Section 49 Entry 0001. Date: 2003 July 03 Thursday.
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The Iraq war, which had seemed pretty distant (almost to the point of being hypothetical) is suddenly a lot closer to home. The Japanese government seems close to deploying some segment of the Japanese military to Iraq, and it's hard to see how this can take place without a certain number of Iraqis killing a certain number of Japanese military personnel and vice versa.

Speaking of the plans to deploy Japan's Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to Japan, an article published in today's English-language edition of the Asahi Shimbun (bundled in Japan with the International Herald Tribune) says:-

The prime minister full well knows the dangers, for the troops, and on a less permanent level, for himself. But helping to motivate Koizumi is a promise to the United States, in the person of President George W. Bush, to deploy the SDF to the crippled Mideast nation.

(From an article called "The big gamble over Iraq," on page 19.)

On page 22, The Asahi Shimbun has an editorial headlined "SDF troop dispatch bill" with a subheading saying "The Diet must recognize the harsh reality in Iraq."

It is about how Japan's prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, is trying to get the necessary enabling legislation (the legislation which would be required to send the SDF to Iraq) through the Diet (the Japanese parliament.)

The editorial says:-

In response to a recent survey by The Asahi Shimbun, 69 percent of those answering opposed the U.S. attack on Iraq and 50 percent disapproved of Koizumi's support for U.S. policy. At the same time, the survey determined that 46 percent back SDF dispatch, while 43 percent oppose it.

The editorial explains the "self-contradictory" results by saying that many Japanese people think that what's being talked about is peacekeeping missions like those the SDF has undertaken "in Cambodia and elsewhere."

The editorial points out, however, that what is planned is "utterly unlike" such peacekeeping missions. The war is not over, the United Nations is not in charge and "Washington expects the SDF will help with security - in other words, help clean up the mess made by the war."

We want the Diet to snap out of its stupor right now and admonish the government for rushing into this by at least sending a suprapartisan study team to Iraq.

There's a word which is new to me - "suprapartisan." I think it makes sense.

My own view is that the Americans created the mess in Iraq in the first place so they should take on the responsibility of bringing order out of the chaos they have created. This is going to require more troops, more police, more money and something resembling a plan.

Once the Americans get a grip on the situation (if they ever do) then will be the time for donor nations like Japan to get involved.

Meantime, in other news, the United States is trying very hard to scuttle a big oil development deal between Japan and Iran.

Interestingly, there's an article on page B1 of the International Herald Tribune headlined "Japan's delay in Iran may open door for China" - the headline neatly encapsulates the contents of the article.

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