seruriermarshal
06-18-2004, 07:59 PM
Japan to join multinational force in Iraq
TOKYO (AFP) - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's cabinet approved a plan to allow Japanese troops to join a UN-sanctioned multinational force in Iraq (news - web sites).
Japan, one of Washington's staunchest backers over the Iraq war, has around 550 troops in the southern Iraqi city of Samawa providing post-war humanitarian assistance in its most controversial and dangerous mission since 1945.
"Under the multinational force, the Self-Defense Forces (Japanese military) will continue their activities," after the handover of power to Iraqis on June 30, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda told a news conference after the cabinet meeting.
"The Self-Defense Forces will act under the Japanese command and not participate in military activities," he said. "It is in line with our constitution."
The UN-authorized force will be responsible for security and anti-insurgency operations in Iraq. The prospect of its involvement in combat operations is problematic for Tokyo as Japan's post-war pacifist constitution bans the use of force in settling international disputes.
Kyodo and Jiji news agencies said it would be Japan's first participation in a multinational security force, made possible because the UN resolution endorsing the force also gave it a humanitarian and reconstruction mandate.
Apart from minesweeping in the Gulf after the 1991 Gulf War (news - web sites) and providing maritime logistical support for the US-led anti-terror campaign in Afghanistan (news - web sites) in 2001, Japanese overseas military missions -- including Cambodia, Mozambique and East Timor (news - web sites) -- have all been part of UN peacekeeping operations.
Koizumi has been cautious in his comments on the troops' relationship to the multinational force in an apparent bid to avoid opposition charges of violating the constitution.
He repeatedly said in parliament Monday the troops would operate "in cooperation with" the multinational force.
In a press conference Thursday, Koizumi stressed the continued deployment would not be unconstitutional because Japanese troops would not use force, and would limit their activities to humanitarian operations under Japanese command and in line with the existing law authorising the dispatch.
The cabinet endorsement of the mission was a formality as Koizumi had won the agreement of the coalition parties earlier this week and the government had decided it did not need to seek parliamentary approval.
The opposition Democratic Party of Japan, which has consistently opposed the dispatch as unconstitutional, slammed Koizumi for taking such an important decision without proper debate.
"To deploy the Self-Defence Forces is to exercise the ultimate right of state sovereignty. But rhetoric was used to deceive us about activities of the Self-Defence Forces," DPJ secretary general Hirohisa Fujii told a news conference Friday.
"This kind of awful thing did not even happen in pre-war days."
The cabinet decision came two days after the end of the regular parliamentary session.
Two of Japan's leading newspapers also voiced dissatisfaction Friday with Kozoimi's handling of the decision.
"Koizumi failed to explain to the public why the Self-Defense Forces should join the multinational force," the Mainichi Shimbun said in a signed front-page commentary.
"The decision means (Japanese forces) are taking one step further in cooperating with the US military."
The Asahi Shimbun, an influential liberal daily, said in its editorial: "The decision showed the government, out of consideration for the United States, wants to keep the Self-Defense Forces in Iraq no matter what."
Friday's decision modified last December's Basic Plan for the dispatch of Japanese troops to a "non-combat zone" in Iraq under the US-led occupation, which set the term of deployment at one year.
Koizumi first announced during the Group of Eight (G8) summit in the United States this month that the troops would be staying on after the transition.
The president of Iraq's interim government, Ghazi Ajil al-Yawer, had called on Koizumi to keep Japanese troops in Iraq when the two met during the G8 summit, Koizumi told parliament Monday.
Elections for half the seats in parliament's upper house on July 11 are widely expected to deliver the public's verdict on Koizumi's decision to keep Japanese troops in Iraq.
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From (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040618/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_japan_troops&cid=1514&ncid=1473)
TOKYO (AFP) - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's cabinet approved a plan to allow Japanese troops to join a UN-sanctioned multinational force in Iraq (news - web sites).
Japan, one of Washington's staunchest backers over the Iraq war, has around 550 troops in the southern Iraqi city of Samawa providing post-war humanitarian assistance in its most controversial and dangerous mission since 1945.
"Under the multinational force, the Self-Defense Forces (Japanese military) will continue their activities," after the handover of power to Iraqis on June 30, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda told a news conference after the cabinet meeting.
"The Self-Defense Forces will act under the Japanese command and not participate in military activities," he said. "It is in line with our constitution."
The UN-authorized force will be responsible for security and anti-insurgency operations in Iraq. The prospect of its involvement in combat operations is problematic for Tokyo as Japan's post-war pacifist constitution bans the use of force in settling international disputes.
Kyodo and Jiji news agencies said it would be Japan's first participation in a multinational security force, made possible because the UN resolution endorsing the force also gave it a humanitarian and reconstruction mandate.
Apart from minesweeping in the Gulf after the 1991 Gulf War (news - web sites) and providing maritime logistical support for the US-led anti-terror campaign in Afghanistan (news - web sites) in 2001, Japanese overseas military missions -- including Cambodia, Mozambique and East Timor (news - web sites) -- have all been part of UN peacekeeping operations.
Koizumi has been cautious in his comments on the troops' relationship to the multinational force in an apparent bid to avoid opposition charges of violating the constitution.
He repeatedly said in parliament Monday the troops would operate "in cooperation with" the multinational force.
In a press conference Thursday, Koizumi stressed the continued deployment would not be unconstitutional because Japanese troops would not use force, and would limit their activities to humanitarian operations under Japanese command and in line with the existing law authorising the dispatch.
The cabinet endorsement of the mission was a formality as Koizumi had won the agreement of the coalition parties earlier this week and the government had decided it did not need to seek parliamentary approval.
The opposition Democratic Party of Japan, which has consistently opposed the dispatch as unconstitutional, slammed Koizumi for taking such an important decision without proper debate.
"To deploy the Self-Defence Forces is to exercise the ultimate right of state sovereignty. But rhetoric was used to deceive us about activities of the Self-Defence Forces," DPJ secretary general Hirohisa Fujii told a news conference Friday.
"This kind of awful thing did not even happen in pre-war days."
The cabinet decision came two days after the end of the regular parliamentary session.
Two of Japan's leading newspapers also voiced dissatisfaction Friday with Kozoimi's handling of the decision.
"Koizumi failed to explain to the public why the Self-Defense Forces should join the multinational force," the Mainichi Shimbun said in a signed front-page commentary.
"The decision means (Japanese forces) are taking one step further in cooperating with the US military."
The Asahi Shimbun, an influential liberal daily, said in its editorial: "The decision showed the government, out of consideration for the United States, wants to keep the Self-Defense Forces in Iraq no matter what."
Friday's decision modified last December's Basic Plan for the dispatch of Japanese troops to a "non-combat zone" in Iraq under the US-led occupation, which set the term of deployment at one year.
Koizumi first announced during the Group of Eight (G8) summit in the United States this month that the troops would be staying on after the transition.
The president of Iraq's interim government, Ghazi Ajil al-Yawer, had called on Koizumi to keep Japanese troops in Iraq when the two met during the G8 summit, Koizumi told parliament Monday.
Elections for half the seats in parliament's upper house on July 11 are widely expected to deliver the public's verdict on Koizumi's decision to keep Japanese troops in Iraq.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040618/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_japan_troops&cid=1514&ncid=1473)