Newsletter No. 12
June 13, 2005

 

SEVENTH GSDF GROUP DEPLOYED TO SAMAWA

On June 9th, an announcement was made to the press regarding the GSDF deployment to Iraq. In August, the seventh GSDF group will be sent to Samawa for a period of three months. The seventh group will be based on the 4th GSDF Division. The 4th Division is headquartered at Kasuga City, Fukuoka Prefecture, and in total contains about 8,000 soldiers based in the northern Kyushu prefectures of Fukuoka, Oita, Saga, and Nagasaki. About 600 soldiers will be sent to Samawa for reconstruction work.

Elements of this same division have had some PKO experience before in East Timor and in the Golan Heights. Since the GSDF have been in Samawa, there have been a total of nine cases in which mortars have been fired at the Japanese base. However, no one has been injured and there have been no mortar attacks since January of this year. The most threatening event in recent months was the appearance of posters around Samawa in late May with slogans like “Die Japanese!”

Also on the 9th, MOFA posted a document entitled “Japan’s Assistance to Iraq (Fact Sheet)” on its website. It reviews in some detail Japan’s financial commitment to Iraqi reconstruction, and how the money has been spent so far.

In total, Japan has pledged US$1.5 billion in grants and $3.5 billion in loans to Iraq. All of the grant money has now been spent on things like a diesel power station for Samawa and for reconstruction and election support. How to spend all the loan money will be completely decided by the end of 2007, and Japanese officials are now working with the Iraqi government on this issue. One focus of this spending will be on infrastructure development, including telecommunications and transportation. For more details, see the document itself on the MOFA website.

 

Sources:

MOFA, “Japan’s Assistance to Iraq (Fact Sheet),” MOFA, June 9, 2005.

Asahi Shinbun, “Iraku Shien—Kyushu no Rikuji 8-gatsu Haken—Dai-4-Shidan Jiku ni 500-nin (Iraq Support: GSDF from Kyushu to Be Sent in August: 500 Based on the 4th Division),” Asahi Shinbun, June 10, 2005.

Meiraku, Mako and Sasaki, Yasuyuki, “Samawa Fukko—Koji Gyosei Tokyoku to Kyogi—Rikuji Dai-4-shidan kono Natsu 500-nin Haken—Tekitai Seiryoku ni Izen Keikai (Samawa Reconstruction: A Conference with the Construction and Administration Authorities: The 4th Division of the GSDF to Send 500 in Summer: As Before, Caution about the Opposition Forces),” Asahi Shinbun, June 10, 2005.

Nihon Keizai Shinbun, “Iraku Fukko Shien—Seibu Homentai ga Haken Junbi— 8-gatsu Shuppatsu Dai-4-shidan Kaku ni Hensei (Iraq Reconstruction Support: Western GSDF Prepares for Departure: Forces Centered on the 4th Division),” Nihon Keizai Shinbun, June 10, 2005.

Takino, Takahiro and Torichi, Tsuyoshi, “Dai-4-shidan Chushin ni Hensei—8-gatsu ni mo Samawa Haken (An August Deployment to Samawa Based on the 4th Division),” Mainichi Shinbun, June 10, 2005.

Yomiuri Shinbun, “Iraku Haken Rikuji Dai-7-ji Shiengun—Dai-4-Shidan Chushin ni (The 7 GSDF Dispatch to Iraq: Based on the 4 Division),” Yomiuri Shinbun, June 10, 2005.

Yomiuri Shinbun, “Iraku Fukko Shien—Rikuji 1-sa, Nagasaki de Koen (Iraq Reconstruction Support: A GSDF First Officer Gives a Lecture in Nagasaki),” Yomiuri Shinbun, June 11, 2005.