Komei Party chief paves way for SDF dispatch to Iraq

The government is speeding up preparations for sending the Self-Defense Forces to Iraq after Komei Party Chief Representative Kanzaki Takenori visited Iraq and asserted that the region where the Japanese Self-Defense Forces will be deployed is safe.

On December 20, Kanzaki, guided by a Dutch commander, toured the southern Iraqi town of Samawah. The next day, he held a news conference in Kuwait and emphasized how safe Samawah is, quoting the commander as saying that helmets and bulletproof jackets are unnecessary for going to a barber shop.

However, a photo taken by a free-lance journalist and carried by Akahata of December 23 shows that a Dutch commander at the barber's on November 26 was with several armed security guards. In another instance, Hungarian troops were attacked and Dutch troops have been put on high alert.

Commenting on Kanzaki's "surprise" visit to Iraq and his remarks, Akahata of December 24 said as follows:

On December 9, the government decided the "Basic Plan" for implementing the Law on the Special Measures on Humanitarian and Reconstruction Assistance in Iraq. That day, the Komei Party exchanged a memorandum with the Liberal Democratic Party, stating that Prime Minister Koizumi should not set the exact date of the dispatch of SDF troops until it ascertains that the region of SDF deployment is not dangerous. The Komei Party touted this arrangement as assurance that the government's SDF dispatch plan will not put SDF personnel in harm's way.

Following Kanzaki's visit to Iraq, which the prime minister only learned of after Kanzaki left Japan, the government decided to send a Ground SDF advance team in mid-January to Samawah. His Iraq visit thus gave the government a good pretext for accelerating preparations for the SDF dispatch.

Kanzaki keeps saying that SDF dispatches should be done with great care (Komei Shimbun on December 23), apparently in an attempt to defuse public criticism of the dispatch. (end)