
Japan approved a plan on Tuesday to dispatch some 500-700 ground troops to Iraq to provide humanitarian aid for between six months to a year. Photo by AFP
Japan approved a plan to dispatch some 500-700 ground troops to Iraq to provide humanitarian aid for between six months to a year. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's cabinet approved a plan to deploy non-combat troops to Iraq, paving the way for its largest overseas military mission since the end of World War II. The move comes after an extraordinary cabinet meeting on Tuesday and follows intense debate on the matter, stirred up by the killing of two Japanese diplomats in Iraq late last month.