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POLITICS-JAPAN: Iraq War Gets Military More Teeth

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Jan 17 2007 (IPS) - Ignoring public unease, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has endorsed United States President George W. Bush’s controversial new plan to increase the number of troops in war-torn Iraq.

”I strongly expect that the U.S. efforts to stabilise and rebuild Iraq will proceed in an effective manner and bring about positive results,” Abe told the Japanese press while commenting on his decision in Berlin last week.

Abe also pledged to continue Japan’s proactive support for Iraqi reconstruction along with the U.S., in line with its domestic Iraq policy that has, for the first time since the end of World War ll in 1945, seen Japan send its soldiers abroad during conflicts – the Self Defence Forces were stationed in Samawah for two and half years for non-combat work till they returned in July 2006.

Additional support has also been pledged by Abe who has extended the activities of the Air-SDF in Iraq until the end of July this year, marking their third renewal since the military dispatch began in response to a request from Washington.

Analysts here point out that the Iraq war represents a watershed in Japan’s postwar diplomacy which, after its World War II defeat, has followed a strictly pacifist interpretation of the nation’s peace Constitution that prohibits the SDF from joining military expeditions abroad.

Japanese troops were also sent to Indonesia to assist with relief work after the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

”There is no doubt that the Iraq war has affected Japanese diplomacy dramatically. Japan is questioning the restrictions of its old peace mantle in a new era and believes it is ready to play a new assertive role in the global arena and why not?,” explained Masashi Nishihara, analyst at the Research for Peace and Security, an independent think tank focusing on Asia.

Nishihara contends that the next big step in Japan’s plans to be accepted as a global power will come when the country revises its postwar Constitution to support a military. This calls for careful consideration, given public resistance.

Earlier this month, Japan announced the creation of a full-fledged ministry of defence.

Abe’s predecessor Junichiro Koizumi took the first bold step for the Japanese military during his leadership from April 2001 to September last year when he offered unstinting support for the ‘war on terror’ launched by Bush.

Koizumi propelled new landmarks to cement the friendship such as boosting the strength of the 1965 U.S.-Japan Security Pact, establishing new bilateral missile defence capabilities and accepting new U.S. military bases in Okinawa despite public protests.

”Japan’s support for wars led by the U.S. has come a long way from the time of the (first) Gulf War when the country was bitterly criticised by Washington for extending only monetary assistance,” explained Nishihara , referring to the 13.5 billion dollar package provided by Tokyo at that time and its decision not to send Japanese personnel to the Middle East in accordance with the peace Constitution.

Indeed, a poignant symbol of the changing times has been the praise lavished by Bush on Japan – that was defeated by the U.S. and later became its close ally – as a shining example of how U.S. military intervention can bring democracy to the world.

”The analogy by Bush in reference to Japan and Iraq is awkward and embarrassing for most Japanese because it carries so many nuances of the difficult past as well as the deepening American dependence on Japanese support,” explained Prof. Takeshi Inoguchi, international relations expert at Chuo University.

Inoguchi elaborated by saying Washington could use the past to put pressure on Japan to get more involved in Iraqi reconstruction, a strategy that is not viable for Japan at this time as the Middle East gets more chaotic.

Besides the fallout of the Iraq war for Japan, says Inoguchi, is the speeding up of the nuclear arms race in Asia under the guise of nuclear power development in countries such as Iran, India and Pakistan.

‘’There is a perception now in the world that the ability to possess nuclear weapons is a necessary security measure, which is very scary,” Inoguchi said, referring to remarks by some politicians who say that Japan should be one of those countries.

Well-known conservative Hideaki Kase, a politically influential intellectual, supports the idea of Japan rearming itself again, quickly.

Kase argues: ‘’The rise of the military threat from North Korea and China has led Japan to beef-up military cooperation with the United States. There is no alternative.”

Kase advocates the idea that Japanese leaders should pay their respects at Yasukuni Shrine that glorifies the Japanese war in Asia, and also accuses the Tokyo Tribunals under the American Occupation that sentenced war prime minister Tojo to death and tried Abe’s grandfather Nobusuke Kishi as a war criminal, was a kangaroo court.

On the other hand, Japan’s peace activists point to the divide in the country over the Iraq war.

”International bitterness over the American failure in Iraq is shared by the Japanese public and they do not want their country embroiled in this fighting. Rather, there is support for Japan to work in reconstruction and leading peace through negotiation.. After all, as a nation that has experienced the horrors of war, we are acutely aware of the futility of fighting,” said Takashi Ikagawa of the leading group ‘Peace Forum’.