The government is apparently trying to restrict media coverage of the Self-Defense Forces' activities in Iraq. Earlier this month, the director general of the Defense Agency, Mr. Shigeru Ishiba, requested that newspapers, news agencies and networks exercise "self-restraint." He said he was only "asking" for their understanding, but it was unusual for such a request to be officially made by the nation's defense chief.

The concern for security is real. It would be anachronistic, however, if the agency believed that muzzling the media would serve the objective of the SDF mission, or even the national interest. During World War II, the headquarters of the Imperial Japanese Army provided false reports of "brilliant victories" even while Japanese forces were losing. Of course, times have changed, but the lesson remains the same: Disinformation is counterproductive.

This is the first time that SDF troops have been dispatched to a country still embroiled in conflict. That is all the more reason why the Japanese public -- and the world at large -- needs to be kept reasonably informed about what the troops are doing in Iraq. Yet the Defense Agency kept silent on the arrival there of an advance team of troops who would lay the groundwork for a full deployment in southeastern Iraq.