SDF troops to crank up firepower for Iraq duty (Report from Japan)

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

Defense officials say powerful anti-tank weapons are needed to thwart terrorist attacks.

Self-Defense Forces troops sent to Iraq will be armed with shoulder-mounted anti-tank weapons, a major escalation from the pistols, rifles and machine guns they usually carry, Defense Agency officials said Friday.

The purpose of the arsenal upgrade is to defend against attacks such as suicide bombing, they said.

The Cabinet is expected to approve the use of the weapons, which will be mentioned in the basic plan for the SDF dispatch to Iraq, by the middle of the month, they added.

Iraq has been battered by a string of terrorist attacks. In August, 20 people died when the United Nations office in Baghdad was attacked. Late last month, 34 died when an ambulance drove into a parking lot and exploded near the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Defense Agency officials decided anti-tank weapons would be necessary to prevent trucks and other big vehicles from penetrating SDF facilities in Iraq.

The shoulder-mounted weapons, which are 1.2 meters long and have a range of about 500 meters, will enable troops to fire on large vehicles from cramped locations such as trenches, officials said.

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More: http://www.asahi.com/english/politics/TKY200311080149.html

I'm thinking Transformers would be good.

[Kinkistyle]

1. I really wonder when the coffins start coming home

what the japanese people are going to do? ~70% or so of the general population doesn't support this move. What are they going to think when their boys start coming home in boxes?

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

2. I hope they can return home unscathed. I really hate seeing them

bend to Bush's will on this. There are ramifications in this action that we can't even fathom yet.