GSDF Iraq logs include words indicating combat

April 14, 2018

Tokyo- Recently discovered daily activity logs of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force's past mission in Iraq include words that indicate combat, a Defense Ministry executive said Friday.

The GSDF sent troops to Samawah, southern Iraq, under a special law between 2004 and 2006 mainly for medical, water supply and public facility restoration assistance.

Japan limited the activities of the GSDF troops to areas outside the combat zone. But some experts said the GSDF dispatch violated the constitution's war-renouncing Article 9 because the whole of Iraq at that time was considered to be in the combat zone.

So far, more than 14,000 pages of GSDF logs for a total of 435 days have been found, even though the government earlier said no such documents existed.

The ministry is preparing to disclose the logs as early as next week after redacting some portions, including details of troop operations and private information of GSDF staff, the executive said.

But words indicating combat are unlikely to be redacted, the official also said.

The ministry denied the existence of such logs on Feb. 16 last year, in response to an inquiry from the opposition side. Then Defense Minister Tomomi Inada made a similar explanation to parliament four days later. Jiji Press