Japan to send troops to Iraq
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Around 100 protesters demonstrated outside Koizumi's residence on Tuesday.
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SPECIAL REPORT
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TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Japan has approved a plan to deploy non-combat troops to Iraq, paving the way for its largest overseas military mission since the end of World War II.
The move comes after an extraordinary cabinet meeting on Tuesday and follows intense debate on the matter, stirred up by the killing of two Japanese diplomats in Iraq late last month.
"We are not going to war," Koizumi said, after the decision. "The situation in Iraq is severe. We know it is not necessarily safe. But our Self-Defense Forces must still fulfill this mission."
The troop plan is a controversial one for Japan with many critics saying such a dispatch violates the nation's pacifist constitution. Opinion polls showed most Japanese were against the Iraq war and most are now opposed to the deployment of troops.
Article nine of the constitution forbids Japan's military -- the Self-Defense Forces -- from waging war overseas. Opponents of the troop dispatch are concerned that owing to the security situation in Iraq, Japanese forces may be drawn into combat.
No Japanese soldier has fired a shot in combat or been killed in an overseas mission since World War II despite roles in international peacekeeping missions, such as in East Timor, which were made possible by a 1992 law.
But Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi -- who had previously committed to U.S. President George W. Bush to send Japanese troops -- said it would be wrong for his nation to stand by and do nothing.
"America has made many sacrifices to create a viable democracy in Iraq," he said. "Japan must be a trustworthy ally for the United States."
The plan allows for the troops to be sent during a one-year period starting December 15 but no specific date for the dispatch or the size of the deployment was provided.
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Reports said the ground troops will provide humanitarian assistance and help the coalition carry out operations.
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Media reports said initially 500 to 700 ground troops would be sent, preceded by air and naval forces as well as equipment and supplies.
The troops will provide humanitarian assistance and help coalition forces carry out operations safely, Japan's Nihon Keizai newspaper reported Tuesday. They are expected to provide water, offer medical services and rebuild schools, the daily added.
Seven or eight air force planes, three navy transport vessels and three destroyers are expected to be sent to Iraq, the reports said.
Additionally, the troops would be equipped with the heaviest armaments yet taken on a Japanese overseas mission, including anti-tank rocket launchers and recoilless guns to protect against suicide bombers in Iraq, according to the reports.
Though the constitution allows for Japan only to have forces for self-defense, parliament passed and enacted a law in July that allowed troops to be sent to help rebuild Iraq. The law, however, specifies that military personnel be sent only to "non-combat" zones.
Plans to send more than 1,000 troops were delayed last month after a bomb attack on an Italian military police headquarters in Iraq that killed 19 Italians and 14 locals.
The killing of the two diplomats, slain by gunmen near Tikrit last month, and the rise in attacks on non-U.S. personnel in Iraq have added to fears Japanese troops may be targeted there.
There are also worries closer to home, with many Japanese worried they may become terrorist attack targets after al Qaeda warned it would "strike at the heart of Tokyo" should Japan send troops to Iraq.
A recent opinion poll shows only 9 percent of Japanese support the government's plan to dispatch troops to the region.
