Japan's Dispatch of the Ground Self Defense Force to Iraq: Lessons Learned

The Iraq deployment was a new experience for Japan's Ground Self Defense Force (GSDF) in that all previous missions for humanitarian aid and reconstruction had been carried out under a UN peacekeeping operations framework. The mission therefore provided the GSDF with an array of new challenges and learning opportunities. One of the major innovations for the Iraq deployment was the use of legal and political advisors from the Japan Defense Agency (JDA; recently renamed the Ministry of Defense) on the ground in Iraq with the GSDF. These advisors not only helped to improve coordination between the GSDF and other coalition forces, but also aided interagency coordination between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the JDA and the GSDF officers in Iraq. Interagency coordination between MOFA and the JDA was not always smooth, but most Japanese officials agree that the two wheels of the cart approach that they developed through daily consultations, whereby the GSDF represented the humanitarian face of Japan's support and MOFA represented the financial aspect through its dispersion of Official Development Assistance (ODA), was successful in carrying out the overall mission. The GSDF had to overcome a number of issues in their interactions with Iraqi citizens, including high expectations regarding Japan's reconstruction efforts, poor communication, a lack of local intelligence and sometimes working around Japanese government-imposed restrictions to accomplish their mission.