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| Iraq |
| Japan Opposition Seeks Iraq Mission Halt |
| 2007-11-28 |
| TOKYO (AP) - Japan's upper house of parliament voted Wednesday to halt the air force's transport mission in Iraq, intensifying the opposition bloc's standoff with the government over Tokyo's role in peacekeeping missions abroad. The opposition-controlled upper house approved a bill in a vote of 133-103, but the legislation is expected to be voted down when it goes to the more powerful lower house. The vote comes amid a political battle over Japan's mission in the Indian Ocean in support of U.S.-led troops fighting in Afghanistan. The mission was halted Nov. 1 when the opposition blocked it in parliament. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #3 Might also mention that Allied forces are getting extremely valuable counter-terrorism training for its military by being in Iraq - training that can't be gotten anywhere else. That training can't be bought, can't be found in a "peacetime" environment, and will come in extremely handy if things go south in Korea. Japan has this fixation on Korea, and that may just be the thing to tip things our way. Expanded trade will also help. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2007-11-28 14:28 |
| #2 A little diplomacy is in order. Appeal to the Japanese sense of greed. That is, suggest that now is the time to either build or refurbish the Japanese embassy in Iraq, with maybe an annex in the area the occupied in the South; with a much enlarged and expanded trade mission. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-11-28 10:23 |
| #1 A little diplomacy is in order. Appeal to the Japanese sense of greed. That is, suggest that now is the time to either build or refurbish the Japanese embassy in Iraq, with maybe an annex in the area the occupied in the South; with a much enlarged and expanded trade mission. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-11-28 10:12 |