Japan Set to Send Troops to Iraq

[Hawk]

Japan Set to Send Troops to Iraq
Prime Minister Koizumi Approves Plan Despite Public Opposition
By Anthony Faiola
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, December 4, 2003; 10:53 AM
TOKYO, Dec. 4--Japan is set to give final approval next week to a plan dispatching nearly 1,000 troops to Iraq, Japanese government sources and local media said Thursday.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi reportedly signed off on most details of the plan -- Japan's first military deployment since World War II -- after receiving a briefing on security in Iraq late Wednesday from Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
Koizumi was officially mum Thursday on widespread media reports that he had made his decision to mobilize Japan's Self Defense Forces, a move opposed by an overwhelming majority of Japanese, following the slayings in Iraq on Saturday of two Japanese diplomats.
The deaths shocked this nation of 128 million and put added pressure on Koizumi to delay the dispatch, which has been in the planning stages most of this year. But government sources said Thursday that Koizumi, the Bush administration's leading ally in Asia, is determined to join the reconstruction effort, and that Japan "is now in the final stretch" toward sending troops.
Koizumi is expected to officially announce the deployment -- and defend his decision to the public -- after convening his cabinet on Monday or Tuesday.
"The prime minister's desire is to start the deployment as early as possible," said a high-ranking government official. "We have seen the polls that indicate 70 to 80 percent of the public is opposed to the dispatch, but the prime minister will be explaining his decision to the people and he believes they will understand."
Once deployed, the roughly 1,000 members of Japan's Self Defense Forces (SDF) would be involved in support roles only, such as water distribution and supply transport missions. They will also have strict rules of engagement prohibiting them from taking offensive action, and severely limiting their ability to help defend U.S. or other allied forces who come under enemy fire in the same vicinity.
But Bush administration officials have nevertheless argued that Japan's decision to send non-combat forces to Iraq would amount to a major boost in the reconstruction effort there. The presence of troops from Japan -- a pacifist nation known for contributing cash, not soldiers, to international conflicts -- would broaden the U.S.-led alliance and, it is hoped, could prod other nations into action. South Korea, for instance, is close to dispatching a much larger contingent -- up to 3,000 troops, possibly including combat forces.
"The fact that [the Japanese] send any [troops] has enormous symbolic significance as well as practical," U.S. Ambassador Howard Baker said Thursday. Japan's participation would mean the "coalition against terrorism has gained the full participation of the second largest economy in the world... I don't think it matters so much whether it's 300 people, or 1,000 or 30,000."
Koizumi reportedly is contemplating sending an advance team of airmen from Japan's Self Defense Forces two or three weeks from now. A total of 150 airmen, along with C130 transport planes, would arrive by the end of January. Their primary mission would be transport operations between Kuwait, Baghdad and the southern Iraqi city of Basra.
By February, Japan would send as many as 700 ground troops to the Samawah area in southern Iraq, which a Japanese scouting mission last month determined to be among the safer parts of the country. Koizumi met Wednesday with the son of a tribal leader in southern Iraq as part of Japan's deployment preparations.
Japan renounced its right to make war following World War II. Its constitution forbids the deployment of troops to combat areas.
The deployment would represent a momentous shift. Some say it could irrevocably set Japan on the path to becoming what they describe as a "normal country" that would eventually be responsible, at least in part, for its own defense. Since the end of World War II, Japan has relied on the United States for its national security.
Japan has already pledged $5 billion in reconstruction aid to Iraq, second only to Washington's commitment. But many here now argue that Japan must assume a more robust role in global conflicts. Especially with the looming threat of a nuclear North Korea just across the Sea of Japan, proponents of sending troops say it is more important than ever to cement Japan's security alliance with Washington.
Yet many of Japan's neighbors, particularly China, which endured a brutal invasion by Japan during the early 20th century, remain deeply uneasy at even the hint of a resurgent military role for Tokyo. In addition, opinion polls have shown that a majority of Japanese oppose sending troops to Iraq.
Opponents of the action, especially in the opposition Democratic Party, which made significant gains in last month's lower house elections, insist Koizumi is gambling with his political life. Although Japan revised its laws in July to allow the sending of Self Defense Forces abroad, that resolution stated they must only be sent to non-combat zones. And in Iraq, they insist, there are none.
"This dispatch will not only be wrong, but illegal," said Yoko Komiyama, a Democratic Party legislator .
"I think we need more time to decide first whether Japan is really prepared to have an army again. The current rules of engagement are too strict for our Self Defense Forces to properly defend themselves in Iraq. The Japanese public will react strongly against Koizumi if even one soldier is killed."


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comments anyone? is this a good idea for Japan to be expanding its military's role beyound self defense?

[MORTARDUDE]

I think now is time for Japan and Germany to be more involved in the world militarily. Both countries were almost completely pulverized in 1945. That was 58 years ago. Most all of us had close realtives who directly fought one or both. Since 1945 both countries have becone economic superpowers. I see no problem with this at all.

Larry

[philly]

I never thought I'd see the day when Japan would send their troops to assist us in the Middle East. I am very excited to see more countries militarily supporting our efforts in the Middle East.

[Seascamp]

Going a layer or so down in Japanese culture and military mind-set history, I would guess that their Military is chomping at the bit to have an outing. I know they don?t like the imposed ?Self defense force? limitations at all and are looking at a way to sit at the same table with similar countries that have the military wallop to back up their words. This could be the deal that makes them first among equal peers and that is very much to their liking, for sure.

Scamp