International   

Japan to send 'non-combat' troops to Iraq

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE Dec. 9. Japan today decided to send its Self-Defence Forces (SDF) to Iraq, in small contingents over a one-year period from December 15, on a `non-combat' mission of `reconstruction' activities there.

The move signals the deployment of Japanese military personnel in a war-zone for the first time since the end of Second World War.

The decision was taken by the Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, and his coalition Cabinet in Tokyo, in transparent defiance of the prevailing public opinion against the war in Iraq and the U.S. role there.

The details of the SDF deployment, known as the "basic plan'', will be announced later, but the indication is that all three wings of the Japanese military forces would be involved, with the ground troops numbering several hundred. Two Japanese diplomats were recently killed in an apparent anti-U.S. attack in Iraq, and this aspect had clouded the political ambience in which today's decision was made.

In a political hard-sell, Mr. Koizumi, who had earlier kept his options open despite being inclined to `help' the U.S. in Iraq, packaged his decision in different ways.

The SDF units, he maintained, "are not going to wage war'' in Iraq in defiance of Japan's pacifist Constitution. However, Japan could not merely sit back after sending money towards Iraq's reconstruction.

So, the country would now "cooperate with the international community'' as regards Iraq in other ways too. He was, of course, cognizant of the `unsafe' conditions prevalent in Iraq now.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• 41 U.S. soldiers injured in explosion
• Japan to send 'non-combat' troops to Iraq
• Women bombers trigger blast
• Chandrika not to give up Defence portfolio
• Tamil MPs hold talks with LTTE
• Jamali hopes SAARC meet will lead to resumption of dialogue
• Pakistan for train up to New Delhi

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu