(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - People in Japan are almost evenly split between those who support their country’s participation in the war on terrorism in Afghanistan and those who oppose it, according to a poll by Kyodo News. 44.1 per cent of respondents back their country’s fuelling assistance mission, while 43.9 per cent are against it.

Afghanistan has been the main battleground in the war on terrorism. The conflict began in October 2001, after the Taliban regime refused to hand over Osama bin Laden, prime suspect in the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Al-Qaeda operatives hijacked and crashed four airplanes on Sept. 11, 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people.

Japan did not commit its Self-Defence Forces to combat duties in Afghanistan, but has participated in a naval mission by offering logistical support and fuelling assistance in the Indian Ocean.

An election to renew half of the House of Councillors seats took place in July 2007. Final results gave the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) 60 of the 121 seats at stake, with the governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) winning 37 mandates. The opposition—with 137 seats—now holds a majority in the House of Councillors for the first time since the LDP was founded in 1955.

The governing LDP has supported the mission in Afghanistan, first under former prime ministers Junichiro Koizumi and Shinzo Abe, and more recently during the government of Yasuo Fukuda. However, opposition parties reject Japan’s participation in the war on terrorism. The Afghanistan fuelling assistance mission expired on Nov. 1, 2007.

On Jan. 11, opposition parties in the House of Councillors voted against renewing Japan’s mandate in Afghanistan, but the LDP majority in the lower chamber—the House of Representatives—gathered enough support to override the upper house and ensure that Japan’s participation in the war on terrorism will continue.

Following the two legislative votes, Japan’s opposition parties renewed calls for holding an early lower house ballot. Fukuda rejected such calls, saying that elections "should come sooner or later, but we should not affect the economy or people’s lives by dissolving the Parliament."

Polling Data

Do you support or oppose Japan’s participation in the Afghanistan fuelling assistance mission?

Source: Kyodo News
Methodology: Interviews with 1,027 Japanese adults, conducted on Jan. 11 and Jan. 12, 2008. No margin of error was provided.

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