Japan approves disputed troops-for-Iraq plan
( 2003-12-09 17:00) (Agencies)
Japan's cabinet approved a plan on Tuesday to dispatch troops to Iraq, a landmark decision setting the stage for what is likely to be the nation's biggest and most dangerous overseas military mission since World War II.
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| Around 100 protesters demonstrated outside Koizumi's residence on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2003. [AP] |
Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi convened a special meeting of his cabinet to approve the controversial plan, which critics have said is ill-conceived and violates Japan's pacifist constitution.
Earlier, Koizumi met Takenori Kanzaki, the head of his coalition partner New Komeito Party, and got his backing for the plan. But he also agreed to carefully consider the security situation in Iraq before actually sending in troops.
"The utmost caution must be exercised if Ground Self-Defense Forces are to be sent. Their dispatch should made after an improvement in the security situation there is confirmed," Kanzaki told reporters after meeting Koizumi.
Koizumi will hold a news conference to explain his decision, which comes as surveys show that most of the public oppose sending troops now and follows the killing of two Japanese diplomats in Iraq late last month.
The prime minister has had to balance Japan's tight security ties with the United States, which is keen for the dispatch, with domestic concerns that increased after the diplomats' deaths.
Just minutes before the cabinet approval, the U.S. army said 31 U.S. soldiers were wounded in northern Iraq when a car believed to be driven by a suicide bomber exploded at the entrance to their base.
 No member of Japan's military has fired a shot in combat or been killed in an overseas mission since World War II, although they have taken part in United Nations peacekeeping operations since a 1992 law made that possible.
STRETCHING THE CONSTITUTION
The plan to be approved on Tuesday will allow troops to be sent during a one-year period starting December 15, but will not set a specific date for the dispatch or the size of the mission, media said. The bulk of the forces are expected to go next year.
Tokyo intends to eventually send 500 to 700 soldiers to southern Iraq, where it believes the security situation is stable, but equip them with the heaviest artillery they have ever taken overseas, according to media reports.
The army will have portable anti-tank rocket launchers and recoilless guns to protect against possible suicide bomb attacks, the reports said.
Seven or eight planes from the air force as well as three transport vessels and three destroyers from the navy are also expected to be sent to Iraq.
Japan's constitution renounces the right to go to war and prohibits the country from having a military, but has been interpreted as allowing Japan to have forces for self-defense.
Recent governments have stretched the constitutional constraints, and debate over revising the pacifist clause is heating up. Koizumi is in favor of making such changes.
A law allowing troops to be sent to help rebuild Iraq was enacted in July, but specifies that military staff be sent only to "non-combat" zones.
JAPAN AS TARGET
The killing of the two diplomats by gunmen near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit and growing attacks against non-U.S. personnel in Iraq have raised fears that Japanese troops may become targets if they are sent there.
Many Japanese also fear they could become the targets of terrorist attacks at home following reported threats by al Qaeda to "strike at the heart of Tokyo" if Japan sends troops to Iraq.
"In a sense, he made a promise (to U.S. President Bush) based on his mistaken judgment, and is sending the troops to a dangerous place to protect his own political career," said Naoto Kan, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, after a meeting in which Koizumi explained the government's decision to him.
More than 100 demonstrators protested outside the prime minister's residence on Tuesday, shouting and holding banners saying "No to the Iraq troop deployment."
A weekend survey by public broadcaster NHK showed that only 17 percent of voters favored sending the military to Iraq soon, 53 percent would support a dispatch after peace and order were restored, and 28 percent opposed it in any circumstances.
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