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The protesters raise their fists as a sign of protest at Rumsfeld 's visit
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TOKYO,
November 17 (Islamonline.net & News Agencies) - Almost three
quarters of Japanese are against sending troops to Iraq to help
rebuild the war-torn country, according to a poll released Monday,
November 17, while several hundred demonstrators staged rallies in the
Island of Okinawa protesting at a visit by U.S. Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld.
The
latest poll also found public support for Prime Minister Junichiro
Koizumi's cabinet has fallen to 51 percent, reported Agence
France-Presse (AFP).
The
ratio of opponents to a proposed dispatch of Japan's Self-Defense
Forces (SDFs) to Iraq in the nationwide poll jumped by 22 percentage
points to 71 percent compared with a survey in August, Nippon
Television said.
Among
those opposed, 43 percent cited the recent worsening in the Iraqi
security situation as a reason, while 53 percent said they were
against dispatch in principle, the private network said.
It
also found public support for the Koizumi's cabinet fell by nearly
seven points from October to 51 percent while disapproval rose 12
points to 41 percent.
The
approval rating for his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) fell three
points from October to 38 percent while that for the opposition
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) jumped 15 points to 27 percent, it
said.
The
poll covered 1,000 people across the nation, of whom 60 percent gave
valid answers.
Japan
last Thursday, November 13, media reports indicated that Japan backtracked
on an earlier pledge to send troops by the end of the year after a
deadly bombing in southern Iraq Wednesday killed
18 Italians and nine Iraqis in the worst attack yet on the U.S.-led
occupation forces.
But
Japanese Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba said Saturday, November
16, that Japan remained committed to aiding with the reconstruction of
Iraq but the timing of a deployment of Japanese troops would depend on
the situation there.
In
July, the parliament approved
the deployment of SDF troops to Iraq in what will be the first
dispatch since World War II of Japanese military personnel to a
country where fighting is continuing.
Japan's
post-war constitution bans the use of force to settle international
disputes.
Anti-U.S.
Rallies
Meanwhile,
several hundred demonstrators staged rallies on Sunday, November 16,
near U.S. bases in Okinawa in protest at Rumsfeld's visit to the
strategically important island, calling Japan to reduce U.S. bases and
opposing the deployment of SDF forces to Iraq.
Some
300 demonstrators rallied outside Camp Foster in the southern part of
the island, yelling in chorus: "We protest the author of the war.
We oppose dispatch of (Japan's) Self-Defence Forces."
Rumsfeld
further received a blunt request to downscale U.S. bases in Okinawa
during talks with the chief of the Japanese island.
Okinawa
governor Keiishi Inamine handed a petition calling for the reduction
of U.S. bases in Okinawa to Rumsfeld, who later flew to South Korea as
he concluded a three-day visit to Japan.
"We
understand that the U.S. bases in Japan play a crucial role within the
framework of the bilateral security alliance to maintain peace and
security in the Far East and Japan," Inamine said in a statement.
"However,
it is also the fact that Okinawa prefecture still faces the immense
and dense U.S. facilities after 58 years since the end of World War
II," Inamine said.
"People
of Okinawa, who have been shouldering the excessive burden of U.S.
bases over long years, have been firmly calling for resolution of
base-related issues," Inamine said.
The
U.S. presence in Okinawa has aroused bitter opposition on the island
since the 1995 rape of a 12-year-old schoolgirl by three U.S. Marines.
