(RTTNews) - Japan's opposition controlled upper house voted on Wednesday to halt the country's air force mission in Iraq, but the bill is expected to be overridden by the lower house where the ruling party holds a majority.The upper house approved the Democratic Party of Japan's bill by a 133-103 vote during a plenary session, intensifying the bloc's standoff with the government over Tokyo's role in peacekeeping missions abroad.
The vote comes amid a political wrangling over Japan's mission in the Indian Ocean in support of US-led troops fighting in Afghanistan. The mission was halted on November 1 after the opposition blocked its extension in parliament.
DPJ leader Ichiro Ozawa argues that Japan's international efforts should be channeled through the United Nations and not the United States and accused Prime Minister Fukuda and his conservative predecessors of blindly towing the US into Iraq. He also opposes Japan's Kuwait-based air mission, which airlifts goods and supplies into the war-torn country.
However, the government maintains that the UN sanctioned both missions, and that Japan has to take part in the war on terror as part of its responsibilities as a member of the international community.
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