Japan Approves Deployment of Troops to Aid U.S. in Iraq

[Pale Blue Dot]

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/09/international/asia/09CND-JAPA.html?ex=1071637200&en=5ff6a655eb285a2a&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE

Japan decided todayto deploy ground troops to join the American-led war in Iraq, in what will be its most ambitious military operation since its surrender to the United States at the end of World War II.

After months of agonizing, punctuated by the weekend state funeral of two diplomats gunned down in northern Iraq, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's cabinet approved a plan to send up to 600 ground forces to southeastern Iraq, in a mission to last from six months to one year.

The troops, though considered non-combat, will be the most heavily armed since Japan began tentatively dispatching its Self Defense Forces overseas a decade ago. They will engage in humanitarian efforts, including establishing water and medical services, and rebuilding schools and infrastructure.

[Tempest]

1. Non-combat troops

They'll all be holed up inside the Green Zone while U.S. troops are being the ones attacked and killed.