Koizumi's popularity plummets after extending troop presence in Iraq
Channel NewsAsia / Dec 12: Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's support rating has plunged to 37 percent as a growing number of people oppose his decision to extend Japan's troop deployment in Iraq...Support for the cabinet fell eight points from a month ago to below 40 percent for the first time since he took office in April 2004...62 percent opposed to the [Iraq troop] extension, up from 51 percent a month earlier, while 31 percent were supportive, up from 27 percent.A full 84 percent said the premier's explanation for the extension was "inadequate".
