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Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso has praised his country's five-year non-combat mission in Iraq, as the last planes flew out of the region. He said he was "happy and proud that the personnel completed their jobs safely and without incident". The deployment was Japan's first to a combat zone since World War II. It sparked considerable public opposition in the officially pacifist country. South Korea is due to end its four-year mission in Iraq on Friday. The last of the 18,000 South Korean troops that have served in Iraq and Kuwait since 2004 were withdrawing from their current base in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil. Flying home Mr Aso not only hailed the country's air force personnel but also their families for their support, calling them "two wheels of a cart", Kyodo news agency reports.
The last three C-130 freighter planes flew out of Kuwait for Japan late on Wednesday. The majority of the 210 air force staff will have returned home from Kuwait by next week. Japan has been contributing to the Iraqi mission since February 2004, when former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi sent in ground troops to help with reconstruction projects. He withdrew the soldiers before leaving office in 2006. Members of Japan's air self-defence force have remained in Kuwait, flying goods and personnel into Iraq. The presence of Japanese forces in Iraq has been controversial. Some members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party argue that Japan should be more involved in global security efforts to help the country's standing on the world stage. But critics fear it threatens the country's pacifist constitution, which was written after the country's defeat in 1945. | |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7789580.stm
ASDF's five-year Iraq mission comes to an end
Friday, December 19th, 2008 at 4:26 am
A ceremony was held in Kuwait yesterday to mark the end of the ASDF's five-year Iraq mission:
Among some 160 attendees on Wednesday at the ceremony at the base, which was used as the main transport terminal for the ASDF, was Parliamentary Secretary of Defense Ryota Takeda, about 120 members of the 16th contingent and representatives from the United Nations, the United States and Kuwait.
"Japan has won high recognition and trust in the international community for its contributions to help reconstruct Iraq," Takeda said as he thanked the ASDF members for their efforts.
He also encouraged about 130 members who are slated to remain on the base until March next year for the final cleanup operations. "It's an important role to complete the mission. I want you all to do your best."
http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=7907
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSI4xVxmoZw&eurl=http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=7907
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