By Suvendrini Kakuchi
TOKYO, Jun 30 2003 (IPS)

Ebrahim Sawada, a Shiite Muslim and teacher of Islam, is anxious about the growing debate in Japan on beefing up U.S. occupying forces in Iraq.

"The lack of evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq must make Japan cautious in playing an active role with the U.S. reconstruction administration," explains Sawada, one among the 100,000 Muslims in this mainly Shinto and Buddhist country of 128 million people.

But this is not happening, judging by the debates in the Diet or parliament around a new bill that would allow Japan’s Self-Defence Forces (SDF) to aid U.S. reconstruction efforts in Iraq. Japan is one of several countries – including India and Pakistan – that Washington is inviting as allies to take part in its occupation of Iraq.

Despite the misgivings of Japanese, including Muslims like Sawada, attempts by opposition politicians to draw debate on the U.S. failure so far to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq – a key reason for going to war – have not been successful.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has said: ”Can anyone assert that there are no weapons of mass destruction? Iraq has to fulfill its responsibility to explain the situation."

Koizumi, whose government supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq, is determined to pass the bill by end of July, before the Diet goes into recess for the summer – and has extended the current session in the hope of its passage.

But more than just Japan’s policy on Iraq and the Middle East, the struggle faced by the government on the bill underscores a bigger issue for the Japanese public – the role of the SDF, the closest thing to a military that Japan has.

Japan’s pacifist Constitution – drawn up by occupying U.S. forces after its defeat in World War II in 1945, prohibits the SDF from participation in overseas military activities.

Several attempts to change this in the recent past – whether it is because of a desire for Tokyo to rely less on the U.S. security umbrella or because of a sense of insecurity in North-east Asia – has been a contentious affair. The uneasiness is reflected in a Jun. 26 editorial of the ‘Asahi’ newspaper, which reminded readers: ”The biggest reason why Japan has decided not to maintain an offensive military is the strong desire to contribute to peace and stability in Asia”.

Likewise, it said, not enough questions have been asked about what exactly Japanese forces would be doing in Iraq.

Still, the Koizumi government has stood behind the bill that would see Japan’s forces halfway around the world in support of an occupying force in Iraq.

The government’s strategy is aimed at getting over the public barrier to seeing a more active military – by highlighting the image that Japan’s dispatch of the SDF is to promote peace and stability in the Middle East and the need for Japan to adjust to the changing global environment.

Koizumi returned from a May summit with U.S. President George W Bush, during which both leaders pledged to work together on Iraq. Koizumi then went to Egypt, where he promised bilateral aid and voiced Japan’s willingness to help Iraq during meetings with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

A contentious clause in the bill has to do with the use of weapons by the SDF. Yuichi Ozawa of Tokyo University, a constitutional expert, says emergency legislation that takes into account the use of force is ”unconstitutional”. He added, ”It is important for Japan to follow the worldwide trend of pushing diplomatic negotiation,” not military action.

Koizumi, aware that the bill could run into problems because of this, has conveniently left out official guidelines on the issue.

But Prof Makoto Hachiyoshi of the Tokyo Foreign Languages University says this cannot be glossed over in a situation like Iraq’s now. Deteriorating security in Iraq – which has seen protests and attacks against U.S. forces – could easily lead the SDF to be involved in the transportation of weapons and ammunition, and this could be viewed as the SDF operating militarily.

In a bid to woo the Democratic Party, the largest opposition party, Koizumi has suggested changes to the bill.

Among the proposed revisions are the deletion of wording that justifies the U.S.-led war against Iraq, the shortening of the bill’s life to two years from the original four, and asking the Diet’s consent before troops are actually sent.

Meantime, Koizumi is going ahead in other areas to show Japan’s support for Washington in Iraq.

A government delegation is now in Iraq to explore, among others, a strategy to deploy Air SDF C-130 transport planes in the Middle East, including Jordan, in order to ferry injured soldiers, food and medicine.

Koizumi has also begun talking about supplying Boeing planes in the meantime to help with relief supplies. He asked the Diet to consider making the new bill on sending SDF forces a permanent law that authorises the dispatch of SDF for overseas missions.

Prof Masayuki Yamauchi of Tokyo University, an adviser to the Koizumi administration on Middle East policy, explains that Koizumi sees the dispatch of Japanese personnel as "effectively demonstrating Japan’s commitment to the transition of a democratic regime in Iraq and overall stability in the Middle East”.

By this he means that Japan’s national interests lie in falling in line with the U.S. government, since it is in charge in Iraq, and move away from its traditional support to Arab nations. "The bill will certainly not involve the SDF in military activities," Yamauchi insisted.

But others point out that the government is going against the longstanding pacifist stance among the Japanese public, which has traditionally backed peaceful negotiations in the Middle East. "It is obvious that Tokyo wants to give in to U.S. pressure to support its policy in Iraq and Middle East," remarked Hachiyoshi.

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