How come

..the Iraqi’s get it but so many US senators don’t?

Iraq wants Japanese troops to stay

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari has urged Japan to keep its troops in southern Iraq, saying an early pullout of coalition forces will lead to more violence by insurgents.Zebari said his war-torn country had made progress on improving security, but added that it faced a crucial period ahead of the 15 December parliamentary election.

“The difficult part has gone in my view. We’re very close to reaching a more stable form of government and of security,” Zebari told a news conference on Friday following a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.”Now, any premature withdrawal will send the wrong message to the terrorists, to the opposition … that this coalition is fracturing and running, that their policies and strategies of undermining this process are winning.”

So the troops which do 90% of the work should leave, but the tiny group which, although important, contributes a small portion overall should remain? We can hope not only do the Japanese stay, but that they increase their troop presence. Considering they don’t participate in security operations, there isn’t much ground to protest their mission at home, although I’m aware it happens. With Japan redrafting their constitution, a little more practice in the field wouldn’t hurt considering they’ll be much busier in the future!