The Japanese Iraq Reconstruction and Support Group
Retrieved on December 5, 2008. or also known as the refers to a battalion-sized, largely humanitarian contingent of the Japan Self-Defense Forces that was sent to Samawah, Southern

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

in early January 2004 and withdrawn by late July 2006. However, the last

JASDF The , , also informally referred to as the Japanese Air Force, is the air and space branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, responsible for the defense of Japanese airspace, other air and space operations, cyberwarfare and electronic warfare. ...

forces left Kuwait on December 18, 2008. Approximately 5,500 Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force members were present in Samawah between 2004 and 2006. Their duties had included tasks such as water purification, reconstruction and reestablishment of public facilities for the Iraqi people. While legally required to remain within noncombat zones, GSDF records revealed that Japanese troops were present in areas of active hostilities.

Background

The Koizumi administration originally ordered the controversial formation and deployment of the JIRSG at the request of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. This marks a significant turning point in Japan's history, as it represents the first foreign deployment of Japanese troops since the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, excluding those deployments conducted under

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

auspices. Public opinion regarding the deployment was sharply divided, especially given that

Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan is a clause in the national Constitution of Japan outlawing war as a means to settle international disputes involving the state. The Constitution came into effect on 3 May 1947, following World War II. In its text, the state formally renounces th ...

prohibits the use of military forces unless for self-defence purposes (operating in Iraq seemed, at best, tenuously connected to that mission). In order to legalize the deployment of Japanese forces in Samawah, the Koizumi administration legislated the Humanitarian Relief and Iraqi Reconstruction Special Measures Law on December 9, 2003, in the

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

, even though the opposition firmly opposed it. Two Japanese diplomats were shot and killed near

Tikrit Tikrit ( ar, تِكْرِيت ''Tikrīt'' , Syriac: ܬܲܓܪܝܼܬܼ ''Tagrīṯ'') is a city in Iraq, located northwest of Baghdad and southeast of Mosul on the Tigris River. It is the administrative center of the Saladin Governorate. , it h ...

, Iraq on November 29, 2003, while preparations for the deployment were in their final stages. In early April 2004, three Japanese- a journalist and two aid workers- were kidnapped, but they were released several days later on April 15. The following day, another two Japanese- an aid worker and a journalist- were kidnapped and released within 24 hours. The kidnappers of the original three had threatened to burn the hostages alive if Japanese troops were not removed from Iraq within three days. A spokeswoman for the Islamic Clerics Committee, which negotiated their release, said that growing public calls in Japan for the SDF troops to be withdrawn from Iraq led to the release of three Japanese. In a statement released on July 20, 2004, Al Zarqawi warned Japan, Poland and Bulgaria to withdraw their troops, demanding that the Japanese government: '...do what the Philippines has done...', and threatening that: 'Lines of cars laden with explosives are awaiting you...' if the demands were not met. The body of a Japanese backpacker,

Shosei Koda was a Japanese citizen who was kidnapped and later beheaded in Iraq on 29 October 2004, by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's group, while touring the country. He was the first Japanese person beheaded in Iraq. Early life and education Koda's parents, Sets ...

, was found in Baghdad on October 30, 2004, several days after he had been kidnapped. His captors had promised to execute him unless Japanese troops were withdrawn. According to Channel NewsAsia, the killing renewed domestic pressure on Prime Minister Koizumi to bring the contingent home. One Japanese private security guard, Akihiko Saito, was killed in an ambush on his convoy on May 25, 2005.

Significance

Analysts differ as to the political ramifications of the deployment. One view is that it represents the emergence of Japan as a close military ally of the United States, strategically positioned as a counterweight to China's growing regional power. This position asserts that the Iraq deployment offers a constitutional model for future overseas deployment in circumvention of Article 9. Another interpretation is that the deployment is entirely symbolic as it comes at little financial or human cost to the Koizumi administration, has a negligible effect on the strategic situation in Iraq, and is simply aimed at maintaining positive relations with the U.S. so as to perpetuate a favorable economic relationship. At the height of the deployment, on September 19, 2005, a senior Defense Agency official succinctly gave his opinion on the future prospects for overseas Japanese military deployments, drawing on his opinion of the Iraq mission: "It isn’t worth it". Analysts said that the restrictive rules of engagement and reliance on the constant protection of others effectively renders meaningful Japanese participation in international operations impossible for the foreseeable future. One opposition member had said that the JIRSG deployment "wouldn't be a problem if it really were for humanitarian reasons. But it is first and foremost a show of support to the U.S. The U.S. invaded Iraq without a U.N. resolution, and Japan is now aiding in that act."

Deployment

Since the beginning of the war in Iraq, the city of Samawah has continuously been a relatively stable city, in what is probably the most peaceful and sparsely populated

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of non-

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

Iraq. The first elements of the contingent arrived in Kuwait on January 9 and January 17, 2004, after an advance team from the Japanese Air Self-Defense Forces (JASDF) assessed the security situation in Samawah in late December 2003 and to

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

for the arrival of other JSDF forces to

. The first JGSDF troops arrived at the Dutch military base in Samawah on January 19. Prime Minister Koizumi decided on December 8, 2005 to renew the contingent's mandate for another year, despite a poll by the Asahi newspaper which found that 69% of respondents were against renewing the mandate, up from 55% in January. A total of nine JIRSG scheduled rotations took place between 2004 and 2006. Protection for the unit was provided primarily by Australian troops, as the Japanese soldiers were prohibited from engaging Iraqi guerrillas unless they came under fire. However, a small number of Japanese Special Forces Group,

Western Army Infantry Regiment The Western Army Infantry Regiment ( ja, 西部方面普通科連隊, Seibu Hōmen Futsū-ka Rentai) is a Japanese light infantry regiment that specializes in amphibious operations. Its main purpose is to defend remote islands in Japanese territor ...

, and 1st Airborne Brigade personnel were deployed to provide protection. Mortars and rockets were lobbed at the Japanese camp several times, causing no damage or injuries.

Withdrawal

Although Defense Agency officials initially denied a report that the JSDF would be withdrawing from Iraq, they eventually confirmed that the contingent would leave Iraq by March 2006. Officials, however, subsequently insisted that any withdrawal would hinge on the ability of the Iraqis to form a new government by the end of 2006. A united

Iraqi government The federal government of Iraq is defined under the current Constitution, approved in 2005, as an Islamic, democratic, federal parliamentary republic. The federal government is composed of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, as w ...

was established in May 2006, and Koizumi subsequently announced that forces could be withdrawn as early as the end of July given the completion of the mission. Koizumi announced on June 20, 2006, that the Japanese contingent would be withdrawn within 'several dozen days', however he suggested expanding airborne logistical support from southern parts of the country to Baghdad in place of the ground force. On June 25, the first batch of the 600-member contingent began to withdraw from Samawah to Kuwait.Japan Begins Withdrawal from Iraq
Retrieved on April 1, 2007 The last 220 troops left Iraq by July 18. And the JIRSG base in Samawah was planned to be the new headquarters of the 2nd Brigade, 10th Division of the Iraqi Army. Although all Japanese soldiers have left Iraq,

forces continue to play a minor support role. As of November 2006, JASDF transport aircraft were assisting coalition forces by airlifting materials and personnel between Iraq and Kuwait. The airlift mission was extended until July 31, 2007, at which point it was extended again for another two years. As of November 26, 2008, 671.1 tons of supplies have been transported since March 2004. On April 17, 2008, the Nagoya High Court ruled that the dispatch of troops was partly unconstitutional. Due to rising anti-Iraq war sentiment from the opposition, the Japanese government announced that its JASDF forces in Kuwait would withdraw soon, though it was announced that the withdrawal was due to the improving security situation and the nearing expiration of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1790, which allowed multinational forces to stay in Iraq until December 2008. The last JASDF forces left Kuwait on December 18, 2008.

Unit Deployments

References

External links

Japanese Ministry of Defense's Iraq Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Japanese Iraq Reconstruction And Support Group Multinational force involved in the Iraq War Overseas deployments of the Japan Self-Defense Forces Foreign relations of Iraq Foreign relations of Japan Iraq–Japan relations History of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force