The government decided recently to keep Self-Defense Force troops stationed in Iraq as participants in the multinational force following the handover of sovereignty. I support this decision. One reason the decision has been criticized is that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made a procedural faux pas in promising U.S. President George W. Bush a continued SDF presence without consulting the Diet first. Another reason is that, if SDF troops remain under the "unified command" of the multinational force, they could find it difficult to refuse orders that go beyond Japanese constitutional restraints.

In my view, these are hairsplitting arguments. The primary aim of the SDF dispatch to Iraq is to maintain and strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance. To be sure, there are other important aims, such as promoting international cooperation and supporting the humanitarian effort in Iraq. The decision to send military personnel abroad cannot be taken lightly by any nation. In Japan's case, the dispatch is based primarily on the national strategy of bolstering the Japan-U.S. alliance.

The long-term essentiality of the alliance to Japan's security and prosperity cannot be overemphasized. Since former Socialist Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama made it clear while in office that the alliance should be "firmly maintained," more than 90 percent of the Japanese people believe the same way.