But public opinion is still against a Japanese presence in Iraq with a recent telephone opinion poll finding only 9 percent supporting the government's plan to dispatch troops to the region.

CNN: Japan: Diplomats shot in vehicles

Rather than dispatch troops to a war-zone, and have little but casualties to show for it afterwards, the Clinton administration decided instead to try to make peace in Bosnia and then to send in troops to enforce it.

ECONOMIST: Peace-making in Bosnia

Strategic planners at the Pentagon worried about how well the Army could respond if it had to dispatch troops unexpectedly to a conflict elsewhere in the world.

NEWYORKER: The General��s Dilemma