Many residents here appreciate the dispatch of GSDF troops to the area as they are well informed about the constitutional debate over it in Japan, local political party members said Monday.
"The background of the Self-Defense Forces is widely known," said Hussein Allawi, a representative of the Samawah chapter of the Iraqi Communist Party.
"It is true they are troops like an army, but as the dispatch purpose has been clearly stated, no residents are feeling a sense of apprehension."
On Monday, Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba ordered the dispatch of the main Ground Self-Defense Force contingent to Iraq after receiving the go-ahead from Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
A GSDF advance unit is already in Samawah, preparing to help purify water and provide other humanitarian relief.
Allawi, 60, said many residents learned about the limitations on troop dispatches under Japan's war-renouncing Constitution from watching satellite news.
He was guarded when asked about local expectations that the deployment will provide enough jobs to alleviate unemployment in a dramatic fashion.