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.