The Hindu : Mixed reaction in Asia-Pacific

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 24, 2003

International

International

Mixed reaction in Asia-Pacific

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE July 23. Two of the staunch allies of the U.S. in the Asia Pacific region — Japan and Australia — heaved a sigh of relief, though only at the official level, over the death of Saddam Hussein's two sons in Tuesday's American military raid on a house in Mosul in Iraq. Even as Junichiro Koizumi's administration in Tokyo began to evaluate the possible implications of this development for the future security of a potential Japanese military contingent on `reconstruction' duties in Iraq, he was greeted by a public opinion survey that showed a definitive opposition among the people of Japan to any such deployment of its troops in that West Asian country at this juncture.

A bill, which would empower Japan to send its `Self Defence Force' (SDF) units to Iraq on a `humanitarian' mission and in a manner consistent with the country's pacifist Constitution, is now before the Diet or Parliament. The fate of the bill is expected to be known in the next few days, even as Mr. Koizumi and his political opponents are still jockeying for the commanding height in the Diet to clinch the issue one way or the other.

A nationwide opinion survey, conducted by `The Asahi Shimbun', has shown that 55 per cent of the respondents said they were against the despatch of the SDF units to Iraq, while 33 per cent did support the proposition. The results of the survey, conducted on Sunday and on Monday, were made public today. The latest survey covered 1,946 valid responses. Some independent observers in Japan maintained that the Government should, in deference to the views of the people, should at least postpone any move to send the SDF units to Iraq, with at least one commentator describing the proposed mission as that of "water supply troops''. A credible and workable truce in Iraq was considered by some as a pre-requisite for any deployment of Japanese forces in that West Asian country.

Elsewhere in the diverse Asia-Pacific region, a clear upbeat note was struck by Australia, whose troops had already played a combat role alongside the U.S. and British forces in Iraq. Welcoming the news about the killings of Saddam Hussein's sons, the Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, said: "It is, most of all, very good news for the people of Iraq. Impossible, though, it is for a lot of us to understand, many Iraqi people have lived in fear of the restoration of the old regime''. The "apparent deaths of Saddam's two sons is a huge step'' that could erase that fear, Mr. Howard noted.

In some contrast to such perceptions, the official and general moods in Muslim-majority states in South East Asia were one of caution and careful assessment of the events in Iraq.

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