Although the American general has been dead for more than 40 years his legacy has produced some strange twists in the coalition that invaded Iraq in 2003.

In 1945 General Douglas MacArthur oversaw the drafting of a new constitution for the defeated nation of Japan. Among the many clauses within the constitution was a prohibition against the use of its armed forces in foreign conflicts. While this restriction made a lot of sense in 1945, the U.S. came to have reservations when it was knee deep in Vietnam. For the Japanese, the restriction proved an economic benefit as their military expenditures could be just a fraction of the West's.

In 1991 this restriction became the justification for the Japanese military not providing troops in the U.N. coalition to fight the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. While the Japanese provided significant financial support, it faced criticism globally and especially in Kuwait for an insufficient contribution. When Kuwait publicly thanked the countries that had helped restore its independence, Japan was left off the list. Kuwait ministers would later state that the multi-billion dollar rebuilding contracts would be weighted in favor of those nations that contributed to its restoration. Japan was not considered to be among these.

With Japan's oil and financial interests at risk, it would not make the same mistake again. The opportunity arose in 2003 when the United States planned a re-invasion of Iraq. This time the Japanese were among the first to join in as part of the "coalition of the willing." The Japanese public has seemed almost embarrassed by its role in the war. In Japan it is now the "U.S. war in Iraq," and the government has since stated that the war was a mistake. Japan's involvement; though, demonstrates that a generals grand constitutional concepts were trumped by oil and yen.