Nine ships from Japan, the United States,
Australia and France joined in the exercises off Tokyo under President Bush's
Proliferation Security Initiative, or PSI.
The maneuvers, the first in East Asia and the first hosted
by Japan, have been criticized by nearby North Korea as a "provocation."
While officials said the exercises are not directed at any
one nation, U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton said the measures were
needed to foil nations like North Korea, which he termed a "serious
proliferation problem."
"It's the world's foremost proliferator of ballistic missile
technology." Bolton said of North Korea. "But it's important that the PSI be
operational worldwide and that it be seen as operational worldwide."
The "Team Samurai" drills, held in the Pacific just south of
Tokyo, involved a scenario focusing on the interception and boarding of two
ships suspected of transporting sarin, a deadly nerve gas.
As Japanese Coast ships crossed its bow, a squad of
specially trained troops rappelled down from helicopters to board the first
target ship, which flew a skull-and-cross-bones flag.
Boarding teams from the U.S. Coast Guard, along with
Australian and French units, took control of the second ship, racing to it in
speed boats and climbing onto it from rope ladders.
Attesting to Washington's interest in pushing the
initiative, Bolton and Rear Adm. James Kelly, commander of U.S. aircraft carrier
Kitty Hawk, were aboard the Izu, the second of the two targets.
"We regard this activity as extremely important," Bolton
said. "We have enormous capabilities on a worldwide basis which are aimed at
stopping the illicit trafficking in weapons of mass destruction."
The exercises are part of a U.S. administration effort to
block shipments of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, the material and
equipment needed to make them and missiles that could be used to carry them.
Seventeen nations, from Turkey to Norway, sent observers to the drill.
"It's a very good opportunity for the nations in the regions
to cooperate," said Australian military attache Col. Mark Hoare. "It's a message
of resolve."
Eleven similar drills have been held since last September,
when Australia hosted the first exercises in the Coral Sea after the initiative
was formally backed by 11 nations.
Drills have also been held in the Arabian Sea, when heavily
armed U.S. and Spanish troops used military helicopters to track, board and
search a vessel disguised as a merchant ship carrying concealed chemical and
biological weapons.
The 11 nations that initially backed the PSI initiative last
year are Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland,
Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Since then, five other countries have actively participated
in the program, while 60 others have declared their willingness to support its
goals.
Asked about Asian participation, Bolton said Russia and
Singapore had joined the initiative and that China, while not participating,
supported the exercises.
"There's certainly more work to be done, to be shared, but I
think we're making good progress," Bolton said.
