Japan's Iraq deployment gets little airtime at home

Worried about possible negative publicity about the mission from family of SDF personnel, the Defense Agency has also declared them off-limits to the press on grounds of possible violations of privacy.

"We need to consider the feelings of the families," said Takeya Takahashi, a Defense Agency spokesman. "We won't allow family members to speak with the media, be they foreign or local," he said.

The agency has cited security concerns as the major reason for the strict measures. A threat of terrorist attacks against Japan by the Al Qaeda network came as Tokyo late last year deliberated the timing of the troop dispatch. But the strict controls contrast sharply with the US decision to embed reporters with troops in the field.

Indications suggest the crackdown won't ease anytime soon. The agency also announced a plan to halt regular press conferences of the top commanders of the air, sea, and land forces. When reporters assigned to the Defense Agency objected to the plan, a top official on Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba's staff offered to discuss the issue, but added he only aimed to resolve it by the end of the month.

Japan already has a spotty record concerning press freedoms. The system of exclusive press clubs in Japan has been criticized by foreign governments as hampering the free flow of information by allowing local and national officials to suppress news unfavorable to them. In addition, Japanese press clubs don't admit foreign journalists.

The media rights advocacy group Reporters Without Borders ranked Japan 44th in its world press freedom survey last year.

Mr. Koizumi last year pushed hard for the troop dispatch as part of his campaign to raise Japan's military profile internationally, despite a limited mandate for the move and questions over whether it involves Japan in an illegal occupation that breaches the country's war-renouncing constitution.

The advance team will set up camp in the relatively peaceful southern town of Samawah, in anticipation of the arrival of the main force of up to 600 soldiers. The full contingent, expected to arrive by March, will carry out reconstruction tasks.

Before Koizumi announced his decision in December to send the SDF to Iraq, polls showed public opposition to a dispatch as high as 88 percent. But a survey last week by a major satellite TV broadcaster showed for the first time that the number of people who support sending troops had surpassed those who oppose the dispatch - 49 percent agreed with the move while 46 percent disagreed. Other polls over the weekend showed opponents still outnumbering supporters by a slight margin.

Exactly what kind of information beyond government-endorsed releases will emerge remains an open question. As the Iraq issue is clearly of such importance to Japan and the world, "I think most Japanese would want their own news sources," Ms. Kreifels says.

Page: 1 | 2