Japanese public opinion was divided over Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's decision to send troops to Iraq, polls showed yesterday, just hours ahead of the expected arrival of the first Japanese soldiers in the Iraqi town of Samawa.
Koizumi defended the politically risky dispatch in a speech prepared for the opening of a new session of parliament.
"We would not be meeting our responsibilities as a member of the international community if we were to leave the contribution of personnel to other countries because of the possible danger," he said.
Foreign Minister Yoriko Ka-waguchi told parliament that Iraq's reconstruction was directly linked to the national interests of Japan, which relies on the Middle East for around 90 percent of its oil imports.
"If Iraq becomes a `failed state' and a base for terrorist activities as Afghanistan once was, it would become a large threat to not only the Middle East but the international community as a whole, including our country," Kawaguchi said.
An advance team was expected to cross the border from Kuwait into Iraq later yesterday on its way to the southern town, where it will begin preparations for the arrival of around 600 troops to take part in reconstruction and humanitarian activities.
About 48 percent of respondents to a weekend poll by Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun said they opposed the dispatch, down from 55 percent in the previous poll carried out in December. About 40 percent said they supported it, up from 34 percent.
South Korea’s air force yesterday apologized for a 2021 midair collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said the pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident. “We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesman told a news conference, adding that one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action and has since left the military. The apology followed a report released on Wednesday by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection,
Indonesian police have arrested 13 people after shocking images of alleged abuse against small children at a daycare center went viral, sparking outrage across the nation, officials said on Monday. Police on Friday last week raided Little Aresha, a daycare center in Yogyakarta on Java island, following a report from a former employee. CCTV footage circulating on social media showed children, most younger than two, lying on the floor wearing only diapers, their hands and feet bound with rags. The police have confirmed that the footage is authentic. Police said they also found 20 children crammed into a room just 3m by 3m. “So
About 240 Indians claiming descent from a Biblical tribe landed at Tel Aviv airport on Thursday as part of a government operation to relocate them to Israel. The newcomers passed under a balloon arch in blue and white, the colors of the Israeli flag, as dozens of well-wishers welcomed them with a traditional Jewish song. They were the first “bnei Menashe” (“sons of Manasseh”) to arrive in Israel since the government in November last year announced funding for the immigration of about 6,000 members of the community from the states of Manipur and Mizoram in northeast India. The community claims to descend from
‘TROUBLING’: The firing of Phelan, who was an adviser to a nonprofit that supported the defense of Taiwan, was another example of ‘dysfunction’ under Trump, a US senator said US Secretary of the Navy John Phelan has been fired, a US official and a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, in another wartime shakeup at the Pentagon coming just weeks after US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ousted the Army’s top general. The Pentagon announced his departure in a brief statement, saying he was leaving the administration “effective immediately,” but it did not provide a reason or say whether it was his decision to go. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Phelan was dismissed in part because he was moving too slowly to implement reforms to
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