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Japanese Parliament Okays Iraq Troops Deployment
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Yelling, scrambling and even fighting marked the debate
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TOKYO,
July 26 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The Japanese upper
house of parliament voted in the early hours Saturday, July 26, to
approve the deployment of troops to Iraq in a move that raised a hot
debate with opposition leaders arguing that Prime Minister Junichiro
Koizumi "leads the country in the wrong direction."
The
reportedly 1,000-strong deployment in November will be the first
dispatch since World War II of Japanese military personnel to a
country where fighting is continuing.
Voting
was delayed for hours by stalling tactics from the opposition parties
- including an unsuccessful no confidence motion in Koizumi - who said
deploying troops to Iraq would contravene Japan's pacifist
constitution.
Yelling
and scrambling opposition MPs surrounded the upper house committee
chairman dealing with the Iraq motion but were unable to stop the
passage of the bill by the committee and a later plenary session,
Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Koizumi
vowed to harness public support for the controversial decision to send
Japanese troops to Iraq.
Shortly
after the bill's passage, Koizumi told reporters he believed he would
be able to "gain people's understanding in the days ahead."
"When
they look back in the future, they will think the legislation was good
for the country," Jiji Press news agency quoted the prime
minister as saying.
A
poll in the daily Asahi Shimbun showed Tuesday that 55 percent of the
Japanese people opposed sending troops to Iraq, compared to 33 percent
who support it.
Koizumi
called passage of the bill significant for Japan, which would help in
the reconstruction of Iraq "under our country's independent
judgment," and vowed to ensure the safety of Self-Defence Force
(SDF) personnel involved.
Troops
will only be sent to Iraq once a investigative mission returns with a
report on local conditions and outlines careful preparations, he added
in a statement.
Under
the terms of the Iraq law, Japanese troops will help resettle
refugees, rebuild facilities and provide fresh water and supplies,
while limiting their activities to "non-combat areas."
Opposition
groups have argued there are no such non-combat zones in Iraq as
guerrilla-style resistance attacks continue against U.S. forces.
Unjustifiable
War
The
leftist Social Democrats and Communists insist the deployment would
violate Japan's pacifist constitution, put Japanese lives at
risk and involve the country in the aftermath of an unjustifiable war.
Japan's
post-World War II constitution bans the use of force to settle
international disputes.
Nato
Kan, leader of the largest opposition group, the Democratic Party of
Japan, said the military mission "would lead the country in the
wrong direction."
The
Asahi released an editorial Saturday warning against the possibility
of leaving "roots of disaster in the future."
"What
is important is not how we can please the United States but how we can
help the Iraqi people," it said, suggesting the troop deployment
be postponed until Japan receives a request from a government by Iraqi
people.
The
daily Sankei Shimbun demanded the prime minister explain more
thoroughly the cause of sending the SDF.
The
Japanese move, in fact, has also alarmed Asian neighbours with China
exhorting Japan to follow the path of peaceful development.
"Japan's
adherence to the defense-only policy conforms with its own
interests," state-run Xinhua news agency said, citing foreign
ministry spokesman Kong Quan.
The
reconnaissance mission was reportedly to depart for Iraq in August,
but it will likely prove difficult for Koizumi to decide on the timing
for dispatching troops as he reportedly plans to hold a general poll
on November 9.
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