Will Koizumi Visit the SDF if they go to Iraq?

[Big Booger]

http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/11/27/sprj.irq.main/index.html

Bush did. I'm just wondering if you think Koizumi will.. seeing as he visits that Yasacoochie shrine despite protests from China and Korea. He does it to pay respects to the fallen soldiers.. will he go to Iraq and support the active troops of the SDF if indeed they get shipped there? Your thoughts?

[cstaylor]

And do what? Pick up a shovel? The odds of Japanese troops being fired on is next to nil, as they've been given a cherry-picked location that's totally friendly with the occupation.

That said, if the baathists want to knock out another American ally in Iraq, a single car bomb would probably send the entire team back to Japan. As unfortunate as that would be for the soldiers involved, for those Japanese who cherish Article 9 it would be a fresh reminder of its benefits.

[Big Booger]

I think it will happen. Those terrorists will aim at Japanese soldiers just for the reaction that you mentioned. I doubt it would even take a car bomb.

Mosul was "friendly" but lately it has become a hornets nest of activity... killings, bombings, attacks and so on...

What area of Iraq have they chosen?

[cstaylor]

Mosul's "friendliness" was overrated. As soon as the shooting started, Kurds have stormed in, booting the non-Kurds out.

For example, from the BBC earlier this year: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2951789.stm

A US commander has admitted that American troops did shoot and kill a number of Iraqis during a protest in the northern city of Mosul.

As Jez would say, don't believe the media propaganda.

[AssKissinger]

I think Japanese forces in Iraq would be very likely to be hit by terrorism. I'm not exactly sure if terrorism is the right word to describe attacks against military personnel in a country at war. I guess it's just symantics. We kill them with 'strategic strikes' and they kill us with 'terrorist attacks'. Even 9/11 seemed more like an act of war than an act of terrorism to me.
I guess I'm a sucker for the ol' WWI days when killing the enemy was an acceptable part of warfare. Not that I want the good guys to get hurt. But in a situation like Isreal I feel like just crank it up and get it over with. Iraq doesn't seem like a war. Not like what you read in the history books. War is when one country does everything in it's power to annihilate another. I thought 9/11 was the start of a war. I expected the swift annihilation of Afghanistan because they were governed by the Taliban. But it takes more than that for Bush and Co. to unleash the full fury of America's might. That's why it surprised me at first when people started calling Bush a warmonger. He has seemed so tempered to me.

The more interesting question I think is: How do you think Japan would react to a terrorist attack? If it was against Japanese troops in Iraq I think they would just retreat. But if something happenned within Japan's borders...hmmmm. I could see that going either way. The whole NK kidnaping thing started to whip-up some nationalism. Would terrorism against Japan alienate the Japanese against America or rally them against radical Islam? Or both at the same time? What do you think?

[cstaylor]

The whole NK kidnaping thing started to whip-up some nationalism. Would terrorism against Japan alienate the Japanese against America or rally them against radical Islam? Or both at the same time? What do you think?

It would depend on the reaction of the United States. I think the current administration would rally the Japanese against radical Islam, especially if the terrorists were foreign (expect some tie-in to North Korea in the weekly newspapers).