Japanese troops head for Iraq

Hundreds of Japanese troops got a ceremonial send-off today before leaving for Iraq on a humanitarian mission that will be the largest and most dangerous deployment by Japan’s military since World War II.

In a ceremony at a base on the northern tip of Japan, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and senior defence officials addressed about 500 soldiers who will make up the core of a Japanese force on a noncombat operation to help rebuild Iraq.