Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
often referred to as the
. Adding temporary legislation to
this article eventually allowed around 500 SDF personnel to go to Iraq
'
peace constitution
'
s
southern province of Basra in January 2004. This dispatch rekindled discus-
Japan
'
the role it was going to play in the international
community, namely the United Nations (UN) and as an ally of the USA
'
s role in the world
-
-
militarily or otherwise, had become increasingly prominent in a country were
such talks had been publicly taboo not so very long before.
Since it had always proclaimed itself to be a party for peace, the wider
perceptions were that Komeito was simply going along with the LDP in order
to stay in power. How did young supporters see this with their highly valued
ideals of peace? Largely, they did not end up withdrawing their support, but
why not when such a seeming diversion from political objectives had occurred
as Komeito lent its support to the Koizumi administration which supported
the Bush administration? Were they, when push came to shove, the obedient
'
envisioned by political commentators (Fisker-Nielsen 2010),
who did as they were told by their leaders?
foot soldiers
'
The mass media news reports in Japan leading up to the Iraq invasion of March
2003 presented the USA, Britain and their allied forces as being on a mission
to procure democracy by ridding the world of a dangerous dictator who was in
the possession of nuclear weapons. By the time I began speaking to supporters
of Komeito, some six months after the invasion of Iraq, they were all alarmed,
as many others were, at the way things were developing. Some felt a strong
tension about Komeito
s compliance with this war as part of the Japanese coalition
government at the time, but compared to later discussions about sending SDF
to Iraq this decision had come as less of a surprise. Yet, Komeito
'
s seeming
compliance with the Iraq invasion presented a tension for many supporters, a
tension about the extent to which politicians had strayed from their most
fundamental objective of peace. While the Komei news organ explained the
complexity of the situation, and that politicians had only supported Koizumi
in his support for the US government but were in fact themselves against the
war, the lack of transparency of political decision-making was a source of
distrust. Young supporters were asking themselves if they had not better
withdraw their support for a party that seemed to be heading in the wrong
direction. Were they not supposed to speak up as Toda had taught when
something was seemingly wrong? They argued with themselves and each other
about whether to trust their political representatives who said they were doing
their best in very trying circumstances, circumstances that displayed a superpower
deeply entangled with Japan
'
s foreign policy and set on ousting Saddam
Hussein, who was after all a bad person by most standards. The dilemma
they felt was particularly acute for some of the young Soka University students
who were participating in the UN Research Club (UNRC).
'
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