When the Bush administration was casting about for countries to join the “coalition of the willing,” it was not just asking for volunteers–there was some quid-pro-quo going on. They’ll deny it, of course, but then they denied trying to bribe Turkey (with $28 billion and other considerations) to allow U.S. troops to move through that country in the Iraq invasion, even though the money was yanked back when Turkey refused the offer.

In this case, the bribe is not cash, but status: in return for Japan being one of the most notable nations to join the coalition, the U.S. is, in turn pushing for Japan to be given a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, a very powerful and influential spot. No permanent seat has been granted to any nation since the U.N. was founded and the current five nations dominated the council. There are ten non-permanent seats, and Japan has just won one of them (likely through U.S. intervention). But now, we are to believe for no reason except that Japan simply deserves it, the Bush administration has become Japan’s biggest cheerleader in the endeavor:

When reporters voiced concerns about U.S. support for making Japan a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, Rice responded that Japan’s increasingly global role and its strong financial support for the United Nations need to be recognized. The secretary did not address either bilateral issues between South Korea and Japan or Japanese domestic affairs, but did express her confidence “that democracies like Japan and South Korea … will be more than able” to deal with issues as they arise.

“[I]f we start to think about how the 21st century is going to play out, it is going to be the power of ideas that really matters, and the power of democratic ideals that really matters,” she said.

Translation: “we needed Japan so we could say that we weren’t going in alone in the Iraq War, and this is what we promised in return.” (Oh, and note the remark about Japan’s “strong financial support for the United Nations,” as if Republicans are now impressed with people who pay their dues to the U.N.!)

Not that Japan didn’t want to go into Iraq anyway; sending Japanese troops to Iraq, no matter how non-military their duties, establishes a precedent which will help Koizumi and the other right-wingers to accomplish what they have long been pushing for: the excision of Article 9 from the Japanese constitution, the part in which Japan forever renounces war, the part which prohibits Japan from acquiring an offensive military force or sending troops to fight overseas. Japan may or may not need this in light of possible U.S. troop reductions in the region and with growing tensions between Japan and North Korea, as well as with other countries–but if that is the case, then it should be made clearly and publicly, instead of being done covertly and under the table.

The permanent U.N. Security Council seat would be a further step for Japan to assert itself militarily–which is one of several reasons that Japan’s neighbors are not exactly thrilled at the prospect. China is working to prevent Japan from getting this plum, letting expats do most of the work, getting 1.7 million signatures on a petition to stop the Japanese bid, and publishing ads in prominent publications reporting on Japan’s misdeeds in WWII and its reticence in forwarding apologies over the incidents.

Similarly, South Korea is working, even more straightforwardly, to block Japan’s entry to the council, their U.N. ambassador saying:

We do not think Japan has the qualifications to become a UN Security Council member and we will try to make sure it does not. … There are difficulties for a country that does not have the trust of its neighbouring countries because of its lack of reflection on the past to play the role of a world leader.

Of course, it does not help that Koizumi and others in his government continue to pay official visits to Yasukuni Shrine (where war dead, including class-A war criminals, are interred) despite knowing that this practice infuriates its neighbors.

Note: no foolin’.