Troops Come Home

last updated 8 January 2015

Tokyo

Japan this week ended its first deployment to a foreign war zone since World War II. The 600 noncombat troops spent two years assisting in reconstruction projects in southern Iraq. Most Japanese were opposed to the deployment, believing it violated their pacifist constitution. But Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi insisted that Japan take a greater role in helping to manage international crises. He defended that decision this week as he welcomed the troops home. “We carried out our humanitarian and reconstruction tasks without firing a single shot,” Koizumi said, “in fact, without pointing a gun at anyone.”