Japan To Send Troops To Iraq – Peace Constitution Violated

Japan has decided to send its self-defense forces to Iraq.

It has been eight months since Japan declared its support when U.S. launched a war against Iraq in March. Since the Iraq special law was passed in June, it has been 4 months.

Japan’s decision may influence Korea in two ways.

First, it can create momentum for the Korean administration, which is hesitating to make final decision on whether or not dispatch armed forces to Iraq and is paying careful attention to public opinion. Japan’s decision will be utilized to induce opponents to approve the dispatch of troops.

In addition, the ninth provision of the Japanese peace constitution will be violated by Japan’s decision to dispatch its self-defense force to combat areas. Under pressure from the U.S. administration to quicken its dispatch of combat forces to Iraq, Japan has delayed making a final decision so far, because some people in Japan, thinking of it as a violation of the constitution, have been opposed to the dispatch.

The former prime minister of Japan, Miyazawa Kiichi, appeared on a television talk show on Sunday and said, “There is a possibility that an Iraq dispatch would violate the boundaries of the peace constitution,” setting forth his opposition to the dispatch. Back in 1992, he decided to dispatch the self-defense force overseas for the first time since the World War II. But it was an operation to support U.N. activities in Cambodia, and the dispatch did not violate the constitutional provisions.

Iraq is currently at war against the insurgents. There is high possibility of battle breaking out all over Iraq. In addition to the combat infantry carriers, 110mm portable counter-tank bombs and 84mm recoilless rifles will also be delivered to equip the Japanese soldiers, in order to prepare them for any contingencies. In 1992, the Japanese troops were equipped only with rifles and guns during the campaign in Cambodia.

The Japanese administration has secured a strong foothold so that the dispatch of the self-defense force to non-combat regions does not violate the peace constitution. But the security status of Iraq cannot be split into wartime and peacetime areas, and Japan acknowledged the truth of this situation. On this account, the dispatch may cross over the boundaries laid down by the constitution.

But the reason that they confirmed the decision to send troops to Iraq could be inferred from their intention of to secure a friendly diplomatic relationship with the United States.

It also appears that they will step up to give more powers to the movement to revise the constitution. The right-wing faction of the Japanese ruling party, the Liberty Democratic Party (LDP), has asserted that the peace constitution, which sets out that Japan cannot own military and invade other nations, becomes unsuitable for the images of a “Great Japan,” and intimidation by North Korean nuclear weapons was too much to withstand, so it is necessary to revise the peace constitution to make it legal to have a military and the right to invade other nations.

As shown by the two Japanese diplomats killed in an assault by Iraqi insurgents, it is clear that Japanese troops will be the target of terrorism in Iraq.

The Japanese opposition parties have been consistently opposed to the dispatch of troops to Iraq so far, focusing on the failure of finding mass destruction weapons in Iraq. About 80 percent of the Japanese public said they were “opposing to the dispatch or cautious about the dispatch,” according to a recently conducted survey.

Some think that if losses of life occur in Iraq, the Koizumi regime will face a critical crisis, because the administration ignored the majority’s opinion in making its decision.

Hun-Joo Cho hanscho@donga.com