Last of 3 ASDF cargo planes involved in Iraq mission heads home+

KUWAIT CITY, Dec. 17 Kyodo - The last of three C-130H cargo planes of a Japanese Air Self-Defense Force unit that is withdrawing from its nearly five-year airlift operations in Iraq departed from Kuwait for Japan on Wednesday.

At a ceremony held at Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, the unit's base in the
mission, before the departure of the plane, a U.S. Air Force officer read a
statement expressing gratitude for the Japanese mission.
A letter of gratitude from U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to Japanese Prime
Minister Taro Aso was also read out at the ceremony.
Col. Yasuji Kitamura, who leads the transport unit, told reporters, ''We have
reinforced the foundation of the Japan-U.S. alliance.''
In Iraq, Japanese troops were required to perform strictly non-combative
operations under Japan's pacifist Constitution, but the situation in the
country tested the limits of the charter.
The colonel noted that the U.S. military never asked his troops to ''do what we
couldn't do'' -- an apparent reference to Japan's pledge not to transport arms
or ammunitions for U.S.-led multinational forces deployed in Iraq.
Doubts linger over whether the ASDF unit adhered to it, partly because the
Japanese Defense Ministry has not disclosed what the unit transported or what
nations the personnel it transported belong to.
Of the roughly 46,500 personnel they ferried, about 30,000 are believed to have
been U.S. troops and others from multinational forces.
Japan began withdrawing the ASDF transport unit on Monday after terminating the
mission last Friday, which began in March 2004 as part of Japan's humanitarian
and reconstruction contributions in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
The airlift operations initially supported Japanese ground troops deployed at
Samawah in Iraq, providing a crucial transport link between the Kuwaiti base
and Ali airfield near the southern Iraqi city.
After the Ground Self-Defense Force's withdrawal from Iraq in July 2006, the
airlift mission shifted to the transportation of personnel and supplies for the
United Nations and coalition forces, connecting the base in Kuwait with three
Iraqi cities including Baghdad.
During the operations, the unit's three C-130Hs made a total of 821 flights,
without incurring any loss of life.
The Japanese ground and air troops were dispatched under the authority of a
special law enacted in July 2003 on the initiative of then Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi.
Japan's complete withdrawal from Iraq coincides with the impending expiration
of a U.N. mandate authorizing the deployment of multinational forces in Iraq
and the inauguration next month of Barack Obama as the new U.S. president.
Obama advocates an early withdrawal from Iraq.
The first of the three ASDF unit cargo planes, which left Kuwait earlier this
week, is slated to return to Japan on Friday, while about 150 personnel of the
transport unit are expected to arrive in the country next Tuesday.
The rest of the roughly 200 personnel in the transport unit will remain at the
base in Kuwait for a while along with about 70 ASDF personnel to continue
withdrawal-related operations. The withdrawal will be completed by the end of
March.