democratic Party (DPJ) Noda cabinet, but also the ministry of foreign affairs (MOFA) and self-defense forces (SDF) bureaucracies, and, particularly, the factions within the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party (DPJ) and nationalists allied with former Tokyo major Ishihara Shintaro did not expect a ferocious response from China, including shows of naval force and threats of occupation, is not credible.
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Unless and until President Obama gives comprehensive and tangible expression to America's commitment to Israel-- in terms of reliable military assistance, unstinting diplomatic support and wide latitude to act in its self-defense-- the forces that have been unleashed by him and others will assuredly translate in due course into war.
In one sign of the stress as the nuclear crisis unfolded, an American official helping to coordinate activities with the Japanese Self Defense Forces grew teary-eyed when discussing these cooperative efforts.
At the heart of the debate is whether Japan should change Article 9, under which the nation has no armed forces beyond a self-defense force.
Elements of these U.S. forces have deployed to forward locations in the LRA-affected areas of the Republic of South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Central African Republic to enhance regional efforts against the LRA. These forces, however, will not engage LRA forces except in self-defense.
WHITEHOUSE: Letter from the President -- War Powers Resolution
The State Department this week said a preliminary investigation by Honduran authorities found that their security forces were justified in firing in self-defense.
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