MrDave
April 19th, 2004, 12:02pm
Iraq dilemma stirs Japanese resentment of U.S. ties
By Linda Sieg
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has survived a crisis over civilian hostages in Iraq with his popularity ratings unscathed, but the five-decade-old U.S.-Japan security alliance may not be so lucky.
Beneath the relief at the release of the five hostages, resentment is simmering over what many Japanese see as an unequal alliance in which Washington calls all the shots, including Japan's dispatch of troops to Iraq.
"The mood at the moment is that Japan has to hang on to the alliance with America, but this is tinged with resentment among those who most advocate it," said Columbia University political science professor Gerald Curtis.
"The feeling on the right is that Japan has to say 'yes' to what America wants because it's not strong enough to say 'no'."
With its military constrained by a pacifist constitution drawn up during the U.S. Occupation after World War Two, Japan relies on the U.S. alliance for a security umbrella.
During the hostage crisis, Koizumi held firm in his refusal to pull Japan's nearly 550 ground troops from Iraq, despite threats from militants to kill three civilian hostages unless the soldiers were recalled from their reconstruction mission.
The three Japanese hostages arrived home on Sunday and another two, captured last week, were also heading home.
A solid majority of voters -- 65 percent according to a survey published on Monday -- backed Koizumi's firm stance, a welcome result for the ruling coalition ahead of parliamentary by-elections next Sunday.
Support for Koizumi's cabinet stood at 51 percent, up one point from March, according to a poll by the Mainichi newspaper.
The Japanese public, however, remains deeply divided over the mission, Japan's riskiest military operation since World War Two and one which both supporters and critics say is stretching the pacifist constitution to breaking point.
Forty-seven percent of respondents to the Mainichi poll said they approved of the dispatch, down three points from a March poll, while 46 percent said they did not.
UNHAPPY ALLIES?
Koizumi has stressed the need to back the United States in Iraq to ensure Washington comes to Japan's aid in the event of an attack by its unpredictable neighbour, communist North Korea.
"Japan is no longer confident that America will pull its chestnuts out of the fire, no matter what," Curtis said.
The vast majority of Japanese voters opposed the U.S.-led war on Iraq and a poll taken on Friday by the liberal Asahi newspaper showed that more than 70 percent still thought the U.S. policy in Iraq was misguided.
Of those who did not back Koizumi's tough stance during the hostage crisis, by far the biggest group -- 43 percent -- said they thought the prime minister was paying too much heed to cooperation with the United States, the Mainichi poll showed.
Irritation with Washington is likely to fan the fervour of politicians who advocate revising the constitution's pacifist Article Nine and bolstering the military -- moves that have already gained momentum in both Koizumi's Liberal Democratic Party and the main opposition Democratic Party.
"The neo-nationalists seem more solid day by day," said University of Tokyo political science professor Takashi Inoguchi.
"If anti-American sentiment grows, it could be that Japan will seek autonomy away from the United States."
TOUGHER TEST AHEAD?
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda on Monday steered clear of any criticism of Spain, whose new prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, has ordered the nation's 1,400 troops to be brought home as soon as possible.
"Each country must decide autonomously how it will support the reconstruction of Iraq," Fukuda told a news conference.
At least 10 Spanish military personnel have been killed in Iraq since August. Zapatero took power in an election held after train bombings in Madrid -- suspected to be linked to al Qaeda -- that killed 191 people on March 11.
It is difficult to predict how public opinion would react should Japanese troops, engaged in reconstruction work in Samawa, southern Iraq, suffer casualties or if the population at home comes under attack.
Some foresee an outburst of nationalistic sentiment.
But in line with the constitution, a law enabling the military deployment limits the troops activities to "non-combat zones". Critics say that concept is already meaningless in the increasingly violent country and casualties would clearly support that position.
Dutch troops exchanged fire with Iraqis on Saturday near Samawa, wounding one Iraqi but no Dutch soldiers.
By Linda Sieg
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has survived a crisis over civilian hostages in Iraq with his popularity ratings unscathed, but the five-decade-old U.S.-Japan security alliance may not be so lucky.
Beneath the relief at the release of the five hostages, resentment is simmering over what many Japanese see as an unequal alliance in which Washington calls all the shots, including Japan's dispatch of troops to Iraq.
"The mood at the moment is that Japan has to hang on to the alliance with America, but this is tinged with resentment among those who most advocate it," said Columbia University political science professor Gerald Curtis.
"The feeling on the right is that Japan has to say 'yes' to what America wants because it's not strong enough to say 'no'."
With its military constrained by a pacifist constitution drawn up during the U.S. Occupation after World War Two, Japan relies on the U.S. alliance for a security umbrella.
During the hostage crisis, Koizumi held firm in his refusal to pull Japan's nearly 550 ground troops from Iraq, despite threats from militants to kill three civilian hostages unless the soldiers were recalled from their reconstruction mission.
The three Japanese hostages arrived home on Sunday and another two, captured last week, were also heading home.
A solid majority of voters -- 65 percent according to a survey published on Monday -- backed Koizumi's firm stance, a welcome result for the ruling coalition ahead of parliamentary by-elections next Sunday.
Support for Koizumi's cabinet stood at 51 percent, up one point from March, according to a poll by the Mainichi newspaper.
The Japanese public, however, remains deeply divided over the mission, Japan's riskiest military operation since World War Two and one which both supporters and critics say is stretching the pacifist constitution to breaking point.
Forty-seven percent of respondents to the Mainichi poll said they approved of the dispatch, down three points from a March poll, while 46 percent said they did not.
UNHAPPY ALLIES?
Koizumi has stressed the need to back the United States in Iraq to ensure Washington comes to Japan's aid in the event of an attack by its unpredictable neighbour, communist North Korea.
"Japan is no longer confident that America will pull its chestnuts out of the fire, no matter what," Curtis said.
The vast majority of Japanese voters opposed the U.S.-led war on Iraq and a poll taken on Friday by the liberal Asahi newspaper showed that more than 70 percent still thought the U.S. policy in Iraq was misguided.
Of those who did not back Koizumi's tough stance during the hostage crisis, by far the biggest group -- 43 percent -- said they thought the prime minister was paying too much heed to cooperation with the United States, the Mainichi poll showed.
Irritation with Washington is likely to fan the fervour of politicians who advocate revising the constitution's pacifist Article Nine and bolstering the military -- moves that have already gained momentum in both Koizumi's Liberal Democratic Party and the main opposition Democratic Party.
"The neo-nationalists seem more solid day by day," said University of Tokyo political science professor Takashi Inoguchi.
"If anti-American sentiment grows, it could be that Japan will seek autonomy away from the United States."
TOUGHER TEST AHEAD?
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda on Monday steered clear of any criticism of Spain, whose new prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, has ordered the nation's 1,400 troops to be brought home as soon as possible.
"Each country must decide autonomously how it will support the reconstruction of Iraq," Fukuda told a news conference.
At least 10 Spanish military personnel have been killed in Iraq since August. Zapatero took power in an election held after train bombings in Madrid -- suspected to be linked to al Qaeda -- that killed 191 people on March 11.
It is difficult to predict how public opinion would react should Japanese troops, engaged in reconstruction work in Samawa, southern Iraq, suffer casualties or if the population at home comes under attack.
Some foresee an outburst of nationalistic sentiment.
But in line with the constitution, a law enabling the military deployment limits the troops activities to "non-combat zones". Critics say that concept is already meaningless in the increasingly violent country and casualties would clearly support that position.
Dutch troops exchanged fire with Iraqis on Saturday near Samawa, wounding one Iraqi but no Dutch soldiers.