ABSTRACT
When the US-led coalition forces went to war against Iraq in January 1991, the attack was aimed at countering the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait’, and it won the sanction of the United Nations and appeared to enjoy the near-unanimous support of the international community. As the US’s key allies sent their troops to the Persian Gulf, the Japanese government looked sorely embarrassed as it took an apologetic stand, pleading the constitutional constraints which prohibited it from extending military support.
