The Japanese, in their ever polite fashion, tell the US to bugger off

Japan has told the United States that it is difficult for Tokyo to accept Washington's request to send civilians, including diplomats, to the southern Iraqi city of Basra for a new reconstruction project there following Japanese ground troops' withdrawal, Japan-U.S. diplomatic sources said Tuesday.

The Japanese government told the U.S. government via a diplomatic channel that dispatching a Japanese team to a multinational provincial reconstruction team in Basra is difficult at the moment because the dispatch ''involves a risk,'' the sources said.

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"Involves a risk...", I'd say, especially considering the surge of recent attacks and the blatantly obvious "denial" of plans to attack Iran.