Reconstruction

This week on the "This American Life" podcast by Chicago public radio was an excellent look into reconstruction following the major battles of the war in Iraq and "lessons learned". The podcast contains one option to reduce the number of troops and continue a "long game", pointing out that the military are often the ones most adept at achieving results for civil reconstruction amid lingering conflict.
Another interesting idea in the program was that winning a war is dependent on the peace that pursues, which puts more emphasis on reconstruction after the "battles" are over.
So this got me to thinking that, now that Prime Minister Abe of Japan is pushing through Constitution reform to revise Japan's position on using military force, what will that role be? My hope is that Japan pursues a policy as "a stabilizing force" rather than an insurgent force. I don't mean to say that Japan should be given the job of cleaning up someone else's mess, however. Simply, Japan is oft quoted as an example of successful post-war reconstruction itself and is thus in a unique position to lead in this capacity. Just a thought.