Under Japan’s constitution, neither the country’s self-defense forces nor the police would have had legal grounds to travel overseas to rescue endangered Japanese citizens. In any case, neither force would have had the training necessary to pull off something like Operation Thunderbolt.
但福田的反应并非只关于选择。根据日本宪法，不论是日本自卫队还是警察部队，都没有依法前往国外解救身处危险的日本公民的权利。无论如何，自卫队和警察都没有接受过发动霹雳行动这样的任务所需要的训练。