The Democratic Party of Japan on Tuesday unveiled its platform for the Sept. 11 election, pledging to pull the Ground Self-Defense Force out of Iraq by December if it comes to power.
The GSDF's humanitarian mission in the southern city of Samawah runs until December, but the DPJ platform, which the largest opposition force calls its manifesto, said the deployment would not be extended, as has been the case.
The party has opposed the all-out support the government of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has given for the U.S.-led war in Iraq as well as the dispatch of Self-Defense Forces units there.