The government finalized the order Friday to end the Air Self-Defense Force's airlift mission in the Middle East, terminating a nearly five-year Japanese military presence in Iraq.
This means Tokyo, which supported the United States decision to invade Iraq in 2003 and sent Ground Self-Defense Force troops to help with reconstruction under the protection of other nations' militaries, is likely to exit the area without a single casualty. The first ASDF airmen arrived in January 2004.
The ASDF has a unit of C-130H transports ferrying personnel and supplies between its duty base in Kuwait and Iraq for the United Nations and multinational forces there.
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