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And so the world turns...
Rafter-S
Member Posts: 2,173 ✭✭✭✭✭
Never thought I would see this in my lifetime...
First Troops of Main Japan Contingent in Iraq
Feb 8, 2004
IRAQ-KUWAIT BORDER (Reuters) - The first Japanese troops from the main body of their forces entered Iraq Sunday in Tokyo's most controversial and risky mission since World War II.
Some 80 members of the Ground Self-Defense Force crossed the border from Kuwait into southern Iraq early in the morning in a convoy of 25 jeeps, trucks and armored vehicles emblazoned with white-and-red Japanese flags.
There is much concern in Japan about the safety of Japanese troops in Iraq to help reconstruction after last year's U.S.-led war ousted Saddam Hussein. Any casualties could have serious political consequences for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
"I am very tense because this is a serious mission," Maj. Itaru Murakami, dressed in camouflage fatigues, flak jacket and helmet, told Reuters at the border. "But we are well-prepared."
They will use their weapons, including Japanese-made submachine guns and anti-tank guns, only in self-defense.
The unit -- part of a contingent of about 600 soldiers -- will first set up a camp on the outskirts of the southern Iraqi city of Samawa. They will provide medical services, building water supply and other postwar reconstruction activities.
The total deployment is expected to involve up to 1,000 army, air force and navy personnel in Iraq and nearby countries.
Japanese troops have not fired a shot in combat since 1945 and the Iraq mission has been criticized by some in Japan as a violation of the country's pacifist constitution.
The dispatch was made possible by a law passed in July, which in line with the constitution limits military activity to "non-combat zones," a murky concept in Iraq, where there are almost daily attacks on U.S. forces and their allies.
"I'm excited because this is the first mission for Japan in a long time," said Master Sgt. Toshio Abe. "We are going to Iraq on a humanitarian mission, to help the people, to help in reconstruction."
The 250-mile journey from the border to Samawa to the northwest was expected to last several hours.
Asked how he felt as he prepared to enter Iraq, Maj. Etsuji Yukuwa told Reuters: "So, so. I am excited... but of course I feel that maybe there will be terrorist (attacks) against us. I have some fear."
Many of the troops will be rotated every three months during the Iraq assignment, Japanese officers said.
An advance team of ground troops arrived in Samawa last month. The rest of the main contingent is expected to leave Japan later in February. A small navy team will arrive this month in Kuwait. A 200-strong air force team to airlift supplies to Iraq is already in the Gulf Arab state.
[V]
First Troops of Main Japan Contingent in Iraq
Feb 8, 2004
IRAQ-KUWAIT BORDER (Reuters) - The first Japanese troops from the main body of their forces entered Iraq Sunday in Tokyo's most controversial and risky mission since World War II.
Some 80 members of the Ground Self-Defense Force crossed the border from Kuwait into southern Iraq early in the morning in a convoy of 25 jeeps, trucks and armored vehicles emblazoned with white-and-red Japanese flags.
There is much concern in Japan about the safety of Japanese troops in Iraq to help reconstruction after last year's U.S.-led war ousted Saddam Hussein. Any casualties could have serious political consequences for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
"I am very tense because this is a serious mission," Maj. Itaru Murakami, dressed in camouflage fatigues, flak jacket and helmet, told Reuters at the border. "But we are well-prepared."
They will use their weapons, including Japanese-made submachine guns and anti-tank guns, only in self-defense.
The unit -- part of a contingent of about 600 soldiers -- will first set up a camp on the outskirts of the southern Iraqi city of Samawa. They will provide medical services, building water supply and other postwar reconstruction activities.
The total deployment is expected to involve up to 1,000 army, air force and navy personnel in Iraq and nearby countries.
Japanese troops have not fired a shot in combat since 1945 and the Iraq mission has been criticized by some in Japan as a violation of the country's pacifist constitution.
The dispatch was made possible by a law passed in July, which in line with the constitution limits military activity to "non-combat zones," a murky concept in Iraq, where there are almost daily attacks on U.S. forces and their allies.
"I'm excited because this is the first mission for Japan in a long time," said Master Sgt. Toshio Abe. "We are going to Iraq on a humanitarian mission, to help the people, to help in reconstruction."
The 250-mile journey from the border to Samawa to the northwest was expected to last several hours.
Asked how he felt as he prepared to enter Iraq, Maj. Etsuji Yukuwa told Reuters: "So, so. I am excited... but of course I feel that maybe there will be terrorist (attacks) against us. I have some fear."
Many of the troops will be rotated every three months during the Iraq assignment, Japanese officers said.
An advance team of ground troops arrived in Samawa last month. The rest of the main contingent is expected to leave Japan later in February. A small navy team will arrive this month in Kuwait. A 200-strong air force team to airlift supplies to Iraq is already in the Gulf Arab state.
[V]
Comments
I am a little concerned about how this will play out politically for PM Koizumi. There's a lot of anti-war, pacifist feeling among the general populace that is probably going absolutely ape over this. And it probably does violate their constitution.
quote:Originally posted by crims40
So...whose side are they on? [?][:0]
Big Daddy my heros have always been cowboys,they still are it seems
Let them raise an army and protect their own backsides and participate in peace keeping mssions around the world. This is a good first step for them getting back on their (military) feet.
Japan is a very rich country. No doubt this is because they have not had to support a standing army since the were defeated by the USA!
We have been allies since the defeat, (although many American veterans still hold very hard feelings and I do not blame those who suffered at the hands of the Japanese) and there is no reason why the Japanese shouldn't share the load now.
Charlie
"It's the stuff dreams are made of Angel"NRA Certified Firearms InstructorMember: GOA, RKBA, NJSPBA, NJ area rep for the 2ndAMPD. njretcop@copmail.com
The Japanese are making an effort to help out, but apparently Germany has forgotten what happens when a war-ravaged country is abandoned without economic support or decent leadership...
Big Daddy my heros have always been cowboys,they still are it seems
Allright! The people who INVENTED suicide bombing!
Mateomasfeo
"I am what I am!" - Popeye
IF YOU DON'T LIKE MY RIGHTS - GET OUT OF MY COUNTRY (this includes politicians)
Good because they're no longer a band of genocidal mass-raping midgets with a penchant for torture and murder.
Bad because the Japanese SDF can hardly handle a North Korean spy boat, much less an Iraqi insurgent.
But I'm not so sure I'm willing to forgive and forget just yet. A showboat deployment in Iraq doesn't make up for the thousands of Allied POWs they tortured and worked to death. It doesn't make up for Unit 731 dissecting American GIs alive and without anestethesia. It doesn't make up for the over 300,000 women they raped in Nanking, some of them as young as eight and some of them as repeatedly as a dozen times during the same "session." It doesn't make up for the thousands of Dutch civilians they beheaded when they took over Indonesia nor the thousands of Dutch wives and daughters they raped for "relaxation."
Germany has at least admitted guilt for its actions during WW2. Their opposition to our war in Iraq is their sovereign democratic right, because only a slave agrees unequivocally with everything their master does... and they're not our slave and we purport to be no one's master.
This is one of the problems with the energy situation today. The most unstable people on the planet (middleasterners) have control of over half the world's energy, with Iraq alone having over 20% of the world's proven oil reserves. If totally explored, Iraq may have $50% or more.
Don't care how you look at it, Iraq is strategically important to us as well as to a lot of other nations.
My humble opinion,
Rafter-S
Actually, the Iraq was stable until we went in. True, it was led by a despotic regime, but "stable" doesn't necessarily equal "good."
But sadly, you're not mistaken when you say if people need something, they'll fight for it. I like to think that we've evolved past that sort of monkeyish mentality, but GW Bush has put primate psychology into practice as American foreign policy and now others seem more than willing to follow his lead.
OTOH, I don't care if GWB has a "primate psychology!" However the Left may term his approach to foreign policy, it's several orders of magnitude better than the path espoused by the amber amphibians, their fellow travelers and that sorry pile of dog dung on the East River infested with incompetent, corrupt, internationalist, bureaucrats. Some people may be willing to take their lead from chirac and his ilk, not this camper.
"There is nothing lower than the human race - except the French." (Mark Twain)
Second, our bases in Japan are there because WE want them there. Contrary to popular belief, Japan pays the operating expenses for the bases to be there...which has sometimes been a bone of contention for some of them since their economy tanked about 10 years ago...especially in Okinawa whenever some GIs rape a 12 year old girl.
quote:Originally posted by njretcop
I agree with BDJ! We should welcome them there. It's time the Japanese take over their own defense. We have been protecting them, at American taxpayer expense, for almost 60 years.
Let them raise an army and protect their own backsides and participate in peace keeping mssions around the world. This is a good first step for them getting back on their (military) feet.
Japan is a very rich country. No doubt this is because they have not had to support a standing army since the were defeated by the USA!
We have been allies since the defeat, (although many American veterans still hold very hard feelings and I do not blame those who suffered at the hands of the Japanese) and there is no reason why the Japanese shouldn't share the load now.
Charlie
"It's the stuff dreams are made of Angel"<br>NRA Certified Firearms Instructor<br>Member: GOA, RKBA, NJSPBA, NJ area rep for the 2ndAMPD.<br> <A HREF="mailto:njretcop@copmail.com">njretcop@copmail.com</A> <P>