Newsletter No. 177
January 31, 2006

 

JAPAN IN IRAQ -- THE LONG KISS GOODBYE

News reports have emerged that Japan, Australia, Britain, and the United States held a secret meeting in London on January 23rd to coordinate their Iraq deployment policies. It appears that they decided that the GSDF mission in Samawa will end in May, with preparations for the pullout beginning in March. This is a little bit earlier than the August deadline that was discussed in early December.

The initiative for this new plan appears to have come from the British government, and the United States then agreed to it. For Tokyo’s part, the general idea seems to have been that the GSDF mission should be ended before Prime Minister Koizumi steps down in September.

However, although it now appears that a real finishing line has been set for the Japanese in Samawa; in fact the real end of the SDF commitment may still be nowhere in sight. The US is pressuring Tokyo to expand its ASDF transportation mission this year, and want other kinds of help as well.

The withdrawal of the GSDF mission from Samawa will certainly reduce Japan’s exposure in Iraq; and that is to be welcomed, but there’s clearly more going on behind the scenes right now than is fully apparent in the press. The Japanese media is now writing very little about Iraq, and we already know that the Bush Administration has been asking Tokyo, since last October, to play a more direct, military role in the Iraq War (see Shingetsu Newsletter No. 123).

The true character of the ASDF mission in Iraq is something to keep an eye on. It has been said that they are transporting ammunition and US troops, and -- to my mind at least -- that effectively makes them genuine combatants regardless of the public spin.

As the Kyodo News report below makes clear, the Pentagon is demanding even more...

 

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RUMSFELD ASKED JAPAN TO USE SDF FOR SECURITY WORK IN IRAQ

TOKYO, Jan. 30 (Kyodo) U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld explored the possibility during a meeting in January with Defense Agency Director General Fukushiro Nukaga that Japan considers using the Self-Defense Forces for security operations in Iraq and to train Iraqi forces, diplomatic sources said Sunday. Nukaga rejected the idea, made during a meeting between the two in Washington on Jan. 17, saying "It is difficult under (Japan's) existing laws," the sources said.

Rumsfeld told Nukaga that he believes Japan has fully understood that Iraq's economy will not develop until its security situation regains stability. Noting that U.S. forces are also involved in training security forces in Afghanistan, Georgia and other countries and in local security operations, Rumsfeld said it would be beneficial for Japan to play similar roles in cooperation with the United States, the sources said.

Nukaga told Rumsfeld it would be difficult under existing Japanese laws for Japan to get involved in overseas security operations, apparently referring to Japanese constitutional constraints on Japan's participation in collective self-defense and the use of force outside Japan.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is considering revising Japan's Constitution and Nukaga told Rumsfeld "In the future (Japan) would have to consider its role in international peace and cooperation activities involving the United Nations." Rumsfeld maintained that Japan should move forward as the world's second largest economy in order to contribute to global stability at a time when international organizations are weak.