Posted on 12/04/2003 3:45:39 AM PST by kattracks
The Associated PressTOKYO Dec. 4 — The bodies of two Japanese diplomats slain in Iraq were flown to Tokyo on Thursday, while major newspapers reported that the prime minister has approved a plan to start sending 1,000 troops for non-combat duty in Iraq. The diplomats' deaths, the first Japanese fatalities in Iraq since the U.S.-led war started in March, heightened fears that sending troops would make Japan a target of terrorist attacks. But Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has said the killings must not deter Japan from contributing to Iraq reconstruction efforts.
The Mainichi daily said Koizumi approved the decision to send troops when he was briefed Wednesday about a military fact-finding mission's trip to Iraq. The Cabinet was expected to back the dispatch plan next week and Japan's defense chief, Shigeru Ishiba, would have final say on when the 1,000 air, sea and ground forces would be sent, according to the report.
Another national daily, the Yomiuri, said a force of 1,100 would be dispatched to provide medical and other humanitarian aid.
Tokyo hopes to have an advance team of air force personnel in Iraq sometime this month and to transport aircraft and troops there by January. Ground forces would follow, arriving in the southern city of Samawah in February, according to the reports.
Japan's pacifist constitution strictly limits the role of the military. Parliament passed a special law in July authorizing a dispatch of non-combat troops, but the constitutional limitations are so tight that the new law only allows the troops to go to areas deemed safe. A provision was even required to let them carry weapons.
Despite Koizumi's resolve to send Japanese troops, he has faced increasingly vehement opposition, particularly since the two Japanese diplomats were slain last weekend.
Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi and other senior officials met the diplomats' families on the tarmac at Narita international airport as the plane carrying the bodies arrived. A police honor guard later draped Japanese flags over the two plain wooden coffins and slowly marched them past the tearful families to awaiting hearses.
The diplomats' state funeral, which Koizumi plans to attend, is scheduled for Saturday.
The two men Katsuhiko Oku, 45, and Masamori Inoue, 30 were killed in Tikrit, north of Baghdad, on Saturday while on their way to a conference on reconstruction.
A poll published by Mainichi on Monday showed that more than 80 percent of Japanese had reservations about sending troops.
U.S. Ambassador Howard H. Baker Jr. said he was encouraged that there may be a decision on the specifics of the troop dispatch soon.
"The likelihood that Japan will dispatch self-defense forces in great numbers to Iraq at this time, I think, is very remote," he said at a luncheon for foreign correspondents. "But the fact that it may send any ... has enormous symbolic effect as well as practical effect."
"I don't think it matters so much whether it's 300 people or a thousand or 30,000," he added.
I would certainly hope so. I would expect serious consideration of risks and rewards by government officials before any troop deployment.
December 2, 2003 The Honorable Mr. Ryozo Kato Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Embassy of Japan 2520 Massachusetts Ave. N.W.
Dear Mr. Ambassador: It was very shocking and saddening to learn of the untimely deaths of two Japan Foreign Ministry personnel stationed to Iraq in order to assist in reconstruction. It must be a great loss for the Foreign Ministry not to mention for the bereaved families and for all of Japan to have Third Secretary Masamori Inoue and Counselor Katsuhiko Oku brutally stolen away by an act of unforgivable and unfathomable violence. It is still inconceivable--if not an outrage--that such young Japanese professionals as Inoue-san and Oku-san--in the prime of their lives and careers and likewise dedicated to a goodwill mission to bring peace and reconstruction assistance--would have been attacked in this way. Words cannot even be easily found. From what I have learned by media reports, both of these men were dedicated to their families, mission, and country. I note that they were specialists on the Middle East and had even learned to speak Arabic—a bridge between their own culture and the people whom they merely endeavored to help in Iraq. They will be surely missed. The Government and People of Japan can no doubt be proud of the courage and accomplishment of the two slain diplomats. Their passing causes me to offer even greater encouragement to your Government to continue the course of not only rebuilding Iraq with other allies, but in also standing firm against terrorism wherever it may occur, until our civilized nations stamp out the last vestige of this kind of barbarism and cruelty. There is no doubt the enemies of Japan and of all modern civilized democracies are now watching Japanese policy very closely. With keen interest in the steadfastness of Japan must be the current leader of North Korea. Mr. Kim has already established himself as an international renegade who would think nothing of harming Japanese citizens or Japanese domestic tranquility through acts of domestic terrorism, were he to detect weakness. Japan’s response to the loss of the diplomats therefore must, by necessity, be one of firm and determined resolve. To fail to do so will send the worst possible message about Japan and it’s international integrity to such outlaw individuals as the murderers of your colleagues or rogue nations which also harbor such agenda and people. I do trust you will accept, as a private American citizen, and on behalf of many of my fellow Americans, our utmost regret over this recent tragedy. And in closing, in encouragement, I cite for you one of my favorite Japanese ‘kotowaza’ proverbial sayings that seems appropriate at this time for Japan, despite this loss and setback: "Ame futte ji katamaru." "Water hardens the ground." "Adversity breeds strength." Accept, sir, the assurance of my highest consideration, Sincerely, [AmericanInTokyo] signed w/name & hand-delivered by courier by tomorrow
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