Iraq: Japan to Bring Military home

The Japanese government has made the decision for withdrawl from Iraq right before the Japanese Prime Minsister visits Washington. Japan joined the US lead coalition to invade Iraq with a small contingent of troops. They have been working in the south alongside British command. Not a single Japanese troop have been killed or wounded, but Japanese civilians have been taken captive.

Despite the relatively small force of less than a thousand military personnel, the mission was very significant to Japan who hasn't deployed since World War 2 in such capacity. Although, the move may have been favourably seen in the halls of Washington and London, many Japanese opposed the move. With the removal of Japanese troops this will leave American, British, South Korean, Italian, Polish, Romanian, Georgian, Danish, Australian, El Salvadorian, Azerbaijan, Mongolian, Albanian, Latvian, Czech, Lithuanian, Slovakian, Armenian, Bosnian, Estonian, Macedonian and, Kazakhstani forces in Iraq. The rescue of the Christian Peacemakers Team disclosed that there are also Canadian forces in Iraq, but how many and doing what is unknown.