Historical Dictionary of United States-Japan ... - Bakumatsu Films

236 • SPECIAL LEGISLATION CALLING FOR ASSISTANCE IN THE REBUILDING OF IRAQ
SPECIAL LEGISLATION CALLING FOR ASSISTANCE IN
THE REBUILDING OF IRAQ. This legislation was enacted as a
temporary statute with a four-year life span on 26 July 2003 in order
to dispatch Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to Iraq to assist in
rebuilding the country. It was promulgated and became effective on
1 August 2003. The legislation consists of 21 articles and a supplement
to the law.
The dispatch of the SDF is based on UN Security Council resolution
concerning assistance for rebuilding Iraq. The SDF has two primary
responsibilities: humanitarian assistance for reconstruction activities,
such as providing medical services and supplies, and
providing logistic support for multinational armed forces stationed in
the region. The Japanese government planned to dispatch government
survey missions to Iraq immediately, and the Ground Self-Defense
Force in October 2003; however, because of the danger, Tokyo
had to postpone this.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi dispatched government survey
missions and the SDF’s special survey missions to Iraq in September
and November 2003, respectively. On 9 December 2003, the
Koizumi administration passed the Humanitarian Relief and Iraqi
Reconstruction Special Measures Law as a basic plan stipulating the
terms of dispatch and the contents and scale of activities. Based on
this legislation, the Defense Agency drew up an implementation outline
of the framework for SDF deployment that was approved by
Prime Minister Koizumi on 18 December 2003. Tokyo dispatched an
advance group of the Air Self-Defense Force in December 2003 and
the main unit of the Air Self-Defense Force in January 2004 to
Samawa. They were known as the Japanese Iraq Reconstruction and
Support Group. The term of dispatch was for one year from 15 December
2003 to 14 December 2004. The Koizumi administration extended
the term for one year on 9 December 2004. In December
2005, the Koizumi administration extended the special legislation
calling for assistance in the rebuilding of Iraq for another year. As
Britain seriously considered withdrawing its armed forces from Iraq,
Japan announced in January 2006 that it was considering similar action.
On 22 March 2006, Prime Minister Koizumi claimed that Japan
would decide when to withdraw the SDF from Iraq when it saw fit.
See also DEFENSE.