Japan to invade Iraq!

[Taro Toporific]

Japan troops get Iraq go-ahead
CNN - 3:15pm
TOKYO, Japan (CNN)-- Japan's powerful lower house has given the green-light to the nation's biggest foreign military deployment since World War II, passing ...

[GomiGirl]

They are expected to help with water supplies, provide medical assistance and assist U.S. forces with transportation and logistics.

And I am sure they need to bring in TEPCO as consultants for restoration of power supplies..

[Taro Toporific]

They are expected to help with water supplies, provide medical assistance and assist U.S. forces with transportation and logistics.

And I am sure they need to bring in TEPCO as consultants for restoration of power supplies..

Hey, maybe the "transportation and logistics" will be by Kuro Nekko.

[Snappahead]

I was on a peacekeeping mission in Cambodia in which some Japanese SDF participated in. They were nothing but a menace to the rest of us - their inability to carry weapons for self protection meant they had to be escorted wherever they went, taking up resources from other nation's contingents.

Sending them to Iraq under the current conditions will be a mistake - either let them carry weapons or don't bother sending them. There is an ongoing guerilla war in Iraq, and the Japanese will be in a worse situation than Cambodia if they can't protect themselves. I am sure there will be international recognition and back patting on government levels for them, but the real soldiers there will resent them.

[cstaylor]

Can you imagine how the South Korean and Chinese press will react if someone gets a photo of some of those troops firing weapons?

[Crispy]

So can they not even carry sidearms? I can't imagine someone dressed like that without any weapons, it'd be like seeing a carpenter without a hammer. It must suck to be them.

[Torigaa Fenikkusu]

haha...but whens Rob Pongi's forces going to be sent in?

[DJEB]

They are expected to help with water supplies, provide medical assistance and assist U.S. forces with transportation and logistics.

And I am sure they need to bring in TEPCO as consultants for restoration of power supplies..

Hmm. I'm surprised that Ishihara didn't protest this. After all, if the power blacks out, the sankokujins (and presumably nikokujins) will riot and the SDF will be needed to quell that.

[Juxtapoz]

Is it just me or is this totally unconstitutional?
I remember reading the Japanese constitution last year when I was a student in Saitama. It said something along the lines of "The Japanese henceforth totally renounce war, and strive to be a nation of peace." And it also went on to mention the renouncement of owning an army doesnt it?

I mean the SDF in itself is really stretching the line, but now that theyre moving them out to Iraq.. well... thats crossed it dont you think? Isnt that a violation?

[Crispy]

If they say not, I guess not...

[kamome]

Is it just me or is this totally unconstitutional?
I remember reading the Japanese constitution last year when I was a student in Saitama. It said something along the lines of "The Japanese henceforth totally renounce war, and strive to be a nation of peace." And it also went on to mention the renouncement of owning an army doesnt it?

I mean the SDF in itself is really stretching the line, but now that theyre moving them out to Iraq.. well... thats crossed it dont you think? Isnt that a violation?

Art. 9 of the Constitution has been reinterpreted by the government over the years to allow sending troops abroad on humanitarian and peacekeeping missions. That's why they cannot carry weapons--they're trying to comply technically with the law while still contributing as a member of global society. This latest move is another reinterpretation of Art. 9. The government walks this tightrope because it is balancing a need to participate in global affairs against domestic opposition to a Constitutional revision. Of course, China and Korea oppose a revision as well. I think that Art. 9 will eventually have so many holes in it that it will become a meaningless relic or be repealed.