Loser without a Fight

Ten years after the first strike of the United States on Iraq, the Japanese still do not understand what the war was. The explanation of the government that the war was against weapons of mass destruction became baseless after the investigation revealed no such weapons in Iraq. Most Japanese believes the assistance of their government to the United States was inferiority of then Prime Minister Jun-ichiro Koizumi in relationship with US President George W. Bush. Without any precise review, PM Shinzo Abe wants to make Japan a war-fighting country.

According to an interview of Asahi Shimbun to former PM Yasuo Fukuda, the Chief Cabinet Secretary at the time of the beginning of Iraq War, there was a “gaiatsu,” pressure from outside, just before the decision of supporting the attack on Iraq by US and UK. It actually was a phone call from the British PM Tony Blair of a request to support, and Koizumi announced Japan’s support right after that. “In spite our efforts to collect information, we had nothing. That was crucial,” told Fukuda in the interview.

The attitude of the government toward verification of the handlings of the Iraq War has been far from seriousness. Although a committee of the House of Representatives passed a resolution in 2007 that required the government of verification, the only result was a brief report made in DPJ administration last year, which has a few conclusion on the decision of Japan’s support. It made a clear contrast with the efforts of UK or Netherland, in which independent organization reported the result of interviewing responsible officials.

The significance of Japan’s participation in the Iraq War, even though it was logistical and reconstructive support, was that it broke the principle of not sending troops to the land where war was fighting. As a result of support and participation, Japan stepped out from the neutral position between the Western nations and the Middle East. Arab nations said to have changed their recognition to Japan. As was shown in the assault on natural gas plant in Algeria, there is a tendency of terrorism in the Middle East to target the Japanese. It is doubted that Japan had lost the war without actual fighting.

The explanation of then PM was ridiculously rough. “If the relationship between Japan and US is alright, everything is going to be alright,” said Koizumi. There has never been a time when everything in the world was controlled by Japan-US alliance. What has Japan gotten from supporting Bush’s war? What did Japan lose by joining the war? The government of Japan led by PM Shinzo Abe, who was vice-Chief Cabinet Secretary at the beginning of the Iraq War, is responsible for answering those questions.