 Iraq war encourages terrorist activities in Iraq: JCP Diet members Japanese Communist Party Dietmember Akamine Seiken on October 28 stated that the war on Iraq has turned the country into a breeding ground for terrorists at a House of Representatives Special Committee meeting on Iraq. Responding to Akamine, Foreign Minister Machimura Nobutaka said, "Do you think Saddam Hussein should have continued to govern Iraq?" Akamine pointed out that it is internationally recognized that there was no relation between the Hussein regime and terrorists. He introduced a report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a British military think-tank, stating that the invasion of Iraq enhanced jihadist recruitment and intensified Al-Qaeda's motivation to mount terrorist operations. At the November 2 House of Councilors Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting, JCP member Ogata Yasuo said that the slaying of a Japanese hostage in Iraq has proven that the Self-Defense Forces dispatched there are considered the allies of the U.S. forces. A member of the Association of Muslim Scholars has said that in order to eradicate the kidnapping and slaying of foreigners in Iraq, the occupation forces should be withdrawn and that the Japanese government should bring its troops home. Based on this statement, Ogata demanded an early withdrawal of the SDF units from Iraq. (end) |