Japanese diplomacy will face a real test over the question: How will the country participate in Iraq's postwar reconstruction?

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi gave strong moral support to the U.S.-British military campaign in Iraq in consideration of the Japan-U.S. security alliance. If the war drags on, guerrilla warfare could turn Iraq into another Vietnam, further destabilizing the Middle East. That would pose a serious threat to Japan's energy supplies.

The war, touched off by a preemptive U.S. strike to disarm Iraq, is disrupting the post-Cold War international order following U.S. military action in Afghanistan taken in response to the 9/11 terror attacks.

The cornerstones of Japanese diplomacy are the Japan-U.S. security alliance, multilateral cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, and a U.N.-centered foreign policy. The Japanese government should press the Bush administration to deal with Iraq's postwar problems and participate in its reconstruction within the framework of the United Nations.

Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi says the following principles should be observed in Iraq's reconstruction:

* Iraq's sovereignty should be respected and its territory should not be divided;

* No dictatorships should be allowed after Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is ousted from power;

* Iraq's reconstruction should be promoted through international cooperation under U.N. leadership;

* Japan should give emergency humanitarian aid as well as assistance for restoration and reconstruction on a "seamless basis."

The European Union summit held in late March agreed that the settlement of postwar problems and humanitarian aid in Iraq should be done under U.N. leadership. French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder called for U.N.-led reconstruction aid in an effort to forestall plans by the United States and Britain to take leading roles in postwar Iraq. The U.S.-European rivalries over U.N. Security Council resolutions on the use of force against Iraq were reflected in disagreement over postwar issues.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told a House hearing that the U.S. and Britain should play central roles in reconstruction, displaying aversion to French and German involvement in the reconstruction process. According to U.S. media reports, the U.S. Agency for International Development has worked out the largest postwar reconstruction program since the Marshall Plan. The project calls for spending billions of dollars on Iraq's infrastructure, including highways, airports, seaports, power stations and waterworks.

Reports have said that mostly U.S. companies will be named as contractors in the project. Such deals are likely to spark international protests.

Furthermore, rivalries between the U.S. and Britain, on one hand, and France and Russia, on the other, over rights to oil fields in Iraq -- with the second-largest reserves in the world -- have cast a shadow over the framework for reconstruction.

The decision by the U.S. and Britain to attack Iraq without a new U.N. resolution led U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to say that military action raised doubts about whether there had been compliance with international law.

In postwar Iraq, the U.N. should be directly involved in the reconstruction process, including possible temporary rule. British Prime Minister Tony Blair recently mentioned possible U.N. involvement in reconstruction.

Washington should understand that without a U.N. framework, Iraq's reconstruction would not be supported by the international community and could be unstable.

Japan pays 20 percent of total U.N. contributions, the second-highest share after the U.S. Yet it is not even a nonpermanent member of the Security Council. The Council failed to heed Japan's position that the use of force against Iraq must be based on U.N. resolutions.

Japan, along with Germany, has long sought international help in its campaign to join the Security Council's permanent members. Since Germany strongly opposed the U.S. war plans, its chances -- as well as Japan's -- of becoming permanent members are likely to have diminished. With Japanese public interest in the U.N. expected to lessen, it is essential for Japan to promote U.N.-led reconstruction of Iraq.

Japan should dispatch Self-Defense Force personnel to Iraq to help in its reconstruction. Under existing law, it is possible for Maritime Self-Defense Force ships to engage in mine-sweeping operations in the Persian Gulf, as they did after the end of the Persian Gulf war.

However, a new law is considered necessary for SDF troops to provide logistic support to international peacekeeping operations in Iraq, including the construction of roads and bridges, transport of supplies, telecommunications and disposal of chemical weapons. Therefore, governing coalition officials such as Liberal Democratic Party secretary general Taku Yamasaki believe that U.N. resolutions are necessary ahead of Iraq's reconstruction.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi says he will consider whatever is doable under existing law. He also indicated the possibility of sending SDF troops to Iraq, saying he will consult with the coalition and the Diet if a new law is required after the U.N. passes pertinent resolutions.

Establishing permanent law on international cooperation for peace is a political challenge for Japan. Japan should push diplomatic efforts to try to get international opinion behind a U.N.-led reconstruction of Iraq, focusing the campaign on the U.S. and Britain.

Yamasaki has said that Japan's share of its U.N. dues can serve as a share of its contributions toward Iraq's reconstruction. But the public will not support this idea unless a U.N.-centered framework is agreed upon first.

Koizumi and Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong have agreed that Iraq's postwar reconstruction should be promoted under U.N. leadership. If most Asian nations, including China, South Korea and ASEAN, also agree on that, they can exert diplomatic pressure on the U.S. toward that end.

If Japan is unwilling to convince the U.S. to accept U.N.-led reconstruction in Iraq in deference to the bilateral security alliance, it should abandon U.N.-centered diplomacy as a cornerstone of its foreign policy.