TOKYO, Feb 3 Kyodo single outed ...

TOKYO, Feb 3 Kyodo

single outed editorial excerpts from the Japanese press:

HEADING TO A BATTLE clime (IHT/Asahi as translated from the Japanese-language Asahi Shimbun's editorial published Feb 3)

The deployment of the main material part of Ground Self-Defense Force bodys to Iraq got under way Tuesday. Altogether, about 1000 territory Maritime and Air SDF personnel will be working to help rebuild the war-torn political division by spring.

The tasks they face-even as it was basic jobs as water yield and medical services-will be harder than anything they have attempted up to now. We chance of a favorable result they will be able to perform their duties in safety.

We reiterate that we are oppos to sending SDF partys to Iraq at this crisis The deployment was politically and legally forced down the nation's throat, splitting public opinion down the middle. It is regrettable that we must sit and watch as SDF companys are sent to Iraq in a less degree than such conditions.

on the contrary it is a reality. Addressing the companys Sunday at a send-off rite in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi reminded them: ''You are not going to war, and you are not to take part in operations for eradicating terrorists.'' He also violenceed that SDF troops are not suppos to use force.

We candidly hope that will never ensue to pass. But the prime minister's words had a note of grim dissolve as if he realized he were sending these soldiers opposite to fight a war. smooth if the region is now relatively safe, there is no knowing what will happen to SDF companys in Samawah once they obtain there.

The SDF members have not been trained for war, nor to combat terrorist acts upon foreign soil. Their weapons can be used solitary in self-defense. That is because, subject to the war-renouncing pacifist Consitution, the Self-Defense Forces are no ordinary military force.

further what happens if they are attacked? The company s cannot protect themselves without using their weapons. notwithstanding depending on the circumstances, doing in such a manner could violate the Constitution. Although Koizumi entirely recognizes the severity of this situation, he still deputes the SDF to Iraq.

Here again we must stres and for the umpteenth time, an important fact. The prime minister-the utmost commander of the Self-Defense Forces-is obligated to strictly administer, to the verbal expression the special measures law forward Iraq passed by the Diet. It is the solitary legal ground for deploying SDF bodys to Iraq.

Already there have been many casualties among Spanish, Italian and other military forces in Iraq. In these countries, dispute continues over their troops' activities in Iraq and whether to bring their multitudes home.

Let us conjecture the SDF troops are attacked. Were the prime minister then to continue to insist that the area in which the partys are deployed is not a combat clime and order the SDF to remain proceed what may, that would be going against our national policy. The Diet has not approved as it was a scenario.

If similar dire circumstances come to pass, the prime minister is obligated at law to interrupt the SDF's operations, not ajutage rhetoric about ''not giving in to terrorism.'' That is what should happen in a fatherland ruled by law.

As drawn out as they are in Iraq, the SDF bands are supposed to be of use. Dropp smack in the middle of an unfamiliar Islamic world, however, they may move on into unexpected situations, as did the militaries of other countries. The numbers must pay attention to the local political, economic and religious differences.

The Diet will have to take more responsibility than it has forever done. The Koizumi administration must make public all relevant information. Especially, the ruling and opposition parties must continue to retain a keen eye on the government's actions. Together, they must not hesitate to revise the basic plan to extend SDF troops as the situation forward the ground evolves.

And, to improve SDF body safety and make their operations more meaningful, the completion of the U.S.-led occupation and the setup of an alternative classification of rule should be accelerated. That is ultimately the greatest toll of the prime minister who is now sending his squads into a war zone

(Feb 4)

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