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Saddam capture a stroke of good luck for
Koizumi
By J Sean Curtin
The
surprise capture of fallen dictator Saddam Hussein has
given Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi
precisely the boost he needs to implement his plan for
dispatching his armed forces to the tyrant's homeland.
The sudden arrest of the elusive Saddam represents an
extraordinary stroke of good luck for Japan's premier
that should allow him to see off his political enemies
as well as clinch his place in the country's history.
The timing of Saddam's apprehension, just ahead
of Monday's special parliamentary committee session on
troop deployment, could not have come at a more
fortuitous juncture for Koizumi. It will greatly help
him overcome some tough opposition questions about his
motives for sending the nation's military to the
war-torn region and will effectively pave the way for
the mission.
Last week, a smooth passage for the
proposals seemed highly unlikely and there were genuine
fears that the policy might even get bogged down over
implementation arguments. However, Saddam's almost
surreal capture in a grimy subterranean pit has
completely altered the political dynamics behind the
dispatch scheme and certainly proves that sometimes a
day can be a long time in politics.
From Tikrit
to Tokyo, Saddam's confinement has unleashed a massive
wave of positive reaction that is surging around the
globe. This has created an unexpected window of
opportunity for Koizumi that will finally allow him to
push through his long-delayed troop-deployment plan.
Once the crucial special parliamentary committee session
is concluded, executing the dispatch orders should be a
relatively straight-forward process.
For
Koizumi, another important aspect of Saddam's arrest is
how this event will influence future interpretations of
his recent national address on dispatching the country's
armed forces. The televised speech will probably one day
be viewed as a significant milestone in Japanese history
and a reference point for foreign-policy development.
In a masterful performance, Koizumi did his best
to persuade a skeptical public about the righteousness
of the policy. Standing next to the national flag and
trying hard to capture just the right measure of
authority in his voice, the Japanese leader carefully
explained why he believed the country must dispatch
troops to Iraq. The prime minister repeatedly stressed
the importance of participating in the international
reconstruction effort and how this would strengthen the
US-Japan security alliance.
He told his
audience, "As a responsible member of the international
community, Japan must help the people of Iraq so they
can rebuild their country." With Saddam now in US
custody and Iraqis dancing in the streets, the entire
speech sounds much more visionary than it did when it
was initially delivered last week. In fact, today one
can almost imagine future history students some day
carefully analyzing the text.
In his nationwide
talk Koizumi also warned that the road ahead would not
be an easy one. He emphasized that Japan's participation
in the rebuilding of Iraq was part of the war on terror.
It was for this reason that Japan must contribute men,
not just money. The premier stressed that the time had
come for Japan to demonstrate its solidarity with its
allies and prove its worth. "The will of Japan and the
spirit of its people are being tested. We are not in a
situation where we can just offer financial support, but
refuse to send men because it is too dangerous."
For almost 60 years, constitutional constraints
have meant that Japan has only been able to make
financial contributions to risky international peace and
reconstruction efforts. Article 9 of Japan's
constitution renounces war and it is for this reason
that the country's formidable military machine is
referred to as the Self-Defense Force (SDF). Even though
the SDF is ranked as the world's fourth-largest military
in terms of defense spending, it is largely invisible on
the global stage. This fact has long frustrated many
right-wing politicians and angered ultra-nationalists.
The SDF's absence during the war to liberate
Kuwait obliged Japan to cough up a staggering US$13
billion in financial assistance for the campaign.
Despite this enormous monetary contribution, Japan was
left off the list of countries Kuwait officially thanked
after hostilities ended.
Koizumi is determined
to exorcise what he regards as a weak international
impression of the nation and instead replace it with a
more forceful vision of the country. Sending troops to
Iraq and reinterpreting the constitution is the strategy
he has chosen to achieve this objective.
In the
future, it is likely that his national address and the
subsequent troop dispatch will be considered as the
moment when Japan finally re-emerged as a military force
on the world stage. This is a development which will
drastically alter the evolutionary path of both Japanese
foreign and defense policy.
Generations to come
will remember Koizumi as the first Japanese leader since
World War II to send the nation's troops into an active
war zone. However, what history will probably neglect to
record is the extra momentum Saddam's capture gave the
prime minister's efforts to refashion his country's
global image radically.
J Sean Curtin is a GLOCOM fellow at the Tokyo-based
Japanese
Japanese Institute
of Global Communications.
(Copyright
2003 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved.
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