Free Republic

The leader of Japan's main opposition party says that victory in next month's election means Japanese troops, which are being protected by Australian forces, will be pulled out of Iraq. Some 600 Japanese troops are based in the southern Iraqi city of Samawa, which is under the control of Australian soldiers stationed in Al Muthanna province. Katsuya Okada, president of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), railed against Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's decision to extend the historic deployment of Japanese forces. "If we win the election, that means Japanese nationals wish to withdraw from Iraq, as we have promised it...