Japan to Pledge Troops, Money for Iraq During Bush Visit
Koizumi Bucks Popular Opposition to Back U.S. in Iraq
By Anthony Faiola
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, October 10, 2003; 12:33 PM
TOKYO Oct. 10 -- Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will offer a direct pledge to President Bush to dispatch both money and armed personnel to Iraq when the two leaders meet in Tokyo next week, Japanese government sources said Friday.
Koizumi's offer to Bush, who will kick off a swing through Asia with a stop in Japan on Oct. 17, is designed to end lingering doubts in Washington about Japan's commitment to the ongoing, U.S.-led effort in Iraq. Koizumi was one of the rare voices in Asia to clearly support the war, and his administration has previously pledged on several occasions to chip in both personnel and money.
But with polls showing the Japanese people largely opposed to what would be Japan's most significant military-related operation since the end of World War II -- and with Koizumi in the midst of a reelection campaign -- many observers have openly wondered whether he would still press ahead with those plans.
Koizumi, officials say, will settle that issue next week with a definitive "yes."
"The U.S. cannot be expected to handle the situation in Iraq on its own," Hatsuhisa Takashima, a top Foreign Ministry spokesman said Friday in an interview. Koizumi "will be making a promise to President Bush to provide money and personnel. Japan is aware of its obligation to the international community, and we will be showing that."
U.S. officials have been pressing the Japanese to offer more than words on Iraq. On at least two occasions, Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage has publicly called on Japan to make a generous cash contribution to the rebuilding effort. Privately, U.S. officials have also pressed the Japanese to send troops.
For Japan, whose pacifist constitution renounces war as a means of settling international disputes, the issue of dispatching armed personnel -- officials here are loath to call them troops -- has been the toughest to deal with.
Senior Japanese government officials say the number of Self Defense forces to be sent to Iraq are likely to number "in the hundreds" and would largely represent a symbolic force -- significantly smaller, for instance, than the several thousand troops South Korea, Washington's other key Asian ally, is now thinking about sending.
The Japanese forces in Iraq are likely to be confined to relatively secured parts of the country, and would have strict rules of engagement prohibiting them from firing on enemies unless they come directly under fire. Their prime missions would involve dealing with water, sanitation, transportation systems as well as power and energy supplies.
Japan is still smarting from what it feels was ungrateful treatment following the 1991 Persian Gulf War, when it was accused of checkbook diplomacy after coughing up about $13 billion toward the effort, but no troops. Yukio Okamoto, one of Koizumis top advisors on Iraq policy, said Japan's cash contribution this time around will almost surely be "at least less than half" Japan's contribution toward the previous Gulf War. "We were treated like dirt after the Persian Gulf War," he said. "Well, now, we intend to send Japanese [forces] to Iraq, so our contribution should not be expected to be as high. Plus we have suffered from economic problems, and we cannot be expected to give as much as we have."
Analysts, however, said that Koizumi is likely to wait until after election day on Nov. 9 before presenting the details of Japans contributions.
"This is not an issue Koizumi wants to be in the news before the elections," said Kumao Kaneko, a Tokyo-based diplomatic analyst. "It is a politically unpopular decision, and Koizumi knows it. This perhaps was not the best moment for President Bush to arrive."
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