Japan defends invasion of Iraq

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Japan defends invasion of Iraq, says expectation of weapons of mass
destruction 'rational'

TOKYO - (AP) Japan's government defended the U.S. invasion of
Iraq and Tokyo's support for it on Thursday, even though the premise of the
attack _ claims of hidden Iraqi nuclear, biological and chemical weapons _
turned out to be false.
"Based on the existing fact that Iraq used weapons of mass
destruction and biochemical weapons in the past, Japan had a rational reason
to assume that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction," Japan's Chief Cabinet
Secretary Shinzo Abe said. Saddam is known to have used chemical weapons but
not biological weapons.
Abe's remarks come a day after U.S. President George W. Bush again
asserted that his decision to invade Iraq was the right one, while admitting
that "much of the intelligence" used to justify the attack turned out to be
wrong.
A staunch supporter of U.S. war against Iraq, Japan's government has
deployed some 600 Japanese troops in southern Iraq since early 2004 to
provide humanitarian support. Tokyo last week extended the troop deployment
for one year, defying rising domestic opposition to the mission largely over
safety concerns.
 
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