Author: 
Philippe Agret, Agence France Presse
Publication Date: 
Thu, 2003-12-04 03:00

TOKYO, 4 December 2003 — Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi appears ready to risk sending troops to Iraq in the face of widespread public opposition and declining popularity for reasons which go beyond Iraqi reconstruction for its own sake, according to diplomats here.

Behind all the noble pledges to assist in rebuilding a devastated nation and steadfastness in the face of international terrorism lies the national interest, as the government has readily acknowledged. “The reconstruction of Iraq is... directly linked to national interests of our country which depends on the Middle East region for nearly 90 percent of its oil resources (needs),” the government said in pledging $5 billion to help rebuild the country in October.

There are also signs of the emergence of a new realpolitik which could dispense with the pacificist taboos of the postwar era.

“Iraq is one more step on the road towards a more normal Japan in the international arena, it’s an important landmark,” said a diplomat who asked not to be identified.

Yet the debate is skewed since Japan’s military contribution to the US-led coalition is largely symbolic. There has never been any suggestion of it doing anything except sending a limited number of non-combatant troops, expected to total 1,000 at most.

Privately, Japanese diplomats admit their principal concern is the nuclear threat posed by North Korea, and that to “back off” from Iraq would proclaim Japan’s weakness to the Pyongyang regime.

Koizumi’s unstinting support for US President George W. Bush’s administration derives from Japan’s recourse to the security “umbrella” provided by the United States in a security crisis involving North Korea.

But beyond the close and somewhat burdensome — in terms of hosting tens of thousands of US troops — alliance with Washington, Japan has aspirations toward greater multilateral ties — all the more urgent given neighboring China’s increasing might. Increasingly the “Yoshida doctrine” that guided Japan during the Cold War, is seen as having has had its day. Named after Japan’s most influential postwar Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida, it assigned Japan to be master of its economic destiny while leaving defense issues to the Americans.

But a shift away from that doctrine presupposes amending Japan’s postwar pacifist constitution which, since 1946 has prevented Japan from taking an active part in collective security by renouncing war as a sovereign right or the threat or use of force to settle international disputes. While clearly flouted by the existence of the so-called Self Defense Forces, Article Nine of the constitution also states that land, sea and air forces “will never be maintained.”

Koizumi has said he wants to revise the constitution from 2005 “to enable (the military) to play an active role in peacekeeping on the international stage.”

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