As of March 2005, Japan has some 550 troops deployed in Southern Iraq in support of the rebuilding effort there. These soldiers, though well trained and lavishly equipped, are expressly forbidden from entering into any sort of combat operation unless they are specifically fired upon. Indeed, to ensure their security and ability to retain a non-combatant role, 500 Danish troops are stationed down the road from their headquarters who are free to engage in combat as a bodyguard …showed first 75 words of 4704 total…

…showed last 75 words of 4704 total…on Japan recently argued, the US presence in Japan can be seen either as a "bottle cap," keeping the Japanese military genie in the bottle, or as an "egg shell," fostering the growth of Japanese military power under US protection until one day it hatches onto the regional scene. Since 1996, the analyst argues, fears about the "egg shell" function of the US-Japan alliance have increased markedly, while faith in the "bottle cap" function has declined.