• 67.2 percent answered the war is closely linked with U.S. ambition to secure its interests in oil reserves in the Gulf region.
• About 14.7 percent said the military action, which was launched without a U.N. endorsement, was to sustain U.S. hegemony in the international community.
• In a separate Daum poll of 109,725 Internet users, 76.8 percent branded Bush as the real ``axis of evil,'' who threatens world peace.

Anti-War NGO Group at National Assembly (28 Mar)

Pro-US Support from Marine Veteran Group at National Assembly (28 Mar) (Source: Tongil News)

Day 9 (29 March: Korea):

Day 10 (30 March: Korea):

Though they are lightly armed, usually with AK-47s, mortars and RPGs, their methods are ruthless and unorthodox. A column of 200 to 300 Fedayeen was spotted on Highway 1, heading south from Baghdad toward Al Hillah in central Iraq, dressed in British and American uniforms. Some had suicide-bomber type vests with explosives strapped on. In Az Zubayr, in southern Iraq, soldiers blamed the Fadayeen for a spate of incidents in which Iraqi soldiers pretended to be surrendering and then opened fire. In nearby Basra, deserters said the Fedayeen summarily executed soldiers from Iraq's 51st Division who didn't want to fight. British officers said the tenacious resistance they found in the port city of Umm Qasr came from Fedayeen dressed as civilians and fighting from private homes. All along the Americans' 300-mile-long advance into Iraq, the Fedayeen were blamed for ambushes and sniper fire. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld denounced them as criminals. "If their wish is to die for Saddam Hussein," he railed, "they will be accommodated."

Day 11 (31 March: Korea):

Day 12 (1 April: Korea):

Anti-War Protest National Assembly Sit-in (1 Apr 03)

The following is from the Korea Herald:

Protests intensify against war

Activist groups yesterday intensified their protests aimed at disabling the government's plan to send non-combat troops to support the U.S.-led military campaign, a day before the National Assembly is scheduled to vote on the authorizing bill.

Hundreds of activists verbalized their discontent with the war and the planned troop dispatch in a rally organized by over 20 civic groups in front of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in central Seoul. Members of 12 local movie-related associations issued a statement opposing the U.S.-led strike on Iraq at an ad-hoc 'anti-war camp' assembled at Myeongdong Cathedral in the capital's downtown area.

Approximately 1,000 labor unionists sat through the night alongside civic group members in front of the National Assembly complex to urge lawmakers to reject the government bill that calls for dispatching 600 military engineers and 100 medics to the Gulf.

Over 30 members of the Democratic Society, a group of liberal attorneys, also staged a sit-in protest at their office last night to demand the Assembly dismiss the bill.

An official at the lawyers' group said attorneys from Korea and Japan adopted a joint declaration urging their governments to withhold troops from Iraq during a forum held in Hiroshima, western Japan last week.

Thousands of activists, students and local citizens are expected to attend a massive rally in Yeouido, near the Assembly complex today to increase pressure on lawmakers ahead of their vote on the troop dispatch bill. Amid rising anti-war sentiment, the Assembly delayed voting twice on the bill last week.

Students at Seoul National University will stage a one-day boycott of classes today to hold an anti-war rally accompanied by some of their professors.

More than 87 percent of the university students voted in favor of boycotting classes.

Six other universities including Ewha Womans University and Pusan National University plan to go on a collective strike Friday to denounce the war.

Four associations of college professors said in a news conference they will debate until the end of April the 'unjustness' of the U.S.-led military campaign on Iraq in their classrooms.

(khkim@koreaherald.co.kr)
By Kim Kyung-ho Staff reporter

Day 13 (2 April: Korea):

Rev. Mun leads the anti-War march at National Assembly (04 Apr 03)

Anti-War confrontation at National Assembly (02 Apr 03) (Source: Tongil News)

The Honorable Speaker and members of the National Assembly, fellow citizens watching this occasion,

It is an honor for me to address you, our representatives in this forum of the people, to explain my position on state affairs. If I were a little luckier as President, I would be able to devote this first speech to the National Assembly on a discussion of a more comprehensive blueprint for the nation’s future and do so in the presence of a parliamentary majority belonging to my own party. However, the situation we are facing today does not allow me that kind of luxury, and I am forced by circumstances to begin my talk with the issue of dispatching Korean troops overseas.

Many lawmakers and others are opposed to doing that. The overriding reason is that there is no good cause for the war. At this point, I do not intend to delve into the issue of whether or not this war is justified. Those who oppose the war argue that if we do send troops, there will be no justification for any objection to a possible U.S. attack on North Korea in the future. Such reasoning represents one argument against the troop dispatch.

Yes, they have a valid point there. Good causes are important. In the future, too, the world order must be based on that principle. The time should come when good causes dictate action.

Unfortunately until now, power, not good causes, has dictated international politics. On the domestic political scene, too, arguments based on reality, instead of good causes, prevail more often than not.

I am a politician who has been upholding good causes. Every time I faced a critical moment in my political career, I have come down on the side of a good cause even when it brought disadvantages. For that matter, I was sometimes criticized for going too far in the pursuit of ideals. Not the least, even my ability as a politician was called into question. This was true when the three parties merged into one in 1990 and again when the unified Democratic Party broke up.

After a deal was struck with Mr. Chung Mong-joon to field a single presidential candidate during the last presidential election campaign, candidate Chung demanded to share power in a joint administration. At the time, many people around me strongly called for me to accept the offer, arguing that otherwise I could not win the race. I did not accept it, however, because the cause I upheld would not tolerate it. I answered that I would rather choose defeat. I have suffered the pain of losing elections several times as the price for sticking to a cause and when faced with a dire moment of imminent victory or defeat, but I stood by my principles.

Yet I decided on the troop dispatch and am asking you to approve it. This is because the destiny of Korea and Koreans rests on our decision. We have the responsibility of preserving the security of the nation. We have the responsibility of preventing war. (SITE NOTE: What does 700 non-combatants to Iraq have to do with the security of Korea? This is only another slap in the face of the U.S. The only way this could be true is if Korea is being blackmailed by the U.S. into sending these troops or else the U.S. will attack North Korea. This is too ridiculous to even try to justify.)

Losing a presidential race would only be my private problem or a problem for my friends at best. Now that I am the President, however, my decision cannot merely be my personal choice. My action could determine the fate of the nation.

Just about the time I won the presidential election, many people in the United States mentioned the possibility of an attack against North Korea. Some of them were responsible U.S. Government officials. It put me in a dilemma: if I voiced an objection, Korea-U.S. coordination would unravel but if I supported the attack for the sake of Korea-U.S. coordination, war would almost be a certainty. I saw the need to prevent war at all cost. Hence, I openly voiced my objections. Several times in the past, there have been conflicting views and friction between Korea and the United States, but the differences were solved through dialogue. Drawing on such experience, I was convinced that the differences this time could be ironed out. (SITE NOTE: The U.S. -- and anyone with commonsense -- would know that the U.S. would NEVER attack the North at that time as it was building up its forces for Iraq. Besides after enduring some much greater assaults (i.e., Pueblo and EC-121 shootdown), it still had not gone to war. The U.S. denied this claim from Roh publicly REPEATEDLY. The Korean public refuses to see that the U.S. cannot enter into a non-aggression pact as it is in effect a treaty -- and recognition of North Korea which is North Korea's aim. This is another slap at the U.S. and treats the Koreans as simpletons -- which they may be if they believed this bit of sophistry.)

Fortunately, these differences have been resolved or, at least, are on the way to a full resolution. Now there are no responsible figures in the United States mentioning the possibility of an attack against North Korea. Rather, they are actively voicing support for a peaceful solution.

When the Minister of the Foreign Affairs and Trade visited the United States on March 29, Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice reconfirmed that the North Korean nuclear problem would be resolved peacefully through diplomacy without using military means because the situation and conditions in North Korea are different from Iraq. Still, we cannot be complacent. We have now barely averted imminent crises, but danger still lurks. (SITE NOTE: He fails to mention that HE started the crisis by encouraging North Korea to believe it could split the alliance between the U.S.-Japan-South Korea.)

I have thought about it over and over. I have sought advice from many experts, and I have come to the conclusion that extending help to the United States in time of adversity and solidifying Korea-U.S. relations is far more helpful to resolving the North Korean nuclear problem peacefully than increasing friction for the sake of some cause.

Distinguished lawmakers and fellow citizens,

There will be no war on the Korean Peninsula as long as we do not want it. Without agreement with us, the United States will not take unilateral action in dealing with the North Korean nuclear problem. That promise will be honored by all means. I have been stressing equitable relations with the United States. Equitable relations can only be viable, however, when survival is firmly guaranteed. It would be foolish to make a decision that endangers the survival of the people only for the sake of equitable relations with the United States. That is why I preferred to put the need for a solution to the North Korean nuclear issue above the need for a revision of the Status-of-Forces Agreement.

The Government will continue to endeavor to maintain equitable bilateral ties. Just as there has been a lot of controversy over the causes for the Iraqi situation, there will be a lot of debate on how to solve the North Korean nuclear issue.

We have to remember that the United States, or any other country, may not necessarily make a decision that we will feel is justified. In this context, it should be noted that solid Korea-U.S. coordination is of utmost importance in settling the North Korean nuclear issue peacefully. (SITE NOTE: The media originally translated this as, "As you have seen in the case of Iraq, the United States will not make its decision on the North's nuclear issue on a moral basis. Accordingly, for a peaceful solution to the nuclear issue, the strong alliance between South Korea and the United States, among other things, is crucial." This is disturbing that we have a "friend" that appeases the U.S. though he considers its actions immoral because he needs to use them to solve his problem. This is a trusted ally??? The revised media translation on 4 April was ""As in the case of Iraq, the United States will not determine its attitude toward North Korea on the basis of justice alone. This is the reason why the Korea-U.S. alliance is more important than anything else for a peaceful conclusion to the North Korean nuclear issue." This still came off as a slap in the face. There's a lot of difference between the Cheong Wa Dae version and the versions in the press.)

I also paid attention to our difficult economic conditions. Believing that jitters over the possibility of war will weigh on our economy, I openly objected to any possible U.S. attack on North Korea, and I repeatedly emphasized that there will be no war on the Korean Peninsula.

I have met with many investors and found that unlike me, they perceived friction between Korea and the United States as a bigger cause for the jitters than the danger of war. Our decision on the troop dispatch has contributed much to allaying their concerns. (SITE NOTE: We believe that Roh would have let the troop issue die if it weren't for the fact that the ROK-US alliance was looking shakier and shakier. S&P and Moody's had already downgraded the sovereign rating because of the North Korean crisis. The amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) into Korea during the first quarter this year fell to its lowest mark in the five years since the same quarter in 1998, when the country was in the midst of the IMF crisis. Foreign Direct Investment from the United States in the first quarter amounted to only US$356 million, plummeting 72 percent from the same quarter last year. In Roh's May visit to America, he will include major CEOs in his entourage. In addition, U.S. business was showing an anti-Korean trend. Major companies have started road shows in America to offset this trend. The anti-Americanism of the past year was catching up with Korea.

He needed to show America that he was their ally, but most important that he shore up the financial security of the country. The risk premium on Korean government-issued foreign exchange stabilization bonds fell for two consecutive days, following Korea's decision to dispatch troops to the Iraqi war. A lower risk premium represents stronger credit ratings on the country.)

Fellow citizens,

Please come to a consensus. Please trust me, and give me strength. I will preserve peace on the Korean Peninsula by all means. Without fail, I will bring an age of peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia to fruition.

Distinguished legislators,

When you hand down your decision, please make a courageous one. Our destiny depends on your choice. It is not the kind of the decision that can be swayed by the President’s sincerity on this issue. As the representative of the people, you should be true to your convictions in determining the fate of the people.

Anti-War confrontation at National Assembly (02 Apr 03) (Source: Tongil News)

Roh Appears to be Winning Some U.S. Hearts and Minds

President Roh Moo-hyun is in trouble for backing the U.S.-led war against Iraq and offering to contribute non-combat troops.

Currently, Roh is under intense public fire, especially from those who voted him into office last December, for backing what they term the unjustified U.S. aggression against Iraq.

Despite mounting criticism, Roh stands firm in his support of the United States, a sign of his change of heart toward a key ally.

The president's unequivocal support for the military campaign appears to have helped mend diplomatic fences with the United States while easing some concerns Washington has about him.

"Roh made the right choice to support the war. It played very well here within the U.S. government," Victor Cha, a Korea expert and professor at Georgetown University, told Yonhap News Agency.

Cha added that the head of state made a positive impression by showing himself as pragmatic and flexible.

Echoing Cha's remarks, Joel Wit, a senior fellow of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, also said Roh's gesture was a smart way for him to achieve a peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue.

"Roh needs to build up his influence with the U.S. administration. To do that, he has to demonstrate to them that he is a good ally and that he can support the U.S. on certain things without reservation," Wit said in a recent interview with Yonhap News Agency.

So far, Roh has not been perceived positively in Washington, where many critics openly questioned if he is a man they can work with and whether the half-century alliance can be saved.

During the presidential campaign last year, Roh, who once called for the pullout of the 37,000 American soldiers from the South, vowed to put bilateral relations on an equal footing and not to be bossed around by the United States. This stance unleashed a barrage of criticism in Washington of Roh and South Korea.

Since taking office in February, however, the president began to soften his rhetoric toward the U.S., as the international standoff over the North's nuclear programs showed no signs of abating.

In a sign of his apparent change of heart, Roh has begun to use every opportunity to dispel widespread American concerns about him and stress the importance of the bilateral alliance, which hit a rocky patch late last year when anti-U.S. sentiment swept the county.

Now, the strenuous efforts to repair the diplomatic damage, including his explicit endorsement of the war, seemed to have paid off in Washington as it eased some criticism of South Korea.

"There is a lot of uncertainty in Washington about the Roh government. As a consequence, the Korean decision to support the U.S. effort could be viewed as a way to reassure the U.S. that the Roh government is not a radical anti-American government," said Marcus Noland, a senior fellow of the Institute for International Economics.

Donald Gregg, who served here as U.S. ambassador and is now chairman of the New York-based Korea Society, also hailed Roh's backing of the United States, noting, "South Korea has always been a staunch ally of the United States, and President Roh is continuing that proud and welcome tradition."

After the war broke out last month, Roh was quick to support the U.S.-led efforts to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and offered to send army engineers and medical personnel to Iraq, claming it would serve the national interests.

"President Roh thinks it is in Korea's interest to demonstrate support for the United States at this time," said Michael Breen, a longtime Korea observer. Breen stressed that this would put him in a better position to request U.S. support for his approach to North Korea.

Some analysts reckon the United States could reciprocate by taking into account more of the South's position in the process of resolving the nuclear dispute.

"This (troop dispatch) could be expected to contribute to an improvement in political relations between Washington and Seoul, and could have the effect of encouraging Washington to consider more carefully the views of the Roh government on issues relating to North Korea," Noland added.

Indicating an apparent reward, the U.S. has recently taken steps which seem to be aimed at accommodating Seoul's stance while easing its concerns the North may be the next U.S. target after Iraq.

Senior U.S. officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney, who is known as a key hawk in the Bush administration, told visiting Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan last week that North Korea is different from Iraq and the nuclear standoff could be resolved through diplomatic efforts.

Yoon told reporters the United States appears to have considerable trust and interest in South Korea's support for the war.

By committing troops, Roh seems to have won the hearts and minds of Bush administration officials and demonstrated he is a man Washington can work with, which analysts said could help in peacefully resolving the nuclear dispute.

Yet, it remains to be seen whether Roh would continue his charm offensive if the diplomatic approach fails and the recalcitrant North refuses to make concessions to end the crisis.

By Kim Kwang-tae
entropy@yna.co.kr

Day 14 (3 April: Korea):

Day 15 (4 April: Korea):

Anti-War demonstration in Seoul (04 Apr 03) (Source: Tongil News)

Day 16 (5 April: Korea):

Day 17 (6 April: Korea):

Iraq gives up its grim secrets

Abandoned warehouse is a tomb for hundreds of tortured and executed Iraqis

From Paul Harris in Al Zubayr, Southern Iraq

THE coffins are laid out in neat rows in an abandoned warehouse. In each lies a crumpled bag of bones, old and dusty but still recognisably human. Out of the open end of one sack, a skull can be seen buried in the fragments of skeleton.

Its eye sockets are empty. Its teeth are smashed. Two ribs point out like accusing fingers. Something terrible happened here. Something murderous. Something evil.

The proof lies in a cargo container nearby. Its metal door hangs open and inside are pages and pages of files. Each sheaf of notes contains a picture of a man or woman. Each and every one has been shot in the head. Their wounds are mangled and gaping. Many of them barely look human any more as the anonymous photographer chronicled their dead faces. It is a horror almost beyond words.

It is hard not to look at the black-and-white photographs -- two for each victim -- and wince. Yet each was a brother, a father or a son; or a mother, a daughter or a sister. Each had a past and hopes for a future, yet each ended here, in this dry and dusty hall of the dead. There must be at least 200 of them in the plywood coffins, roughly hammered together by a hurried carpenter. All of them are in bags, jumbled together in sad piles of remains.

'Whoever they are, they have been desecrated in their death. No one should ever treat the dead like this,' said Sgt Simon Brain, a veteran of tours in Bosnia, who has seen places in the Balkans that look similar to this. 'That is in two countries now that I have seen mass graves,' he added with a shake of his head.

There are signs of torture too. Outside the warehouse stands a wall. It is dotted in the centre with a spray of bullet holes. Nearly all of them are at head height. There is a ditch behind it. If anyone was shot against the wall, their blood would have drained cleanly away. In another warehouse, a dozen tiny concrete cells have been built of breeze blocks inside the hangar. In some of them, portraits of Saddam Hussein stare from the grey walls. In several, an iron pole has been hung from the roof. Dangling from it are cruel, rusting metal hooks. They are ideal torture chambers.

'We can't speculate on what this is until an investigation,' a British military spokesman said. But one officer, speaking privately and looking in shock at the warehouse, was more blunt. 'Just look at those photos. Look at this place.

'People were being tortured and executed here,' he said.

The warehouse has now been declared off limits after being discovered by British soldiers of the Third Regiment of the Royal Horse Artillery yesterday morning. An investigation is now to be launched into exactly who lies in the coffins. War crimes investigators have been alerted to the discovery and the building sealed off and guarded.

Though it is hard to imagine who would want to go inside. The warehouse lies on a sprawling and abandoned military base on the outskirts of Az Zubayr, a small town near Basra. Nobody lives nearby. It can only be reached by travelling on rough and pitted mud causeways that traverse a lunar landscape contaminated by oil leaks from nearby refineries. Multi-coloured slicks soak into the dust of the drained salt marshes as they bake in the midday sun. There is no sign of life apart from the stray dogs that swarm over this part of Iraq.

The base itself is a mess. Most of the buildings have been trashed or looted and destroyed over the previous decade or so of war and sanctions. There are holes in many of the buildings and roofs missing from some of the barrack huts, yet the warehouse of bones was locked and intact.

There is little doubt that the bones are at least several years old. No flesh remains on the long brown leg and arm bones or bits of rib. Only a few tufts of tough black hair lie scattered on the floor, where dogs have tugged at a few of the bags and spilled their grim contents on the unforgiving concrete.

But there is no doubt the base was inhabited until only a few weeks ago. Among the buildings are Iraqi army shirts still in their bags, new gas mask respirators, signal huts for an artillery unit and maps with military drawings upon them. Yet the Iraqi soldiers who were living here were literally living beside the corpses of hundreds of people.

Exactly who they were is so far a mystery. But there are a few clues. Some of the bags are made of plastic and inside them can be seen a few pieces of military equipment. The green belt of the Iraqi army is plainly visible in several of the sacks.

Were they soldiers suspected of disloyalty in recent years? Were they Shia rebels from 1991, many of whom were in the army? More than 50,000 Shia were killed by the forces of Saddam Hussein in their doomed revolt. Are these some of their corpses? In most of the bags there is no trace of clothing. Just bones.

In one sack a single photo lies. It is a simple ID card. On it a middle-aged man stares out. He has black hair, a long face and a drooping moustache. In life he would perhaps have looked pensive. But lying, half-covered by his own dusty remains, the man pictured within looks sad and forlorn. He looks regretful for the life stolen from him. A splotch of bloodstain on the corner of the card is reminder enough of the brutality of how all his hopes died.

It is hard to stay in the warehouse long. In one corner, empty coffins are stacked four or five high. Whoever was doing this grim work was stopped before they finished their task. That is a small mercy but no respite for those already dead.

Inside the hangar, the air is still and thick with dust. It hangs close around the clothes and almost makes one retch to think what is being breathed into the lungs of those who have ventured inside. It is a relief to leave such a charnel house. Outside, the sun is shining over southern Iraq. There is a stiff breeze that blows some of the bone dust away. But inside the horrors remain, testimony to the crimes of a regime that is itself now being killed.

Yet these are not isolated horrors. Last night allegations of the torture and murder of dozens of children by Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party also came to light, with bodies discovered hanging from street lighting.

The killings were carried out after the party headquarters in Basra was bombed last week, said some Iraqi women, one of whom's niece had been killed. Families believed to have been aiding coalition forces were targeted.

Interpreter Vanessa Lough, formerly attached to the UN and based in Basra said: 'In one street alone they said three children could be seen hanging from the lamp posts, and around the corner one child lay burnt on the ground.

'The women said some of the children's bodies are now being held in the city's hospital mortuary.'

Charges filed against Sgt. Hasan K. Akbar, 32, for two counts of premeditated murder and 17 counts of attempted murder, under military law for the March 23 grenade attack in Kuwait.

The U.S. said it will play the leading role in the rebuilding of Iraq instead of the U.N. National Security Advisor Rice has already said that a retired general will set up the original transition team. Colin Powell had previously promised that NATO and the EU would play a role in the reconstruction of Iraq -- but was not specific on what scope this meant. Britain favors EU involvement so there appears to be a problem on the horizon after the war is ended. This is of great concern as the Russians were not able to conclude their ten-year oil deal with Iraq before the war started. France's oil interests are also at stake with $50 billion worth of oil contracts in jeopardy. They are most concerned about having a UN presence in the future.

Al Jazeera continues to feed its Arab audiences close-up color photographs and television footage of dead and wounded Iraqis, described as victims of American bombs. In recent days, more and more Arabic newspapers have run headlines bluntly accusing soldiers of deliberately killing civilians.

Korea: Korea silent as the latest news of Washington's intention to relocate the 2nd Infantry Division to south of the Han River. The sending of the 700-man non-combatant troops to Iraq after the War was to gain bargaining chips in the upcoming negotiations next week. The truth is sinking in to protestors that the anti-war/anti-American protests destroyed any leverage that they might have gained in these negotiations to restructure the U.S.-ROK alliance. The Asst Sec of Defense Lawless arrived on 6 Apr and the negotiations start or 8 Apr. (See Relocations of USFK for details.)

Outside of Kunsan AB was one lone protestor with his sign for "No War."

Day 18 (7 April: Korea):

Iraq: The 25 mile armored sweep into Baghdad made on Day 17 caused "between 2,000 and 3,000 Iraqi dead," while American casualties were listed as "limited." The two armored task forces of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division that executed the sweep later returned to the relative safety of American lines at the Baghdad Airport. Those mauled in the foray included a mixture of Republican Guard and irregular forces.

However, the BBC showed a destroyed tank during the attack. It appeared to have been destroyed from a booby-trap of explosives planted under the roadway. The Iraqis were playing it up to diminish the U.S. forces apparent invulnerability.

CENTCOM raises idea that Republican Guard resistance in south of Baghdad may have collapsed, though some units in the north remain viable. Air strikes concentrating on Baghdad defenses. CENTCOM announced that the "Battle for Baghdad" has begun. Entering a distinct, new phase. Signs indicated that large-scale organized resistance was waning, with Hussein's military no longer capable of coordinating a large-scale counteroffensive and the bulk of its forces killed, deserted or in hiding.

First Brigade held the airport and the west of Baghdad, the Second Brigade secured the south, the Third Brigade held the northwest and the Marines were in the northeast. A C-130 military transport landed at the Baghdad IAP about an hour after dark. The Iraqis had blown up one of Baghdad's major bridges. There were pockets of resistance in the Baghdad area.

There were reports of large scale fighting on the western side of the city. The CENTCOM claims that virtually all the roads in and out of the city are under their control -- with the exception of Highway 2 leading to Kirkuk. Reports of fighting around the outskirts around the city show tanks burning and many soldiers killed along with civilian casualties. As U.S. forces consolidate their ring around the city, they are being attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and wiping out the pockets of resistance. Air cover is now 24/7 over the city.

During the day, U.S. tanks again entered the city to go further into the city to the west of the Tigris. BBC TV showed Bradley fighting vehicles fighting within the Presidential Palace on the Tigris River. Fighting was intense. American forces took control of a major presidential palace on the banks of the Tigris River in Baghdad early this morning in the strongest coalition thrust yet into the city. As many as 70 tanks and 60 Bradley fighting vehicles rolled down the wide streets as A-10 Warthogs and unmanned Predator drones flew over Baghdad unchallenged. American commanders on the ground said that three army battalions would stay in the city center, and not leave as happened in an initial lighter raid on Saturday. In Baghdad, however, American officers appeared pleased with the gains today. Aside from the major palace on the river bank, American soldiers had captured another palace in the city center belonging to Saddam Hussein, they said. At one of the palaces, half a dozen Syrian soldiers were found, one of them hiding in a refrigerator. The Republican Guards responsible for the security of the palace had fled.

Two American soldiers and two journalists were killed and 15 people were wounded today in an Iraqi missile attack on a tactical operations center established by the Third Infantry Division, Second Brigade on the outskirts of Baghdad.

Baghdad still without electricity and water. A curfew is in effect and the roads entering and exiting the city have been blocked to prevent an exodus from Baghdad. However, convoys of vehicles are still streaming into Syria...including the Russian Ambassador who was caught in a crossfire between Iraqi and coalition forces upon leaving Baghdad.

Nebuchadnezzar Division of the Republican Guard, at Saddam's hometown, Tikrit. Road has been cut between Baghdad and Tikrit. Elements of Adnan and Al Nida Republican Guard Divisions, having left Mosul and Tikrit, respectively, join Baghdad defenses. The Hammurabi Division of the Republican Guard moves toward Baghdad to reinforce the capital. Republican Guard Medina Division headquarters at Suwayrah. There are eight divisions of Regular Army remaining in the north. Iraqi paramilitaries and Baath Party loyalists stymie British and U.S. forces in Basra and retain their hold on the city center

It was announced that the U.S. armed forces took control of the center of the holy Shiite Muslim city of Karbala after a fierce battle with Iraqi troops with up to 400 Iraqi soldiers killed. However, it was also reported that the fighting had changed from street-to-street to door-to-door fighting. Proceeding carefully to prevent damage to mosques and holy sites. U.S. forces mingled with residents who turned out in the thousands. Relaxed, waving and smiling, they said, “Good, good, good,” while children raised their thumbs in the air. The following is an excerpt from New York Times on 6 April about discovered records in Karbala.

To the Americans who arrived by tank and helicopter and Humvee, this city 45 miles south of Baghdad began to reveal itself today in hints of a sinister past in captured military archives. Inside a bombed military headquarters, soldiers found strips of film negatives showing images of people who appeared to have met violent deaths. The images, shown to a reporter, appeared to document injuries on the bodies of three different people. Scores of other negatives kept in the same cabinet appeared to show ordinary work scenes.

Down the hall was a room with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of dossiers, with photographs stapled to each one. Someone had made an unsuccessful effort to burn the files before fleeing.

In still another room was electronic equipment that could be used for eavesdropping, explained Capt. Jim Phillips as he led a reporter through the remains of the building.

During the day, four Iraqis came forward to tell soldiers that they had been held prisoner in a jail inside the compound, Captain Phillips said. Other prisoners apparently were held inside the military headquarters. He pointed to a false wall, and rooms in the basement that were about 25 feet by 25 feet.

"One guy says they would cram 100 people in those rooms," Captain Phillips said.

These are early days, but the documents and photographs found here suggest that a gradual process of unearthing the deeds of Saddam Hussein during his 24-year rule has begun. From the documents, some accounting of the degree of his brutality should eventually take form.

Four or five Marines were killed when their armored troop carrier took a direct hit from artillery shell at a bridge over a canal on the outskirts of Baghdad. About a half hour later, Marines swarmed into the capital on foot, crossing a bridge spanning a canal at the south edge of the city, meeting little resistance.

U.S. Marines took the town of Salman Pak, a chemical and biological warfare center documented by UNSCOM inspectors after the 1991 Gulf War. They met little resistance. Salman Pak is about 20 miles south of Baghdad.

In the northern city of Mosul, coalition airstrikes continued their bombardment on military targets, particularly ammunition dumps.

In northern Iraq, a friendly fire incident with a dropped bomb killed between 10-12 Kurdish and Americans. However, CENTCOM stated at least 18 people were killed and more than 45 wounded, including senior Kurdish commanders. The BBC crew with John Simpson gave an eyewitness account. An American Special Forces officer had called in an airstrike on a Iraqi tank at a nearby crossroads and it had been misinterpreted by the aircraft.

British have entered Basra and control most of the city. The "Desert Rats" have made large advances into the cities. Three soldiers were killed. TV reports show the populace cheering the British -- and looting in areas recently freed. Troops continue to look for battered Iraqi forces holed up inside Basra, but the British presence inside the city was also designed to "reassure the people of Basra that we're there and we're coming to liberate the city." The body of Ali Hassan al-Majid a cousin of Saddam Hussein known as "Chemical Ali" was confirmed.

Turkey and Iran held meetings dealing with the Kurds in the north. Neither nation wants a separate Kurdish state that may cause uprisings within their countries.

Bush and Blair to meet for the third time on the war in Northern Ireland. The two will review battlefield plans and achievements along with thorny issues such as the pace of deliveries of humanitarian aid to Iraqi civilians and plans for the country’s postwar reconstruction, especially the much-debated role of the United Nations. Bush sees limited EU role, while Blair sees an expanded role including France and Russia. Over European objections, the Bush administration has ruled out a leading role for the United Nations in immediate postwar Iraq, saying that Washington and its allies had earned top status after having given "life and blood" to the war effort.

There is also dissension within the U.S. as the U.S. seeks to have the Defense Department oversee the reconstruction and reporting to CENTCOM Commander Tony Franks. The Congress wishes the head to be from the State Department -- and the State Department sees UN involvement. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz stated it will take more than six months for an Iraqi government to be created to run the country after President Saddam Hussein’s regime has been defeated. However, he stressed that the United States would not install the country’s new leaders and would allow the Iraqi people to decide on the makeup of their new government. Wolfowitz has been involved in the Pentagon’s creation of the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance, which is preparing within days to begin operations in the southern Iraq port city of Umm Qasr. Headed by retired Army Gen. Jay Garner, who reports to U.S. war commander Gen. Tommy Franks, the new office will spearhead humanitarian assistance and reconstruction.

Korea: Though the weather was perfect for a protest outdoors, it was deathly quiet in Korea without a peep from the anti-American factions. In Seoul there was a display by college students to protest through art exhibits and performances the anti-War/anti-American themes. Most of the art work based on the June 2002 accident near the DMZ with two girls. Children involved in signing anti-war petitions.

Anti-War displays in Seoul (07 Apr 03)
Left: Bush with nuclear missiles; Right: U.S. Army in Iraq killing civilians (Source: Tongil News)

No anti-American protests are expected as the negotiations to relocate the 2d ID south of the Han is underway this week. Instead, there were TV programs discussing the war intellectually instead of emotionally on the streets. For example, Arirang TV had a round-table discussion centering on such points as the war being "legitimate but not legal" -- meaning that Saddam had disregarded past Security Council resolutions, but now the war was prosecuted without UN Security Council consent. This point was countered by the US Embassy representative in that UN Resolution 1441 did give the power to the US when it said Saddam would face "serious consequences" if he didn't comply.

The discussions on the Relocation of the USFK (Future Alliance of the US-ROK I) starts today. There is virtual silence -- as the anti-War protestors have already done their damage to the process. There can only be hopes that it is not irreparable. (See Relocations of USFK and Protests (2003) for anti-war protest details.)

Day 19 (8 April: Korea):

Iraq:After a C-130 landed at Baghdad IAP, Iraqi forces counter-attacked and U.S. forces killed at least 100 Iraqi soldiers. Later another C-130 landed indicating the runway is operational.

The entire 2nd Brigade of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division remain in the center of Baghdad. Casualties in hospitals such that the they have stopped counting. Many are running out of antibiotics and medicines. Most Iraqis stayed indoors, but some shops were open and public buses were running. Iraqi TV and state radio stayed on the air, broadcasting patriotic songs, religious sermons and archival footage of Saddam. Electricity out and water spotty -- coming and going.

A neighborhood was targeted when there were reports that Saddam Hussein and other leaders were hiding there. A B-1B bomber dropped four GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munition weapons, the 2,000-pound smart bombs known as “bunker busters,” leaving giant holes in the ground. The attack was based on information that Saddam and his son Qusay were attending a meeting in the neighborhood with other top Iraqi leaders.


Last Photos of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad (04 Apr 03)

In Basra, the city is under full control of the British. There are complaints of looting from factories and schools, but the British claim they are not equipped to provide civil control. British have not found the resistance that they expected.

U.S. war commander, Army Gen. Tommy Franks, visited troops at three stops inside Iraq, including soldiers in the holy Shiite city of Najaf.

In the north, more than 1,000 Kurdish fighters capture the town of Ain Sifni. Kurdish peshmerga fighters, working with U.S. special operations forces, advance toward Iraq’s third largest city Mosul, capturing the small town of Faida on the way.

Since the war’s onset, a number of reports that suggested the presence of banned weaponry turned out to be wrong. However, the Wall Street Journal reported that soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division had captured an Iraqi BMP Armored Personnel Carrier that was believed to contain sarin gas and mustard gas.

1st Marine Division said warheads had been found south of Baghdad in a warehouse near Baghdad IAP. The warheads were on Iraqi BM-21 unguided rockets. Those rockets are about 10 feet long, with a range of approximately 15 miles. The BM-21 is a 40-year-old truck-mounted system with 40 rocket tubes, intended for close support of troops. The rockets appeared to be ready to fire,

Members of the 101st Airborne Division were led by a former Iraqi colonel to an agricultural facility near Karbala, where they found barrels that contained nerve agents that included sarin, according to a preliminary analysis. Initial tests of 14 barrels found at a nearby military training camp also came back positive for sarin and Tabun and the blister agent Lewisite. After the initial positive readings, more sophisticated gear — a mobile testing unit provided by the German government — was brought in. Those tests also were positive for Tabun, sarin and Lewisite. Additional testing was then ordered.

The Army’s 101st Airborne Division reported suspicious material in a compound near the Iraqi city of Hindiyah, about 60 miles south of Baghdad. Initial tests of samples from the facility were inconsistent. Some tests did not indicate chemical weapons, while others indicated the presence of G-class nerve agents — which include sarin and tabun — and mustard agent, a blistering chemical first used in World War I.

Concerns over Egyptians, Jordanians, Saudis and Syrians fighting alongside Iraqi troops against U.S. forces moving on Baghdad. Earlier on in the war in the south, Sudanese and Egyptian soldiers were found with large amounts of money on them indicating they were paid to fight. Unfortunately, the Republican Guard has melted away leaving these troops behind.

4th ID still in Kuwait after picking up their Humvees at port. Biggest concern is that they are going to miss the war. Humanitarian aid is also stuck at the border because the coalition cannot guarantee the safety of the convoys in Iraq.

Bush and Blair meeting in Northern Ireland to discuss the rebuilding of Iraq and the role of the UN in these efforts. Blair favors UN involvement, but Bush is in favor of an interim military government headed by Jay Garner. London wants to garner wide international support and U.N. endorsement for the future of postwar Iraq to placate anti-war countries such as France and Germany and to appease widespread international skepticism about U.S. motives. Meanwhile, Washington has caused alarm among war skeptics by insisting that it, along with its allies, had earned the right to call the shots by giving “life and blood.” Instead of contention between the allies, officials on both sides preferred to stress a common position: U.S. and British forces would take charge in the immediate aftermath of war, while London and Washington would seek U.N. endorsement for an interim Iraqi administration leading up to a new Iraqi government. Bush promised that the UN would have a "vital role" in the reconstruction of Iraq. However, what is not spoken is the bottomline that the initial conference for setting up Iraq's post-war government is dependent on who is invited to the table. If the U.S. controls the invitation list, it will control the government formed thereafter. Not a very palatable view for the American people once they consider it fully...but that is six-months off. The following is an excerpt from MSNBC on 8 Apr:

Powell said Washington would send a team to Iraq this week to begin looking at what was needed for an interim authority.

The U.S. line was echoed by Blair’s spokesman, who said: “Don’t get caught in the second-resolution mindset.

“The U.N. has made it clear it doesn’t have the capacity, never mind the desire, to run Iraq. The aim of all three voices on this, ourselves, the Americans and the U.N., is the same ... Iraq not run by us, but by the Iraqis as soon as possible.”

A U.S.-led coalition will likely run the country for at least six months until a new Iraqi government is in place, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said Sunday.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan also laid claim to “an important role” for the United Nations in postwar Iraq, stressing that only the world body could bring legitimacy to the work of rebuilding the nation. John Negroponte, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, agreed that a U.N. role in Iraq was appropriate but indicated that it would have to be “further discussed and further defined.”

According to the Washington Post, the U.S. began airlifting hundreds of members of the Iraqi National Congress (INC) exile group into the outskirts of Nasiriyah. The soldiers are being led by Ahmed Chalabi, a London-based former banker and principal founder of the INC. The move is filled with controversy as it appears that the U.S. is placing Chalabi in an elevated position over other expatriate groups. The appearance of Chalabi emanates from Rumsfeld who asked the President to take advantage of a swiftly changing situation in Iraq to install Chalabi's interim government. However, Secretary of State Powell is still working to have a broader based Iraqi establishment. State, backed by CIA officials, says Chalabi is a charlatan who hasn't lived in Iraq since 1958 and has no constituency there.

This is a fight between internationalists (Powell) and unilateralists (Rumsfeld). Rumsfeld and his team of neoconservative civilians at the Pentagon favor an activist and often unilateralist approach to advancing America's interests abroad. Powell's camp sees the world through a prism of interlocking interests that need to be protected by alliances and stability.

The lightly armed INC force is prepared to perform a variety of missions, from delivering humanitarian aid to hunting down supporters of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. According to the Rumsfeld camp, these Iraqi citizens who want to fight for a free Iraq will become the core of the new Iraqi army. Some of the force will be deployed to other southern cities, the official said, while another group will assist U.S. forces in northern Iraq. A large number of those sent south are Shiites who had been Iraqi soldiers and had taken refuge in the north over the past decade.

(SITE NOTE: In what is happening in Iraq, I want to scream -- "LOOK AT THE U.S. INVOLVEMENT IN KOREA OVER 50 YEARS AGO." After the WWII, the U.S. installed Major General Hodges with a military government and that made one hell of a mess. Now they want to do the same in Iraq??? The Cheju Massacres of 1949 was something that happened on Hodge's watch. Also the Rumsfeld bunch wants to install Chalabi of the INC as an interim Iraqi government. Does the U.S. remember its favorite in 1945 with Syngman Rhee? Rhee wasn't in Korea during the Japanese occupation of WWII, but headed up the government in exile. With the U.S. patronage he was selected over other more qualified candidates to become the first President of Korea. What a mess he made of it. The perpetuation of the Korean War until today because he refused to sign the armistice. In 1961, the Korean people ousted him. Yes, there are a lot of dissimilarities in the situations, but the point is that whenever America meddles in "nation building," it usually makes a mess of it. This is food for thought. We can only hope that we do not get into the same quagmire of the past.)

Korea: Things peaceful with no major anti-war demonstrations scheduled. Main discussions over the Future Alliance of the US-ROK I. Some local civic groups from Uijeongbu will protest having a new base built in their area -- when the small camps consolidate on the DMZ. (See Relocations of USFK and Protests (2003) for details.)

A small group of South Koreans who returned from anti-war activities in Iraq and Jordan began a protest at a downtown cathedral against the government's decision to send troops to Iraq. The nine members of the "Anti-war Peace Team of Korea" said they are staging an indefinite protest at Myeong Dong Cathedral for "a continuous struggle with people from all walks of life to block the troop dispatch." The protesters said they will engage in protests opposing the troop dispatch during the day and hold candlelight vigils during the evenings. (See Tongil News for photos of this small group.)

Day 20 (9 April: Korea):

Iraq: U.S. forces mount a major air and land assault on the Iraqi capital. The 3rd Infantry Division controls the western part of the city, while Marines move in from the east. U.S. forces are closing in on central Baghdad. Basically, the U.S. forces are fighting for control of the west bank of the Tigris where the government buildings are. The Iraqis still control the east bank of the Tigris which is the commercial district of Baghdad -- where many hotels are located.

Iraqi forces staged a major counterattack shortly before dawn with more than 20 buses and trucks full of fighters. In an attempt to overrun U.S. forces holding a strategic intersection on the western side of Baghdad. The counterattack began shortly after dawn, when dozens of Iraqi foot soldiers fired assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades at U.S. tanks blocking an intersection leading to a bridge over the Tigris. Two A-10s strafed the building tops. At least 50 Iraqi fighters were killed. Around daybreak, troops with the Army's 101st Airborne Division launched an attack on an eight-story former Republican Guard headquarters about half a mile from the airport. Two Iraqis were reported killed in the gun battle. There were no U.S. casualties.

Following the attack, the U.S. forces crossed two key bridges on the Tigris and the Marines have swept up from the southeast. They are encircling the CENTER of Baghdad. (SITE NOTE: Remember that the Joint chiefs stated before the war that Baghdad was a "first world city surrounded by third world suburbs." The U.S. forces do not want to fight in the suburbs which would be a "knife fight in a phone booth" in the words of retired Gen. McPeek.)

Arab journalists from Al Jeezera have pleaded to let them out of their hotel which was hit after snipers used the hotel for shooting at the U.S. forces. One journalist was killed. Another hotel used by journalists was hit and two other foreign journalists (Spain/Ukraine) were killed. CENTCOM response was that they never target journalists, but the people knew what they were getting into when they stayed. The Iraqi forces are leaving behind missiles and caches of arms as they flee. The streets seem to be protected by irregulars and teens carrying AK-47s and rocket propelled grenades.

U.S. 101 Airborne Division took control of Republican Guard headquarters northeast of the Rasheed airport, where they had been taking sniper fire in recent days. U.S. Marines capture the Rasheed military airport in eastern Baghdad. Iraqis shoot down a U.S. A-10 "Warthog" plane near Rasheed airport in eastern Baghdad.

An F-15 was reported lost on Day 19 at Tikrit with two crewmen lost though details are unknown.

The battle for the center of government's quarter of Baghdad followed a battle through the night in the heart of the presidential compound. American officers at the international airport said that the relentless fighting included waves of suicide bombers, and that 600 Iraqis had died inside the presidential compound alone. A tank battle was under way at the north end of the presidential compound near the Jumhuriya Bridge on the west back of the river, extending a mile to the north. The white smoke of American tank fire responding to the Iraqi machine guns and rifles came within 600 yards of Information Ministry.

It is uncertain if the airstrike on the "leadership target" -- described bluntly as an assassination attempt by the BBC -- of senior Iraqi officials (possibly including Saddam and his two sons) was a success. The attack was carried out only 45 minutes after the C.I.A. passed on a tip to military planners in the Persian Gulf. It is still unclear whether Saddam or his sons were killed or wounded. There is a 60-foot crater in the Mansur neighborhood where a restaurant once stood. They are still digging people out of the rubble. Reporters note that there is no special effort on the excavation which might indicate that the target of Saddam was missed. The British BBC (Internet Edition) reported that if President Hussein survived and escaped Baghdad, he would go to Tikrit, the leader’s hometown and attempt his last stand there.

In Basra, British rout out the last of Iraqi Fedayeen forces in Basra and distribute badly needed fresh water to the public.

Findings of possible chemical weapons near Nasiriyah will take more two days of analysis, and if the initial positive finding was confirmed, samples would be flown to the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center in Maryland. Conclusive testing is still under way, but the latest tests indicate that barrels found in central Iraq do NOT contain chemical weapons agents as first suspected.

Iraqi opposition leaders from inside and outside the country are to meet in southern Iraq later this week to establish a consultative council, the first step toward the creation of a postwar interim government. U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad is expected to fly from Washington for the meeting, where at least some Iraqis expect London-based opposition leader Ahmed Chalabi to be chosen as head of the new council. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), one of two groups that control the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq, said they would not accept Mr. Chalabi. Other participants will be the Iraqi National Accord, the Tehran-based Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

That would represent a victory for the Pentagon in a struggle with the State Department and the CIA about the future leadership of Iraq. Notably missing from the invitations to the consultive council are the exile groups that have assisted the State Department in the past months. Gen. Garner's team of U.S. civilian experts and Iraqi advisers is expected to preside over Iraq's 23 ministries and agencies until an all-Iraqi interim authority can be established to run the country and prepare for general elections.

However, in a press briefing from Northern Ireland, President Bush strongly stated that the UN would play a "vital role" in the reconstruction of Iraq ALONG WITH the coalition. What the specifics of "vital role" meant was not discussed. There was talk on the BBC that the Iraqi Air Force be asked to form the core element of the new Iraqi Army as they have not been "tainted" by the war.

Korea: College students held a peaceful anti-War protest in Seoul. (Go to Tongil News for photos.) Another very small and peaceful candlelight demonstration held in Seoul. (Go to Tongil News for photos.)

With growing expectations that the war in Iraq is likely to end soon, South Korea's construction companies are busily preparing for the U.S.-led rehabilitation of that country. The sources said the builders are strengthening cooperation with related U.S. firms and sending their workers back to Kuwait. The prevalent idea is that since Korea joined the coalition, the U.S. somehow "owes" Korea something in return.

Day 21 (10 April: Korea):

Iraq: BAGHDAD FALLS!!! The elements in Baghdad widened their control and the west bank of the Tigris is considered under the control of the U.S. forces. In Baghdad a emotional and historic sight was shown on international TV as the statue of Saddam Hussein was being attacked with sledge hammers as the Iraqis came out of their homes. Later the Marines showed up with a Bradley Fighting Vehicle and assisted in toppling the statue. One tense moment was when the Marine hung a U.S. flag over the face of the statue, but it was quickly removed and replaced with the flag of old Iraq. The fact that the flag once flew over the Pentagon on 9/11 means nothing to the Arab world -- all they saw was justification that the Americans came as conquerors. An Iraqi picked up the American flag and waved it from the statue as the old Iraqi flag was draped around the neck of the statue. As the statue was toppled, the crowd rushed forward stomping on the statue. The head was last seen being dragged down the road by a group of Iraqis.


Marines place U.S. flag over Saddam Statue (09 Apr 03)

The end of Saddam Hussein's regime is being spread throughout Baghdad where the TV was off the air. In the city, the military cautioned that holdout fighters were still a threat, mostly on the west side of the Tigris River. But the scenes of jubilation — as well as the notable absence of any Iraqi authority — signaled that the rest of the city could soon capitulate to the coalition advance. The loudest celebration were heard in Saddam City, a poor, predominantly Shiite area that has long been considered a hotbed of anti-Saddam unrest where small bands of youths tore down portraits of Saddam and chanted, “Bush! Bush! Thank you!”

Sporadic fighting continues in the city, but there is extensive looting that is taking place. U.S. troops occupied the Oil Ministry. But the nine-story Ministry of Transport building was gutted by fire, as was the Iraqi Olympic headquarters, while the Ministry of Education was partially burned. Near the Interior Ministry, the office building of Saddam's son Odai stood damaged, its upper floors blackened. U.S. troops manned checkpoints around the city, and the Marines discovered an enormous cache of weapons that included 250 to 300 82mm mortar systems, enough for more than 30 battalions. They also found as many as 300 rocket-propelled grenade systems, hundreds of machine guns, million of rounds of ammunition, and two working T-72 tanks, as well as several others that were being repaired. Reports are that the looters are looting the government buildings, but not their neighbors homes. One reporter said they have taken looting to the level of an art form. This is a scene throughout the country. There is no police and the military is not equipped to do this duty. There is growing concern.

In the North, there has been a lull as the U.S. forces consolidate their positions and allow the airstrikes to soften up Mosul and Kirkuk. U.S. planes strike Iraqi positions in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Kurdish forces quickly moved in to seize a mountain-top air-defense installation, clearing out Iraqi forces surrounding the city. Kurdish forces inch closer to Kirkuk. The northern Iraq city’s oil fields remain under the control of Iraqi forces. U.S. warplanes pound Tikrit, targeting the Republican Guard’s Adnan division and attempting to ensure that Saddam’s government is unable to regroup in his hometown. U.S. special operations forces operate in northern Iraq to prevent Iraqi troops from moving toward Saddam’s birthplace, Tikrit. Reports indicate U.S. forces are preparing to open a new front by launching an assault on Tikrit.

Looting in Basra is rampant as British forces move through the city. British appoint a local sheik as the city’s leader. The port of Um Qaasr is said to be fully operational though port needs dredging with water and electricity returned. Population has swelled to 400,000 as people pour in for food or to seek jobs.

Hospitals in Baghdad were overflowing and UN humanitarian aid has been cut off because of security concerns. The United Nations said about $720 million in relief supplies were on trucks and ships bound for Iraq, but that it still needs $2.2 billion in emergency funds for more wartime relief. The city's electricity, sewage and water systems are said to be severely limited, raising fears that dysentery and cholera could run rampant if steps are not taken soon. Baghdad also saw the most intensive bombing of the war, and International Red Cross officials say many hundreds of civilian casualties are crammed into its overwhelmed hospitals and clinics.

Concerns over the Arab mujadeen fighters are fading with the fall of Baghdad. They have come from Egypt, Sudan, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Algeria, Morocco, Yemen and the Palestinian territories. Most of those taken prisoner so far have been ordinary men with little or no military training, except for some from the Palestinian territories. At a former Republican Guard installation in Baghdad the Marines captured eight Islamic militants from France, Algeria, Egypt and Jordan who had come to Iraq to kill Americans.

Iraqi death squads continue to operate in remote parts of western Iraq, and Marines are concerned about a potential stronghold in Al Kut, where an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 fighters are mustering. The force is a mix of remnants from the battered Republican Guard, Baath Party militia and foreign volunteers from other Arab countries.

With the fall of Baghdad, Iraq's U.N. ambassador declared Wednesday, "the game is over" - and became the first Iraqi official to concede defeat in the U.S.-led war. Mohammed Al-Douri expressed hope that the Iraqi people will now be able to live in peace.

The Defense Department feels "vindicated" from the media attacks in early weeks of war. Bush and Rumsfeld warn of dangers ahead and cautious optimism. There are still pockets of resistance and the north to gain control of yet. However, world leaders are joining the welcome news of the end of fighting soon.

Retired U.S. Gen. Jay Garner has been named head of the post-war “Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Affairs,” but sources close to the general say that details of how and when this agency’s authority will be exercised remain undetermined. Rumsfeld stated he is already in operation in Kuwait organizing relief efforts even as the conflict progresses. The key question of forming a new Iraqi administration is: "How will U.S. administrators determine which Iraqi civil servants may continue to serve and which are too tainted to stay?"

As the first measure to establish the Iraqi interim government, a meeting of Iraqi dissidents and local leaders is scheduled to be held. Retired U.S. Gen. James Garner, who has been appointed as head of the interim administration, 14 Iraqi exiles and 29 leaders of Iraq will attend the meeting. It is expected to be held sometime after April 12. Russia, France and Germany will hold a three nation summit in St. Petersburg, Russia on Friday. As the 3 nations are expected to discuss their rationale on why the U.N. should govern post-war Iraq, diplomatic conflict is expected to ensue.

Leader of the Iraqi National Congress (INC) exile group, Ahmed Chalabi, spoke to the crowds preaching the choice of a new administration was theirs. He also chastized the U.S. for the civil unrest and looting. There is some reservations of his being appointed as an interim Iraqi leader as he has not set foot in Iraq since 1958 -- and he incited the Kurds to rebellion in the 1980s but when things turned sour, he faded into the woodwork. Others claim he has been convicted of corruption in Jordan.

The Arab world seemed stunned in a sense that it is being taken as an Arab defeat. Their jihad has fizzled -- though they still use the term as American "invaders" and "occupiers." The photo of the statue showed ONLY the Marine putting the American flag on the face of the famous Saddam statue, but not the Iraq flag nor the shot of an Iraqi taking the American flag and waving it to the crowds. Al Jeezera Arabic television blamed the U.S. for intentionally targeting the journalists. Syria had not mentioned the fall of Baghdad at all.

Korea: The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) advised local firms to try to obtain subcontracts from U.S. companies if they seek involvement in postwar restoration projects in Iraq. The proposal was based on an analysis of the required repair work which was issued by its Washington branch.

Leave it to Koreans to sniff a profit anywhere. Amid growing signs of an early end to the Iraqi war, South Korea's government and builders are going all out to participate in the postwar reconstruction effort. The government plans to send a market survey mission to Iraq, hold an exhibition of Korean products in the war-torn country and try to attract buyers for locally-made goods.

Day 22 (11 April: Korea):

Iraq: A Marine checkpoint in Baghdad was targeted by a suicide bomber in an attack that left several casualties. Looting in Baghdad has reached serious stages with looters stripping government buildings, but now turning to schools and hospitals. The U.S. is attempting to recruit former city workers who can return the infrastructure (water, electricity, etc.) and city administration to order.

Kurdish "peshmerga" fighters met little resistance as they entered Kirkuk. In addition, the all important oil fields, the second largest in Iraq, appeared intact. Many of the Arabs were moved to Kirkuk by Saddam Hussein over the past 20 years, while the Kurds who lived there were forced out, as a way to “Arabize” the city. U.S. officials have been worried that returning Kurds would try to take back their former homes and shops by force, leading to ethnic violence.

The Turkish government announced that they would send military "observers" to Kirkuk to ensure the Kurdish elements do not remain in Kirkuk. The worry is that the Kurdish will remain in Kirkuk and then take over the oil resources which in turn would form the financial basis of a Kurdish republic. There are tensions arising over the Kurdish fighters having passed over a "red line" -- meaning the entry into Kirkuk. The "Green Line" refers to the frontier between what was Saddam-controlled Iraq and the Kurdish regions that have enjoyed a semi-autonomous status since the first gulf war.

In the city of Naraj the U.S. had appealed to the Shia clerics to assist in maintaining control. The U.S. forces have not entered the mosques for fear of creating an incident -- even though Baath Party members have sought refuge in the mosques. To defuse the situation, a meeting was being held to discuss how the clerics could assist in bringing calm to the nation. The killings of Haider al-Kadar and Abdul Majid al-Khoei took place at the shrine, one of the holiest sites of Shiite Islam, practiced by the majority of Shia Iraqis. There was ill-feelings against Al-Kadar for his role in Saddam's Ministry of Religion. There appears to be a blood feud between factions that caused this.

U.S. has charged that Syria is aiding the Saddam regime to flee through their country. According to Donald Rumsfeld, some have gone on to third countries and some have remained in Syria.

Korea: Welcoming the news of the early close of the war on Thursday, businesses set out to pick their investment plans, previously shelved during the war, and devise plans to jumpstart the domestic market. The business community is licking their chops over prospective opening of markets in Iraq and are starting to outline possible actions to gain footholds in the new market. The Ministry of Construction and Transportation and the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy are preparing for participation in the rebuilding work of Iraq. The Ministry of Construction and Transportation has decided to dispatch a group of investigators to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in order to ascertain construction market trends in the region, and as soon as the investigation is finished, Choi Jong-chan, construction-transportation minister will visit the Middle East to help South Korean companies sign orders. Commerce, Industry, and Energy Minister Yoon Jin-sik, plans to make a trip to Iran, United Arab Emirates and Oman, with a group of interested parties to receive orders from April 29 to May 7. He is also reviewing measures to hold an exposition for Korean products.

Despite the rain, college activists were out on the streets to protest the war -- and demonstrate their anti-Americanism along the way. In addition to the pre-demonstration skits and performances, the demonstration featured the traditional confrontation with police and running through the streets to "flee" the police -- who incidentally weren't chasing. Also the traditional U.S. flag burnings have now returned. However, this time the U.S. was joined by the British and Australian flags. However, the activists thoughtfully also burned their own flag as well. This has never been seen before. Unfortunately, these flag burnings are sending very wrong signals to the U.S., Britain, and Australia. Though some people in the coalition countries may be against the war themselves, they don't like to see their flag burned. Undoubtedly, some conservative Koreans will pick up on the photo and shout in anger as well.




Anti-War Demonstrations: Daytime flag burning: Seoul (11 Apr 03)
Flag burning at night with U.S./Britain/Australian flags (Source: Tongil News)

A smaller group of college students staged a peaceful march in the driving rain across the Han River. Weaving through traffic, their anti-war sentiment was undampened.

Day 23 (12 April: Korea):

Iraq: The town of Kirkuk and Mosul have given up without a battle. The Iraqi Army troops surrendered without a fight. Looting immediately took place in both cities. Turkey is very concerned that the Kurdish "peshmerga" fighters may remain in the city. Though there are fewer Kurdish fighters apparent on the streets, the Kurdish political leader entered Kirkuk for a meeting. Kurdish civilians from their autonomous region in the far northeast of Iraq were streaming into Kirkuk delighted at the chance to see friends and relatives for the first time in years. Many were dressed in what appeared to be their finest clothes. Both cities have economic links to nearby oil fields that have been secured virtually intact. The Americans are in control of the oil fields, but on the outskirts of the cities.

Tikrit remains the last Northern city holdout. Kurdish "peshmerga" fighters will NOT be involved in the upcoming battle. Whether the 4th ID was going to be involved is still unknown. U.S. warplanes pound Tikrit, targeting the Republican Guard’s Adnan Division and attempting to ensure that Saddam’s government is unable to regroup in his hometown.

U.S. warplanes fired six satellite-guided bombs at an intelligence building in Ramadi, 60 miles west of Baghdad, believing that Saddam's half brother, Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, was inside. U.S. commanders said they were still assessing damage and casualties from the strike. CENTCOM has distributed a list of 55 wanted dead-or-alive Iraqis to its forces at checkpoints. U.S. special operations forces also have set up roadblocks along routes to Syria, searching for fleeing members of Saddam's regime and for fighters or equipment coming in from Syria, according to U.S. military officials.

U.S. troops were trying to curb looting that continued unabated for a third straight day. In parts of the capital, Marines were starting to enforce a dusk-to-dawn curfew. The looters' latest targets included Baghdad's nursing college and engineering college. The lack of security is blocking the sending of convoys with relief supplies into Iraq. The UN reminded the coalition forces that restoring law and order was mandated under the Geneva Convention. Keenly aware of the need to restore order, U.S. and U.N. officials were expected to meet with Iraqi opposition groups, religious leaders and tribesmen as early as this weekend in southern Iraq to try to set up a provisional council of Iraqi leaders.

Until a new Iraqi government is formed, the Pentagon envisions parallel ministries led by Americans and Iraqis, according to Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz. He told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the oversight of public services such as health care and electricity would gradually shift from the U.S.-led ministries to the Iraqi ones.

A Marine Corps combat engineering unit claimed to have found an underground network of laboratories, warehouses and bombproof offices beneath the closely monitored Tuwaitha nuclear research center just south of Baghdad. The Marines said they discovered 14 buildings at the site which emitted unusually high levels of radiation, and that a search of one building revealed "many, many drums" containing highly radioactive material. If documented, such a discovery could bolster Bush administration claims that Saddam Hussein was trying to develop nuclear weaponry. IAEA Inspectors on the other hand feel that this is previously recorded material and that the Marines may have broken the UN seal. CENTCOM however denied knowledge of this discovery and former IAEA inspector stated that the teams had never found any underground chambers.

The U.S. has now started playing a political game of "pay back" against those did not support it. The opponents to the war are now being portrayed as opposed to the war for fiscal reasons, not humanitarian ones. In the meantime, Russia, France and Germany were meeting in Russia to come up with a unified position on how to approach the post-war Iraq reconstruction, the fate of contracts with the now defunct Iraqi regime, and their long-term debts owed them. The following article appeared in Donga Ilbo on 10 April:

U.S. Requests Waiver on Iraqi Debt

The United States has requested those countries that have shown opposition to the Iraq War such as France, Germany and Russia to give up on debt collection from Iraq. Accordingly, it looks as though the United States and the three countries regarding the war will turn into an ‘economic war’, on the basis of the handling of liabilities after the war.

The debt Korean companies such as Hyundai Construction are supposed to receive from Iraq totals 1.6284 billion dollars, therefore damage to domestic business is very much a concern.

“The money lent to the dictator (President Saddam Hussein) by these three countries had been used for weapons purchases, the construction of presidential palaces as well as suppression of Iraqi citizens. Methods of persuading countries to waive all or a part of their claims on Iraq must be seriously considered in order for the new soon-to-be born Iraqi government to be burdened less from its debt,” said U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz during an executive military committee meeting on April 10.

He also suggested that Russia, France and others would most likely not acknowledge contracts they made on petroleum development during the period of the Hussein regime stating that “the long term development plan of petroleum in Iraq must be decided by the new Iraqi government.”

Pointing out France, who stubbornly opposed the war, Wolfowitz clarified that “it must pay the price” and expressed implicit ‘revenge’ against the anti-war countries of Europe.

According to the U.S. Center for Strategic & International Studies and Korean Ministry of Construction & Transportation, the total debt that Iraq owes foreign countries totals 384 billion 468.4 million dollars. From this total, Russia’s claims 64 billion dollars, France 4 billion dollars, and Germany 6 billion dollars as compensation from the previous Gulf War.

Meanwhile, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld clarified that the U.S. Army and the Kurdish militia advanced into Mosul, the northern-most city of Iraq on April 11 after seizing the northern oil fields of Kirkuk. He also added that the allies have started collecting weapons from Iraqi soldiers along with warm welcomes from residents. The U.S. Army has intensified bombing on the northern cities of Tikrit and Quaim (border city), predicted to be the last pockets of resistance for the Hussein regime.

After clarifying the three steps of handing over power to the new Iraqi government through the steps of ‘military administration - temporary Iraqi government - Iraqi self government’, Wolfowitz stated at the executive military committee meeting, “our best interest is in handing over Iraq to the Iraqis as soon as possible”

Turkey has sent military inspectors to Kirkuk due to the concern over agitation of the Kurds within Turkey following the Kurds seizing the northern region of Iraq. The United States has also sent its First Infantry Division residing in Germany in order to relieve the Kurdish militia there.

Meanwhile, USA Today reported on April 11 that an executive officer of the Information Center of the Department of Defense stated that “President Hussein deceased on April 7 due to U.S. bombings and it is believed that his dead body is in the debris of a collapsed building.”

Korea: A group of civic organizations staged a rally in Seoul City Plaza to mark the International Day Against War, a spokesman for "Stop the War" said Friday. Stop the War and several other civic organizations expected over 10,000 people to gather in Seoul, but the turnout appeared to be in the thousands. This smaller size reflects the protests worldwide where much smaller turnouts were reported. For example, only a few thousand turned out in Washington, DC. In London, the 20,000 turnout was much different from the previous million plus turnout. The same was true for anti-war protests in France with and Germany with 12,000 people. However, around 50,000 protesters marched in Rome and nearly 50,000 school children and other protesters marched in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Anti-War Demonstrations: Daytime protests (Source: Tongil News)

Rev Mun and his War Council during the demonstrations (12 Apr 03) (Source: Tongil News)

(See Anti-War Video (April 12) -- Street performances showing U.S. as splitting the Koreas; speeches.)
(See Anti-War Video (April 12) -- Street March; Demonstration confrontation with police -- beaten back with shields and pepper spray.)
(See Anti-War Video (April 12) -- Candlelight vigil in Seoul City Plaza with speeches and Protest Songs -- again "F _ _ KING U.S.A." a hit. (See Fucking U.S.A..) Cute performance of North Korean song.)

There were some clashes with riot police as some protestors tried to climb atop the police buses, but were beaten back with batons and pepper spray. The crowd turned ugly and a fire extinguisher (with dry chemical) was shot into the crowd to disperse them. The crowd was fighting the police to climb over the buses so they could get at the US Embassy. The photographic effect appeared to be tear gas but none of the riot police had gas masks.

Anti-War Demonstrations: Police Confrontation (Source: Tongil News)

Tens of thousands were expected to join similar rallies in Busan, Incheon, Daegu, Gwangju and other major cities. Tongil News showed a small anti-war children's exhibit was set up in Seoul with art and projects for the young. In Kunsan, there was nothing -- but then it never had anything in the first place except for the one brave young man who braved the elements alone at the corner in front of the base.

A South Korean activist group said it will send two physicians to the Middle East to provide medical care to Iraqi children wounded during the war. The group calling itself the Korean Federation of Activists Fighting for Health Rights (KFHR) said the physicians will leave Saturday evening for Amman, Jordan, carrying anesthetics and other emergency medicines.

An item appeared in the Yonhap News on 12 Apr that reiterates what we said in the first days of the war. The North Korea for all its bravado -- and more importantly, the South Koreans -- must face up to the new reality of how America will deal with menacing regimes -- unilaterally and with preemptive strikes if necessary. The news item stated: "The method and speed of the U.S. war against Iraq will apparently leave a deep imprint on and around the Korean Peninsula, which is in the middle of a drawn-out nuclear dispute. The biggest lesson is how the international community, and specifically the United States, has changed the way it deals with terrorist suspects and menacing regimes since the Sept. 11 attacks."

Day 24 (13 April: Korea):

Iraq: Looting continues in Baghdad with government buildings picked clean and then burned. Then private shops and marketplaces were ransacked. The Museum with antiquities were looted and smashed. After the easy pickings was over, the looters started to turn to private homes. Neighborhoods have started to form groups to protect their neighborhoods from looters. BBC showed residents armed with axes, guns and dogs patrolling their neighborhoods.

Vigilante acts are starting to appear in Baghdad. People claimed to have worked for the regime as well as looters are being targeted. The danger is that this type of action can easily enflame religious hatreds. BBC reports that the U.S. must step in immediately. The U.S. forces have asked for the police and public service workers to return to work. The concern at this point is that the looting also destroys any paper trails to the people linked to the regime. In most cases, the documents were cleaned out or destroyed prior to the regime fleeing the government buildings. Reports are that some have returned, but it is unknown if they have been put back to work. A dusk-to-dawn curfew has been applied by the U.S. forces. A report was heard that hundreds of UN peace keepers were going to be sent in shortly.

Hospitals in Baghdad are overloaded and some have been looted. Some hospitals are having to arm themselves with militias to protect the hospitals from looters. Some medical personnel are afraid to report to work. The first humanitarian flights had arrived at Baghdad’s international airport since the American takeover — two C-130 transport planes with 24,000 pounds of medical supplies from the Kuwaiti government for hospitals in Baghdad. The 20 tons of supplies donated by the Kuwaiti government were among the first badly needed equipment and medicines to reach Baghdad since U.S. forces took control of the city on Day 9. It is still not safe enough to send UN aid workers into Iraq. As a result, tons of food under the World Food Program are sitting in warehouses in Kuwait. UNICEF sent seven trucks loaded with water supply equipment, medical supplies and educational equipment into northern Iraq on Day 12. About 70 UNICEF trucks have entered Iraq in recent days, mostly from the south, and more shipments are planned. The first trickle of food aid to reach the southern city of Nasiriyah on Day 11.

Special operations forces and the 173rd Airborne have “secured” the city of Kirkuk and its airfields and the Kurdish fighters are to leave. Looting in Kirkuk blamed by some residents on Iraqi deserters dressed as Kurds -- but that would be far fetched. Turkish observers are with the American forces to ensure the Kurdish fighters do withdraw and the Turkish government was satisfied with the process. Americans are also entering Mosul to replace the Kurdish fighters there. The initial looting still continues but seems to have been controlled. On famous scene is when the looters broke into the town's bank and did not know whether to haul the money away or throw it into the air. In the northern town of Mosul, the police are working beside the Kurdish fighters to reduce the looting. The town of Kirkuk has also appealed for civilian workers to return to work as well.

The coalition forces continue to target military targets around Tikrit. However, the attack may fizzle. Coalition forces were reported to be within 60 miles of Tikrit. With none known to be in the city itself, hard information about defenses there was hard to come by, and much of it was contradictory. But as time wore on, it looked more and more as though Tikrit could possibly fall without much of a fight. Intelligence from a Predator reconnaissance drone indicated that Saddam’s followers could be abandoning their posts. Videotape showed no defensive preparations. Instead, it showed looting in the streets.

The elements of the 1st U.S. Marine Expeditionary Force (Task Force Tripoli) are heading to Tikrit along with the 4th ID. Arrival of the forces at Tikrit is in two days. The 4th Infantry Division has some 175 Bradley fighting vehicles and around 150 M1-A1 M1-A2 Abrams tanks equipped with top of the range electronic technology that will be tested in combat for the first time in Iraq. It also has an aviation brigade with Apache and Black Hawk helicopters and an artillery brigade. Special forces are believed to be already operating in the area.

In Basra, British are to start patrolling the city with local police to control the looting. BBC criticized the use of former Iraq policemen who supported the Saddam regime.

As the war is drawing down, the media is looking for a story. CENTCOM has stated that the U.S. military forces will NOT become a police force. The media is starting to accuse the U.S. of not stopping the looting; then accusing them of using Iraqi police that have returned as they were part of the former regime; then they accuse the Hungarian police contingent of terrorist practices; and the list continues. In fact the media even turned on its own when CNN finally admitted that the price it paid for having the only western bureau in Iraq was playing the Hussein regime's game -- and suppressed stories such as when one of their Iraqi cameramen was tortured for weeks and the many atrocities they observed.

One of the 55 regime members Saddam’s science adviser Lt. Gen. Amer al-Saadi surrendered and insisted no weapons of mass destruction exist in Iraq. Al-Saadi was the official liaison with U.N. weapons inspectors before the war, and he is suspected of knowing where weapons of mass destruction are stored and which Iraqis were involved in the alleged program. Former weapons inspectors state that Al-Saadi's claims of no knowledge of WMD is a lie so he may be trying to "cut a deal" to save his hide.

The warnings about Syria has taken on serious undertones. There are hints that Syria could be the next target if Syria cooperated in hiding Saddam's WMD. Richard Perle, one of the chief U.S. ideologists behind the war to oust Saddam Hussein, warned that the United States would be compelled to act if it discovered that Iraqi weapons of mass destruction have been concealed in Syria. Perle said that if the Bush administration were to learn that Syria had taken possession of such Iraqi weapons, "I'm quite sure that we would have to respond to that." "It would be an act of such foolishness on Syria's part," he continued, "that it would raise the question of whether Syria could be reasoned with. In western Iraq, U.S. troops seized control of crossings on two highways leading into Syria. There was tough resistance near Qaim, on the Syrian border, raising speculation that the town might be site for illegal weapons. U.S. forces stopped a bus with 59 men of military age who had $630,000 in cash and a letter offering rewards for killing American soldiers. Military officials said the bus was headed for Syria.

The problem was exacerbated when a Marine at a checkpoint near a hospital was shot by two assailants posing as gardeners. One was killed and the other escaped. The dead assailant had Syrian papers on him. The U.S. forces are worried over foreign jihad fighters entering the country and the discovery of 50 vests filled with C-4 explosives and ball-bearings caused great concern.

It was reported that the first meeting of the U.S. and Opposition Iraqi leaders was to be held on 15 April. There is great speculation as there still appears to be an in-house fight between the CIA and State and the Pentagon over who should be included in the meeting.

Korea: Small turnouts for nationwide protests. Mainly college students, the protests are notably anti-American -- with some contempt heaped on Britain, Australia and Korea just to be fair. The military victory in Iraq and the sights of people welcoming the "invaders" has deflated the popular support for the moment. Instead of protesting, most people took advantage of the cool spring weather to be outdoors with friends to look at the cherry blossoms or spring flowers.

MBC TV news reported that the 100-man medical contingent and a 300-man engineer unit would leave at the end of the month and the remaining 300-man engineer unit would leave in May.

The South Korean embassy in the Iraqi capital was bombed by U.S. warplanes and then looted by Iraqis before being deserted amid days of widespread looting and anarchy after American troops entered the city. The three-story building alongside the Tigris river, which bisects Baghdad, had signs of being hit by three bombs, with one hole of over 15 centimeters in diameter on a wall.

Day 25 (14 April: Korea):

Iraq: In Baghdad, nighttime curfew in effect. Three hospitals guarded at present, but protection expanding as the city is pacified. Normalcy seems to be returning and people who left the city for the north are now returning. Looting eased in Baghdad and signs of everyday life begin to return to the Iraqi capital with busses running and some shops reopening. The U.S. forces are enrolling people who will fill out the infrastructure. Anxious to restore calm to Baghdad, hundreds of Iraqi police and civil servants responded to U.S. calls to meet in the city center on Sunday and discuss returning to service. However, others like an Iraqi Police General were rejected because of their affiliation with the past regime. The bulk however are lower-level workers. The biggest problem is that there is no pay structure. How they will be paid will be worked out later. In Um Quassr a TV report showed the workers being paid with U.S. money by the British forces.

In Baghdad, U.S. Marines and special forces found two short-range Frog-7 missiles — each capable of carrying 25 gallons of chemical agents. One, on its mobile transporter/launcher, was found in nursery among potted plants and palm trees; the second was found 500 yards away in a trailer in front of a University of Baghdad administrative building. Large caches of arms continue to be found in schools.

Nasiriyah has become the "Free Iraqi Fighters" of about 700 fighters who are now only going on joint patrols. On Tuesday, a meeting and U.S. will be held there to start the ball rolling on the new Iraq government.

There were reports of 20 deaths in Mosul in what was first feared to be ethnic-based violence. However, it appears that these were looters of both ethnic groups shot by vigilante groups. Chaotic scenes in Iraq's third-largest city as U.S. sends in more forces to fill vacuum. Predominant Sunni Arab population complain about presence of Kurd fighters. Mosul appears to be relatively calm after the 173rd Airborne arrived to replace the Kurdish fighters. In Kirkuk, U.S. says northern oilfield could resume production in "a few weeks."

In the north, the Marines of Task Force Tarawa split with one element heading to Kirkuk and the second element heading to Tikrit. The Marines advancing on Tikrit rescued seven POWs near the town of Sammarah. Five were part of the 507th Maintenance Company convoy that was ambushed in the southern city of Nasiriyah on March 23. The other two soldiers were Army crewmen captured early the morning of March 24 when their AH-64A Apache Longbow attack helicopter was shot down by Iraqis during a predawn airstrike near Najaf.

The Marines were not experiencing major resistance on the outskirts of Tikrit. On the southern outskirts of Tikrit U.S. Marines fought Iraqi forces, including tanks. Overhead were Marine F-18s and cobra assault helicopters. It was first thought that they would wait for the 4th ID, but they entered the city around dusk because of the lack of resistance. The leaders of Tikrit apparently fled the city on 12 April after negotiating a “surrender” to the Americans.

U.S. Marines entered Tikrit at dusk and found the center was virtually deserted. Most residents were staying inside because they feared fighting in the streets. Unlike Baghdad and other Iraqi cities where U.S. troops had control, there was no looting in Tikrit and Saddam posters, murals and statues had not been destroyed. U.S. forces found Iraqi military equipment sitting abandoned in the city. At the entrance to Tikrit, a handful of residents took up arms to prevent paramilitaries loyal to the Iraqi leader, called “Saddam’s Fedayeen,” from returning to the city.

Saddam Hussein’s half-brother, Watban Ibraham al-Hasan al-Tikriti, was captured near the northern city of Mosul by local tribesmen several days ago and was handed over to U.S. troops. He was was believed to be headed for Syria at the time. Watban was dismissed from his position as interior minister in 1995 and made a presidential advisor. Some analysts say he had been estranged from the regime because he posed a threat to Saddam. On the now famous "deck of cards" of 55 most wanted, he is listed as a Presidential adviser in the middle of the "deck." Also in custody is the head of the country’s nuclear program, Jaffar al-Jaffar, and Saddam's science adviser Lt. Gen. Amer al-Saadi. The head of Iraq’s nuclear program for nearly two decades, al-Jaffar recently surrendered, but not to U.S. authorities.

Korea: South Korea will soon dispatch its officials to the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA), formed by the United States to administer Iraq on an interim basis, to actively take part in the rehabilitation projects in Iraq. "Currently officials in our mission in Washington assume the role of liaison officers with the ORHA," the official said. "We need to send our officials to the ORHA if we provide humanitarian assistance to Iraq." Seoul will also consider reopening its embassy in Baghdad which was shut down in the wake of the Persian Gulf War in 1991.

Seoul to take part in Iraqi rehabilitation

The South Korean government plans to dispatch officials to a U.S.-led agency that will fill in the governance of post-war Iraq until the establishment of an interim leadership there, sources said yesterday. The Defense Ministry also announced Saturday that it will send an advance team of some 20 soldiers to the Gulf region on April 17, its first batch of 673 non-combat troops to support the U.S.-led war.

"At present, an official at the South Korean Embassy in Washington serves as a liaison officer between Seoul and the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA)," said a ranking government official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The ORHA, which is set to begin its operation in the southern Iraq port city of Umm Qasr, will be responsible for organizing reconstruction and humanitarian efforts in Iraq. Its Iraqi operation will be headed by retired U.S. Lt. Gen. Jay Garner, who led the 1991 Kurdish relief efforts.

"It's necessary to dispatch officials to the ORHA to prepare the provision of humanitarian, financial assistance to Iraq," the government source said.

He said the government plans to finalize its position on the Iraqi rehabilitation at its cabinet council meeting tomorrow.

Also, the Seoul government will soon determine whether to reopen its embassy in Baghdad, which it closed shortly after the opening of the 1991 Gulf War, the official said.

On Saturday, the Defense Ministry said in addition to the advanced team, 300 soldiers will leave here April 30 and the rest of the troops heads out May 14.

The Korean troops, composed of 573 military engineers and 100 medics, will likely be deployed in southern parts of Iraq, where more "noncombat, supportive" missions are needed, the ministry said in a statement. It said the date for the dispatch of the second and third units may be changed, depending on the details of their specific missions.

"We are sending the advance team early in order to show our sincerity to 'actively' respond to U.S. calls for the troop dispatch," said a ministry official, who wished to remain anonymous.

Earlier this month, the National Assembly approved a proposal by President Roh Moo-hyun on the dispatch of noncombat troops to the Middle East area despite relentless anti-war public protests.

(khj@koreaherald.co.kr)
By Kim Hyung-jin Staff reporter

North Korea's sudden willingness to negotiate with the U.S. may have been influenced by the U.S. swift victory over Iraq. However, pressure from China which flatly told the North that if the U.S. did perform a preemptive strike because it had pushed the crisis too far, it would not support it. President Bush stated upon hearing the news of the North's "hint" at negotiations, ''Everybody knows our position, which is that we expect there to be a nuclear weapons-free Peninsula,'' Bush said. ''The good news is it's a position shared by the Chinese ... by the South (Korea) ... the Japanese.'' This last statement is a swap at the South which has frustrated the U.S. by continuing its engagement policies with the North -- thus encouraging the North to pursue it path of brinksmanship. (See North Korean Crisis: (April 2003) for details.) The lesson for the South was that the U.S. would engage in a preemptive strike WITHOUT THE SUPPORT OF ALLIES. This was not lost on the South Korean military as the U.S. sought to relocate its troops south of the Han in discussions held in April. (See Relocation of USFK for details.)

Marshall Ramsey, Jackson, Mississippi (Apr 03)

Appearing to reassure North Korea, which believes it will be Washington's next military target once the war in Iraq is over, Bush said he was ''very hopeful'' the issue could be resolved peacefully. ''We will deal with each situation as it arises,'' Bush said. ''We've got common interests, and working together, I am very hopeful we'll be able to achieve those interests diplomatically.'' The South Korean government urged the U.S. and North Korea to begin multilateral talks as early as possible.

N.K. Remains Silent on Downfall of Iraqi Dictator

By Kim Kwang-tae

Seoul, April 14 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has kept mum about the collapse of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, a move that indicates a growing sense of insecurity about the regime's survival amid its nuclear endgame with the United States.

The conspicuous silence of Pyongyang's official media marks a stark contrast with its coverage of the U.S.-led military campaign until Baghdad fell to American and British troops.

Hussein's sudden downfall seems to have sent shivers through the spines of the North Korean leadership, especially its reclusive leader Kim Jong-il.

"The shock the North felt over the swift end of the Iraqi regime must have been enormous," Paik Hak-soon, a research analyst at the Sejong Institute, told Yonhap News Agency, noting they appeared to realize the high-tech military prowess of the United States.

Analysts also pointed out the collapse appeared to have reminded the North of the disintegration of communist regimes in Eastern Europe in the late 1980s.

"Kim Jong-il and the North Korean leadership were unnerved when communist regimes such as Ceaucescu's in Romania collapsed. For them, now it must be disquieting to see what happened to Saddam Hussein," Marcus Noland, a senior fellow of the Institute for International Economics in Washington, said in an e-mail interview with Yonhap.

The media coverage of a giant statue of Hussein in Baghdad being pulled to the ground by U.S. forces and destroyed by oppressed Iraqis has no doubt petrified the North's leaders and made them scurry to find a way out of the current impasse without losing face.

As in the case of Hussein in Iraq, towering statues of late North Korean president Kim Il-sung, father of current leader Kim Jong-il, are scattered across the isolated country.

It would be fair to say that just thinking about those statues being toppled by angry citizens might keep the junior Kim awake at night.

"Kim probably had a vision of the same thing being done to the many statues and posters of himself and his father and began concentrating on how to prevent the same thing from happening in North Korea," Noland noted.

In an apparent effort to rally the public behind its leader, the isolated country has recently heightened fear among its people that it could be next in Washington's sights.

Last week, thousands of North Koreans held rallies in Pyongyang and resolved to safeguard their "revolutionary" leadership.

After the fall of Baghdad last week, North Korea began stressing the need for strong military deterrence to avert a U.S. attack.

"The lesson of the Iraq war is that peace lies in having a strong military deterrence which can repel attacks by any high-tech weapons," the North's state-run Korea Central News Agency (KCNA), said last week.

The sense of insecurity among the North Korean leadership is not surprising, considering that the communist country was included in U.S. President George W. Bush's "axis of evil," along with Iraq and Iran, due to its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction.

So far, President Bush and senior administration officials have not ruled out military action against Pyongyang's suspected nuclear weapons program, touching off rampant speculations on both sides of the Korean Peninsula that the reclusive country may be the next target.

Iraq became the first "axis" country to be subjected to American military action for its alleged pursuit of weapons of mass destruction. Against this backdrop, the North's security concerns are not totally ungrounded as the CIA reportedly suspects it already has one or two nuclear weapons.

Adding fear to their concerns is Bush's negative perception of Kim Jong-il. In 2001, he expressed skepticism about the North Korean leader, which froze the dialogue between the two countries for almost two years.

In a thinly veiled warning to Pyongyang, Washington also warned last week that countries seeking weapons of mass destruction should draw the appropriate lesson from Iraq that the pursuit of those weapons is not in their national interest.

Recently, the United States seemed to have softened its stance toward North Korea, saying that the situation is different from Iraq and that it would seek a peaceful and diplomatic solution to the standoff.

In an apparent change of heart after witnessing how the absolute military supremacy of the U.S. unseated Hussein, the North said Saturday it could accept American demands for multilateral talks to address its suspected nuclear arms ambitions.

"If the U.S. is ready to make a bold switchover in its Korea policy for a settlement of the nuclear issue, the DPRK will not stick to any particular dialogue format," the KCNA quoted a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying.

Until then, the reclusive regime had rigidly insisted on having bilateral talks to address the nuclear row, a demand rejected by the United States.

With the North's new proposal, the ball is in America's court.

entropy@yna.co.kr

Michael Ramirez, Los Angeles Times (Apr 03)

Day 26 (15 April: Korea):

Iraq: CENTCOM said the war phase was winding down -- and still going "as planned." Later the Pentagon declared that major combat operations in Iraq were over after United States forces took control of Tikrit. U.S. forces seized the last major city held by Iraqi forces as scattered fighting continues throughout the country. The Iraqi Army is still mounting guerilla attacks in groups of 90-150. Fedayeen fighters still pose a serious threat to troops.

Operation Iraqi Freedom now shifts to two major objectives: destroying remnants of Fedayeen Saddam paramilitaries and non-Iraqi guerrillas, and rebuilding Iraq to nurture a new democracy. Other objectives include finding any weapons of mass destruction and key Saddam regime players, whether dead, hiding in Iraq or fleeing abroad.

Two U.S. Navy aircraft carriers and the ships in their battle groups will leave the Persian Gulf this week and return to their home ports. The departure of the USS Kitty Hawk and the USS Constellation reflects a winding down of the air campaign, although the Pentagon is still sending more ground forces to Kuwait and Iraq. The Kitty Hawk will return to its base at Yokosuka, Japan, and the Constellation will return to San Diego. The Kitty Hawk is scheduled to leave first, around the middle of this week, followed shortly by the Constellation. That will leave only one carrier in the gulf — the USS Nimitz, which just arrived to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln. The Lincoln is already headed back to its homeport of Everett, Wash. USS Theodore Roosevelt or the USS Harry S. Truman battle groups — both in the eastern Mediterranean for air missions over northern Iraq — may also be sent home soon. Monday was the last day that aircraft from all five carriers would fly missions over Iraq.

The 4th Infantry Division crossed the border into Iraq on 14 April. First to go were two convoys of about 500 tanks and other vehicles. It was not clear whether their destination was Baghdad or northern Iraq. The Army's 1st Armored Division is moving its equipment to ports for shipment to the gulf region, and its troops will follow by air in a couple of weeks.

In Baghdad, U.S. troops, with the help of Iraqi police, began to establish order in cities where chaos has reigned since the fall of Saddam’s government. In Baghdad, approximately 2,000 policemen have returned to work to restore law and order -- however, it was reported that only 800 were selected for operations with the U.S. forces. With a night curfew, the police has joined joint patrols.

A small number of religious and civil opposition leaders met in the capital to discuss security and restoring electricity and water. The meeting was led by an official of the opposition Iraqi National Congress, Mohammed Mohsen Zubaidi.

Still, the Iraqis distrust the U.S. forces. In the management of post-war Iraq, the U.S. forces expect an Afghanistan model in which a civilian government will take hold and the U.S. Army will offer support. U.S. soldiers are removing weapons caches from schools, mosques and hospitals in downtown Baghdad, so the facilities can be used safely by the people. Marines find caches of weapons and ammunition, including about 80 missiles capable of carrying nuclear or chemical warhead.

To many U.S. forces in Baghdad, the atmosphere has returned to what it was like pre-war: Every other day soldiers get a hot dinner and they have shower facilities and laundry services. Now the task of the U.S. Army is not combat but maintaining security and getting social facilities operating again.

U.S. Marines entered Tikrit without resistance. People were fleeing the city or remained within their homes. U.S. forces mop up resistance in Tikrit and capture a key Tigris River bridge. Everywhere they find military equipment apparently abandoned by the Republican Guard.

In Basra, Iraqi police return to patrols with British troops. Britain says it will not tolerate looting in the southern Iraqi city.

U.S. Army forces have discovered 11 large containers with equipment inside that appear to be elements of Iraq's covert mobile chemical and biological weapons program. The vessels, described as modified container express, or conex, trailers, were found buried near Karbala, about 50 miles south of Baghdad at the Karbala Ammunition Filling Plant.. The site was near a weapons plant. The 20-foot by 20-foot metal containers can be attached to trucks or rail cars. In addition to the containers, some 1,000 pounds of documents were discovered at the site. Gen. Freakly described the containers as "dual-use, chemical and biological." The mobile laboratories contained an estimated $1 million worth of new equipment and were "clearly marked so they could be found again," he said. The containers were found based on information from several Iraqis. Weapons inspectors visited the site where the containers were found on Feb. 23. Chief U.N. arms inspector Hans Blix dismissed the U.S. claims about the mobile facilities on March 7. The containers are under investigation. Later Hans Blix recommended that UN inspectors be included in the search for WMD to lend "legitimacy" to the search. Currently the U.S. are using former UN inspectors (American and British) to head up the search.

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell accused Syria of harboring fleeing officials of Saddam Hussein's government and threatened Damascus with economic or diplomatic sanctions. Other administration officials accused Syria of backing terrorists and amassing chemical and biological weapons.

Representatives of some of Iraq’s often-quarrelsome factions gathered at the invitation of the U.S. to begin shaping the country’s postwar government. U.S. officials issued invitations to the groups, but each picked their own representatives. About 100 Iraqis were expected, half from inside Iraq, half exiles. The moderator was to be Zalmay Khalilzad, the White House envoy to Iraq. Garner was also expected, along with representatives from Britain, Australia and Poland - countries that contributed forces to the coalition. The meeting took place at Tallil airbase, close to the 4,000-year-old ziggurat at Ur, a terraced-pyramid temple of the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians. The participants included Kurds, Sunni and Shiite Muslims from inside the country as well as others who have spent many years in exile. Many Iraqis said they would boycott the meeting -- including the Iran-based Supreme Council of the Islami Revolution -- and opposed U.S. plans to install retired Maj. Gen. Jay Garner as head of an interim administration. The INC's Chalabi did not attend. Thousands of Shiite Muslims whose representatives boycotted the meeting at Ur demonstrated in nearby Nasiriya against the gathering. A national conference is planned ultimately to select the interim administration, perhaps within weeks. The U.S.-led interim administration could begin handing power back to Iraqi officials within three to six months, but forming a government will take longer.

Korea: President Roh Moo-hyun said that the dispatch of noncombat troops to Iraq should be expedited now that the war is ending and troops there will be mostly engaged in humanitarian and rebuilding projects. The first set of troops will leave on 17 Apr, and the rest of the 673 chosen to go are scheduled to be Iraq-bound by 14 May. In a state meeting with ministers related to foreign affairs, Roh acknowledged the numerous demonstrations against the dispatch plan, but said there would now be no objections to the provision of reconstruction and humanitarian support. He also asked the relevant agencies to exert their utmost efforts in supporting the Iraqi people.


Seohui Battalion formed in South Cholla for Iraq Deployment (15 Apr 03)

On 14 Apr Former President George Bush Sr met with business leaders in Seoul. Only a few protestors along the streets with signs of "father of all bombs" saying he was not welcome greeted him. In the meeting he thanked the Korean government for its decision to send troops to Iraq and emphasized that the North's nuclear problems should be resolved within a multilateral framework. He expressed regret about the incident last June in which two Korean middle-school girls were killed and expressed concern about whether the incident had aggravated South-U.S. relations. Bush met for lunch and a closed conference with leaders from the five leading economic associations: the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Federation of Korean Industries, the Korea International Trade Association, the Korea Federation of Small Business and the Korea Employers Federation along with Embassy personnel. Bush said the nuclear crisis should be resolved within a multilateral framework and that the U.S. would solve the problem in cooperation with the South Korean government.

With the end of the military phase of the War in Iraq, the NGO groups are meeting to decide on the new direction to proceed with in their unified anti-American stance. Small group of NGO group leaders -- including the Rev. Mun Choi-hyun -- staged a small peaceful demonstration to "Stop the War" in Seoul. (See Tongil News for photos.)

In Jan 2003, the NGO groups under the Pan National committee brought Rev Mun's anti-War group to the forefront as the anti-American campaign dealing with the accidental death of two girls became a political hot potato. The signs that an economic backlash from the anti-Americanism was growing. President-elect Roh put a "gag order" on their anti-American actions. From "Yankee Go Home" chants on 31 Dec to virtual silence on 1 Jan showed its effectiveness.

However, all the NGO groups did was hide their anti-Americanism from the foreign press. The anti-Americanism was NOT expressed in English -- but written in Hangul. The Korean media also sensitive about the anti-American issue were selective in the images of the protests they published abroad. It worked very effectively except that many expats could read Korean and reported this action in newsgroups. First the burnings started as signs with the painted U.S. flag but later progressed to the actual flags. As the war on Iraq heated up, the anti-Americanism boiled to the top. Anti-Americanism became more pronounced and again the U.S. flag burnings increased along with attacks on the U.S. Embassy. American business symbols such as McDonald's Hamburger were attacked. However, the swift victory in Iraq and the end of the military phase -- along with the crowds greeting the coalition forces -- took the wind out of the movement. The last big anti-War demonstration was on 12 April.

On 15 April the NGO groups under the Pan National Committee met in a "Solidarity Meeting" to demand the withdrawal of the decision to dispatch troops to the Iraqi war and for the total revision of the SOFA. It was attended by NGO groups including the People's action for the Revision of the SOFA; Council for National Reconciliation and Reunification; Committee for the Closure of the U.S. Bombing Range in Maehyang-ri; Solidarity for the Return of U.S. Military Bases; Movement for the Return of the U.S. Military Base in Ryongsan; and Young Friends in the Era of Reunification. They accused the U.S. and the authorities of handling at their "joint consultation" the issues of transferring the U.S. military base in Ryongsan and repositioning of the U.S. second division in their favor. They underlined the need to totally revise the "SOFA" and "Mutual Defence Treaty". A resolution adopted at the meeting said that the authorities decided to dispatch troops to the Iraqi war by yielding to the U.S. pressure.

With the end of the military phase, there wasn't much to protest from the Korean anti-War side except to protest the war atrocities or human havoc. The swift end of the war seems to have caught the NGO groups by surprise. They were planning a anti-War demonstration on 19 April, but the war ended. Without a definitive anti-American cause, the Council for National Reconciliation and Reunification will take the lead in future demonstrations.

Day 31 (20 April: Korea):

End of the War: Iraq The military phase of the war has ended and along with it the interest of the world. Round the clock coverage by BBC has ceased. The 4th ID reached Baghdad, but it will be used in the north. The Army is slowly replacing the Marines who have taken on the duty of guarding the banks and hospitals from looters. Slowly life is returning to Iraq and along with it the protests of those wishing the U.S. to go home -- most likely the supporters of groups that boycotted the U.S. initiative for an interim government. The Pentagon's choice has arrogantly taken up the palace of Uday Hussein as his headquarters and is making statements of a pro-Iraq nature. He is pushing for a swift interim government with his party in the lead -- and him at the head.

Five most-wanted members of Saddam's regime have been caught along with two members of the Abu Nidal terrorist group. WMD has not been found as yet and now former UN inspectors have stated that they will not work under the U.S., but will verify any discoveries. Donald Rumsfeld has stated that he will need Iraqis to find the WMD. It the WMD have been buried like the containers vans recently found, it will be impossible to find such WMD in a country so vast.

The Arab neighbors of Iraq have met in Saudi Arabia and stated that they want the U.S. out. The U.S. however, is planning for a long stay and hope for bases in five strategic areas. The U.S. is also being criticized for allowing ONLY U.S. companies to bid for the reconstruction -- and one of them is tied to VP Cheney.

End of the War: Korea The initial advon of the non-combatant group was sent to CENTCOM to setup the area for follow-on non-combatant troops. At Inchon IAP, the group encountered a group of anti-War demonstrators with signs stating "No war." The remainder of the group will depart in May. The eyes of Korea shifted to the upcoming talks with North Korea over the nuclear issue.

On 19 April the National Police Agency (NPA) returned to a less heightened state of alert with the end of the military conflict in Iraq. Reverting its "anti-terror situation rooms" back to use for domestic security issues, the agency also lowered security around American facilities, including the U.S. Embassy, and other coalition nations' missions and residences.

Citizens groups from the conservative and progressive camps held separate rallies in Seoul to mark the 43rd anniversary of the April 19 revolution. April 19th marks the 43rd anniversary of the Student Revolt that toppled the First Republic of Lee Syng-man (Syngman Rhee) in 1960. President Roh visited Suyuri National Cemetery in northeastern Seoul, dedicated to students killed in a 1960 uprising.

The dilemma for the Pan National committee NGO groups is to find an appropriate anti-American protest that does not play directly into the hands of the American negotiators for a reduced USFK presence. There is also the growing awareness in the public that the anti-American protests are starting to impact their economy because there is a growing grassroots backlash from America. The continued protests in other areas are covered under Protests (2003).

For the NGO groups, the 19 April demonstrations mark the shift from anti-War to Unification. Instead of Rev Mun's anti-War group at the forefront, the Council for National Reconciliation and Reunification group will take the lead in future demonstrations. Most likely the common thread will resurface the theme will be that America planned the division of the two Koreas; orchestrated the Korean War; and kept the two Koreas separated for its own selfish aims ever since. The underlying anti-American theme will be easily seen. Expect increased radical college student involvement in this movement. (See Reunification-Peace Movement site in Hangul.) However, the problem is that their actions may upset the applecart in negotiations to keep the USFK on the DMZ. Any of their past radical routines will be ammunition for the U.S. negotiators.

There were other demonstrations such as the YMCA march that included children carrying signs of "no war." There were also street performances of the die-hard anti-War/anti-American groups even though the military phase of the war was over. Members of the ``hope for the 21st century youth cooperative'' held a demonstration near the Kyobo Building in Kwanghwamun, downtown Seoul to protest the dispatching of Korean troop to Iraq and calling for world peace. Some who took part in the rally lit candles to protest the deaths of two Korean school girls who were run over by a U.S. armored vehicle last year. They chanted anti-U.S. slogans and criticized the government for its decision to support U.S. actions in Iraq.


Unification Rally in Seoul (19 Apr 03) (Source: Tongil News)

Unification Rally at Kodong near DMZ
Offering Prayers for Unification (19 Apr 03) (Source: Tongil News)

Members of the anti-nuclear, anti-Kim Jong-il coalition, and April 19 youth groups convened a gathering in front of city hall to call for human rights improvements in North Korea. It is estimated that there were 2,000 people in attendance, though the photos seem to indicate a larger number. The protests were staged by the same groups in previous pro-USFK rallies. (See Pro-American Demonstrations or really Anti-Sunshine Policy Demonstration? for previous pro-USFK/Anti-North Korea rallies.)

Anti-North Korea Rally at National Assembly (19 Apr 03) (Source: Tongil News)

Anti-North Korea Rally at National Assembly (19 Apr 03) (Source: Tongil News)

Anti-North Korea Rally at National Assembly (19 Apr 03)
Left: College Students that don't want to be seen at anti-North Korea Rally;
Right: Veterans proud to be seen at the anti-North Korea Rally (Source: Tongil News)

Anti-North Korea Rally at National Assembly (19 Apr 03) (Source: OhMy News)

Please go to the following link at OhMy News for an article with photos of the demonstration. Click on the video link with the "OhMy TV" Icon. Click on VIDEO to go to the OhMy News article. I recommend everyone view this video clip.

It is not spectacular for its violence or the scenes in the demonstrations but some short portions at the end of the video when the anti-North Korean protestors met up with some anti-War/anti-American protestors on the street. It is almost comical in watching them topple, stomp and burn the Kim Il-sung figure in effigy -- with the police rushing in to shoot their fire extinguishers on the flames. These incidents are not important.

Near the end there is a face-off between the pro-USFK/anti-North demonstrators and anti-War/anti-American protestors. The anti-American side sat on the sidewalk and sang the traditional protest song heard since 2002 -- "F_ _ KING U.S.A" -- and the anti-North Korea side started chanting, "U-S-A, U-S-A." Yes...you heard me right...the Koreans were chanting "U.S.A" in the face of the anti-American groups. Good feeling. It wasn't the image of old religious fanatics that the liberal newspapers have tried to portray, but a mix of both young college students and older conservatives.

There is hope for Korea yet.

Die Hard anti-War/anti-American Skit in Seoul (19 Apr 03) (Source: Tongil News)

Anti-North Korea demonstrator face-off with anti-War faction (19 Apr 03) (Source: OhMy News)

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EPILOGUE ON THE U.S. TROOPS IN IRAQ: On 2 May President George Bush declared the war was over...though still not officially over as there were sporadic firefights. There have been confrontations where U.S. troops were fired on from crowds and they returned fire killing civilians. The noose has tightened around the former Baath leaders and slowly they are being captured -- though rumors abound about Saddam Husseim and his sons still on the loose. Islamic fundamentalists from the Iran-based Supreme Council on Islamic Revolution had boycotted the meeting to form a interim government. Retired Lt Gen Jay Gardner had assumed the role of head of reconstruction. The 23 ministries were headed by expat Iraqis under contract to the Defense Department. There are some discontent over the handing of lucrative reconstruction contracts to U.S. companies and nations -- including Korea -- are liking their chops at getting a piece of the pie. The Iraqi government workers are reporting back to work -- though most disclaim their membership in the Baath party. The hustle and bustle had returned to Baghdad with the resultant traffic jams. The biggest worry is that no Weapons of Mass Destruction have been found. The U.S. is increasing the number of experts sent to search -- but the UN is not welcome. The feelings towards Germany may be reflected soon in talks of withdrawing some of the troops to a different location. The ill-will politically towards France remains. The fleets in the gulf were sent home and the USS Kitty Hawk returns to Yokosuka on 6 May. The troops are being sent home as the war enters a new phase. The U.S. is withdrawing from Saudi Arabia and mothballing their command and control center there. Now comes the time for war stories as the troops start returning home.

The Men Who Won The War
An 'embed' looks at our soldiers

National Review
May 19, 2003 [as received]
By Jim Lacey

Since returning from Iraq a short time ago I have been answering a lot of questions about the war from friends, family, and strangers. When they ask me how it was over there I find myself glossing over the fighting, the heat, the sandstorms, and the flies (these last could have taught the Iraqi army a thing or two about staying power). Instead, I talk about the soldiers I met, and how they reflected the best of America. A lot of people are going to tell the story of how this war was fought; I would rather say something about the men who won the war.

War came early for the 1st Brigade of the 101st Airborne when an otherwise quiet night in the Kuwaiti desert was shattered by thunderous close-quarters grenade blasts. Sgt. Hasan Akbar, a U.S. soldier, had thrown grenades into an officers' tent, killing two and wounding a dozen others. Adding to the immediate confusion was the piercing scream of SCUD alarms, which kicked in the second Akbar's grenade exploded. For a moment, it was a scene of near panic and total chaos.

Just minutes after the explosions, a perimeter was established around the area of the attack, medics were treating the wounded, and calls for evacuation vehicles and helicopters were already being sent out. Remarkably, the very people who should have been organizing all of this were the ones lying on the stretchers, seriously wounded. It fell to junior officers and untested sergeants to take charge and lead. Without hesitation everyone stepped up and unfalteringly did just that. I stood in amazement as two captains (Townlee Hendrick and Tony Jones) directed the evacuation of the wounded, established a hasty defense, and helped to organize a search for the culprit. They did all this despite bleeding heavily from their wounds. For over six hours, these two men ran things while refusing to be evacuated until they were sure all of the men in their command were safe. Two days later Capt. Jones left the hospital and hitchhiked back to the unit: He had heard a rumor that it was about to move into Iraq and he wanted to be there. As Jones -- dressed only in boots, a hospital gown, and a flak vest -- limped toward headquarters, Col. Hodges, the 1st Brigade's commander, announced, "I see that Captain Jones has returned to us in full martial splendor." The colonel later said that he was tempted to send Jones to the unit surgeon for further evaluation, but that he didn't feel he had the right to tell another man not to fight: Hodges himself had elected to leave two grenade fragments in his arm so that he could return to his command as quickly as possible.

The war had not even begun and already I was aware that I had fallen in with a special breed of men. Over the next four weeks, nothing I saw would alter this impression. A military historian once told me that soldiers could forgive their officers any fault save cowardice. After the grenade attack I knew these men were not cowards, but I had yet to learn that the brigade's leaders had made a cult of bravery. A few examples will suffice. While out on what he called "battlefield circulation," Col. Hodges was surveying suspected enemy positions with one of his battalion commanders (Lt. Col. Chris Hughes) when a soldier yelled "Incoming" to alert everyone that mortar shells were headed our way. A few soldiers moved closer to a wall, but Hodges and Hughes never budged and only briefly glanced up when the rounds hit a few hundred yards away. As Hodges completed his review and prepared to leave, another young soldier asked him when they would get to kill whoever was firing the mortar. Hodges smiled and said, "Don't be in a hurry to kill him. They might replace that guy with someone who can shoot."

The next day, a convoy Col. Hodges was traveling in was ambushed by several Iraqi paramilitary soldiers. A ferocious firefight ensued, but Hodges never left the side of his vehicle. Puffing on a cigar as he directed the action, Hodges remained constantly exposed to fire. When two Kiowa helicopters swooped in to pulverize the enemy strongpoint with rocket fire, he turned to some journalists watching the action and quipped, "That's your tax dollars at work."

Bravery inspires men, but brains and quick thinking win wars. In one particularly tense moment, a company of U.S. soldiers was preparing to guard the Mosque of Ali -- one of the most sacred Muslim sites -- when agitators in what had been a friendly crowd started shouting that they were going to storm the mosque. In an instant, the Iraqis began to chant and a riot seemed imminent. A couple of nervous soldiers slid their weapons into fire mode, and I thought we were only moments away from a slaughter. These soldiers had just fought an all-night battle. They were exhausted, tense, and prepared to crush any riot with violence of their own. But they were also professionals, and so, when their battalion commander, Chris Hughes, ordered them to take a knee, point their weapons to the ground, and start smiling, that is exactly what they did. Calm returned. By placing his men in the most non-threatening posture possible, Hughes had sapped the crowd of its aggression. Quick thinking and iron discipline had reversed an ugly situation and averted disaster.

Since then, I have often wondered how we created an army of men who could fight with ruthless savagery all night and then respond so easily to an order to "smile" while under impending threat. Historian Stephen Ambrose said of the American soldier: "When soldiers from any other army, even our allies, entered a town, the people hid in the cellars. When Americans came in, even into German towns, it meant smiles, chocolate bars and C-rations."

Ours has always been an army like no other, because our soldiers reflect a society unlike any other. They are pitiless when confronted by armed enemy fighters and yet full of compassion for civilians and even defeated enemies.

American soldiers immediately began saving Iraqi lives at the conclusion of any fight. Medics later said that the Iraqi wounded they treated were astounded by our compassion. They expected they would be left to suffer or die. I witnessed Iraqi paramilitary troops using women and children as human shields, turning grade schools into fortresses, and defiling their own holy sites. Time and again, I saw Americans taking unnecessary risks to clear buildings without firing or using grenades, because it might injure civilians. I stood in awe as 19-year-olds refused to return enemy fire because it was coming from a mosque.

It was American soldiers who handed over food to hungry Iraqis, who gave their own medical supplies to Iraqi doctors, and who brought water to the thirsty. It was American soldiers who went door-to-door in a slum because a girl was rumored to have been injured in the fighting; when they found her, They called in a helicopter to take her to an Army hospital. It was American soldiers who wept when a three-year-old was carried out of the rubble where she had been killed by Iraqi mortar fire. It was American soldiers who cleaned up houses they had been fighting over and later occupied -- they wanted the places to look at least somewhat tidy when the residents returned.

It was these same soldiers who stormed to Baghdad in only a couple of weeks, accepted the surrender of three Iraqi Army divisions, massacred any Republican Guard unit that stood and fought, and disposed of a dictator and a regime with ruthless efficiency. There is no other army -- and there are no other soldiers -- in the world capable of such merciless fighting and possessed of such compassion for their fellow man. No society except America could have produced them.

Before I end this I want to point out one other quality of the American soldier: his sense of justice. After a grueling fight, a company of infantrymen was resting and opening their first mail delivery of the war. One of the young soldiers had received a care package and was sharing the home-baked cookies with his friends. A photographer with a heavy French accent asked if he could have one. The soldier looked him over and said there would be no cookies for Frenchmen. The photographer then protested that he was half Italian. Without missing a beat, the soldier broke a cookie in half and gave it to him. It was a perfect moment and a perfect reflection of the American soldier.

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EPILOGUE OF THE ANTI-WAR PROTESTS: Although the military phase of the Iraq War has ended, the Americans in Korea should not forget that the anti-War message throughout this turbulent three-week period was really anti-American. The same faces from the 2002 anti-American demonstrations were in the lead -- the most prominent being Kunsan's Rev. Mun Choi-hyun. (See Stop The War.)

View the following video clip entitled "Fucking U.S.A." from the 12 April "peace" demonstration that attempted to attack the U.S. Embassy again. Listen to the song "FUCKING U.S.A." -- but read the lyrics before you do so. You will gain a new insight into the song and the venom that is being released. Look at the children in the crowd and you'll see the next generation being trained to hate America. (See Fucking U.S.A. for sheet music and background info on anti-American feeling associated with this song.)

VIDEO: FUCKING U.S.A.:

• Anti-War Video (April 1) for Candlelight demonstration at National Assembly and Protest Songs -- short clip of "F_ _ KING U.S.A" and other excellent renditions.
• Anti-War Video (April 12) -- Candlelight vigil in Seoul City Plaza with speeches and Protest Songs -- again "F _ _ KING U.S.A." a hit. Cute performance of North Korean song.

TRANSLATION OF LYRICS TO "FUCKING U.S.A." (Source: Kukguk Choson: From the site of the National Democratic Front for South Korea)

1. Did you see the short-track skating race?
A vulgar country, fucking U.S.A.
Are you so happy over a gold medal?
A nasty country, fucking U.S.A.
Such as you are, can you claim that the U.S.A. is a nation of justice?
Why on earth don't we say what we have to?
Are we slaves of a colonial nation?
Now we will shout: "No to the U.S.A."
A wretched thief, fucking U.S.A. that stole our Olympic gold medal
A wicked robber, fucking U.S.A. that tries to rob everything by force


2. Did you hear Bush's reckless words?
A shameless country, fucking U.S.A.
It makes war threats to the north as well as intervention into the south
A country of gangsters, fucking U.S.A.
Is the U.S.A. still a beautiful country?
Is the north still an "enemy" to be killed?
How much more do you want to endure?
It's time to shout: "Yankee, go home!"
You dirty Yankees, wait and see
We will reunify the country with the independent force of the Korean nation
We will build a dignified country, a reunified country

Don't forget the blood-stained history of Korea!
You, author of Korea's division, fucking U.S.A.
Don't forget the Nogun-ri massacre of civilians!
You, murderer, fucking U.S.A.

NOTE: South Korean pop composer Yoon Min-sok composed "Fucking U.S.A." in reflection of the daily rising anti-US sentiments of South Koreans. The song "Fucking U.S.A." was motivated by a scandal at the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics. In the short-track speed skating, a south Korean skater Kim Dong-seong won one of the races, but the gold medal went to Apollo Ohno, a US skater due to the supposedly unfair decision which was adopted by the judges after the US's "highhanded behavior."

The National Democratic Front for South Korea is a pro-North Korea juche organization.

Anti-War Demonstrations: flag burning: Seoul (11 Apr 03)

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Links to Iraqi War Coverage:

• Iraq Interactive Library -- Map of Latest Action; Targets in Iraq from MSNBC. (Map Update Stopped on 17 April)
• Urban Warfare: Baghdad from MSNBC.
• Complete War Coverage from MSNBC.

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