The deployment of Japanese troops to Iraq yesterday appeared likely to be delayed after the defense minister said it would be "difficult" to go ahead this year because of the bombing of UN headquarters in Baghdad.
Shigeru Ishiba, the director general of the Defense Agency, said late Wednesday the truck bombing had shown Japan's planned humanitarian mission would carry real dangers.
He said this month's planned reconnaissance mission for the deployment -- the first time since World War II that Japanese troops would arrive in an active war zone -- would probably be delayed.
"It will take considerable time to restore security there under this situation," Ishiba told reporters, responding to Tuesday's attack which left 24 people dead including UN envoy to Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello.
"It may be possible this year, but it may be difficult [to do so] within the year," Ishiba said, responding to questions about the planned mission.
The deployment of an expected 1,000 Japanese troops had been widely expected to take place as early as November. The reconnaissance mission had been expected to start this month.
"If you look at the current situation, common sense says we cannot send them right away," Ishiba said.
"Even the United Nations, which only provided humanitarian aid and did not use force, has been targeted for attack.
"We now understand it no longer stands that if Japan's Self-Defense Forces (SDF) provide humanitarian aid then they will be safe," he said.
Japan's parliament enacted a law in July endorsing the deployment of SDF to Iraq to provide humanitarian aid and rearguard medical and supply assistance to security forces.
The mass-circulation Asahi newspaper said Japan's scenario for taking a leading role in humanitarian assistance to rebuild Iraq was being derailed as a result of the blast.
The paper said Wednesday that the bombing had sent shockwaves through the government and that there was a growing view within the government that any troop deployment would be put off until next year.
Kiyohiko Koike, who headed the defense agency's Education and Training Bureau in the early 1990s, said the deployment of Japanese troops in Iraq would now violate the pacifist constitution.
Koike said Japan "now stands at the crossroads" of whether to take a stronger military profile or stick to its pacifist path. He warned that Japan would lose its reputation as a nation that opposes war if it sent troops to Iraq.
"I worked in the defense agency for more than three decades ... and I know no SDF personnel want to go to Iraq where fighting is still continuing," he told reporters.
The government previously said Japanese troops would be out of harm's way as they would only work in non-combat areas.
Koike argued the government defined "combat activity" too narrowly as conflicts between countries or quasi-countries.
"Under this definition, guerrilla wars are not considered combat activity," he said.
The latest batch from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s e-mails illustrates the extraordinary scope of his contacts with powerful people, ranging from a top Trump adviser to Britain’s ex-prince Andrew. The US House of Representatives is expected to vote this week on trying to force release of evidence gathered on Epstein by law enforcement over the years — including the identities of the men suspected of participating in his alleged sex trafficking ring. However, a slew of e-mails released this week have already opened new windows to the extent of Epstein’s network. These include multiple references to US President Donald
CHARGES: The former president, who maintains his innocence, was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison for a failed coup bid, as well as an assassination plot Far-right former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro is running out of options to avoid prison, after judges on Friday rejected his appeal against a 27-year sentence for a botched coup bid. Bolsonaro lost the 2022 elections and was convicted in September for his efforts to prevent Brazlian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking power after the polls. Prosecutors said the scheme — which included plans to assassinate Lula and a top Brazilian Supreme Court judge — failed only due to a lack of support from military top brass. A panel of Supreme Court judges weighing Bolsonaro’s appeal all voted to uphold
Chinese tech giant Alibaba yesterday denied it helps Beijing target the US, saying that a recent news report was “completely false.” The Financial Times yesterday reported that Alibaba “provides tech support for Chinese military ‘operations’ against [US] targets,” a White House memo provided to the newspaper showed. Alibaba hands customer data, including “IP addresses, WiFi information and payment records,” to Chinese authorities and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, the report cited the memo as saying. The Financial Times said it could not independently verify the claims, adding that the White House believes the actions threaten US security. An Alibaba Group spokesperson said “the assertions
LEFT AND RIGHT: Battling anti-incumbent, anticommunist sentiment, Jeanette Jara had a precarious lead over far-right Jose Antonio Kast as they look to the Dec. 14 run Leftist candidate Jeannette Jara and far-right leader Jose Antonio Kast are to go head-to-head in Chile’s presidential runoff after topping Sunday’s first round of voting in an election dominated by fears of violent crime. With 99 percent of the results counted, Jara, a 51-year-old communist running on behalf of an eight-party coalition, won 26.85 percent, compared with 23.93 percent for Kast, the Servel electoral service said. The election was dominated by deep concern over a surge in murders, kidnappings and extortion widely blamed on foreign crime gangs. Kast, 59, has vowed to build walls, fences and trenches along Chile’s border with Bolivia to
RSS