Japan announces plan to pull air defense troops out of Iraq › Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion

Japan announces plan to pull air defense troops out of Iraq › Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion: "Japan will begin studying pulling its Air Self-Defense Force out of Iraq by the end of the year, Defense Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said Thursday. The ASDF has been engaged in a mission since 2006 to airlift materials and troops between Kuwait and locations in Iraq, including Baghdad, to help U.S.-led coalition forces.

The planned withdrawal will mark the complete pullout by the Self-Defense Forces from Iraq, where the Ground Self-Defense Force was initially deployed in 2004 to help reconstruct the war-torn country"