Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Tuesday threw his weight behind the U.S.-led offensive in Iraq against insurgents in Fallujah.
The attack "must be successful because improvement in security holds the key to efforts to support (Iraq's) reconstruction," Koizumi told reporters at the Prime Minister's Official Residence. "We first have to achieve security because terrorist groups are trying to cause more chaos."
Japan has deployed around 600 Ground Self-Defense Force troops to the southern Iraqi city of Samawah on a humanitarian mission that includes repairing roads and schools and securing clean water supplies.