South Korea's Roh Says Iraq Shootings Intolerable

[salin]

South Korea's Roh Says Iraq Shootings Intolerable

Nov. 30 — By Lee Suwan and Kim Yeon-hee
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, who faces a tough decision on what kind of additional troops to send to Iraq, called for a security review on Monday after what he said was the intolerable shooting of four civilians there.

Gunmen killed two South Korean electrical workers on Sunday near ousted president Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit and wounded two, one critically.

"This incident is not terror against the military or a public organization but terror against civilians," Roh told his aides. "This kind of inhumane activity is intolerable."

Sunday's attack -- a day after two Japanese diplomats were killed nearby -- will almost certainly have major political ramifications for Roh, although it seems unlikely he will change his October decision to deploy more troops.

more: http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/reuters20031130_278.html

Significance on a couple of fronts. First the US is trying to get more troops from South Korea (and Japan). This makes it politically harder at home to comply with the US request. Second are the very tense and touchy negotiations with North Korea around the nuclear weapons issue. The US depends on South Korea to be a solid ally in this process. But since his visit a year or so ago, South Korea has grown increasingly edgy with US statements and policies... that seem likely to escalate rather than solve the problem. The whole 'pre-emptive strike' "doctrine" has many nations close to North Korea very, very nervous, given that the NK regime is not known for its diplomacy and rationality in its actions... and that these countries are the likely 'proxy' target (even with Nukes, NK does not have the capacity to hit the US). Events that make the population more nervous on either front, have an impact upon the countries dealings in the ongoing multi-country negotiaions on the NK nuke issue.

[cliss]

1. This could be a turning point

in the war. The US finds itself increasingly alone in attempting to bring Iraq under its control. The more time that passes in the current situation, the more unlikely it is that the US will be able to accomplish its goals; namely to have the population settle down and accept them as occupiers.

Their goal is to have the oil running through the pipeline by now. It's a safe bet that the oil company CEO's have completely lost confidence in the Bush Kids to accomplish this. It was probably seen as a rogue enterprise to begin with.

The administration will find itself more and more desperate to bring about order in Iraq. They will ratchet up the retaliatory strikes whenever a helicopter or vehicle is blown up. This I believe (in my humble opinon) will be their undoing.

The US will strike down harder and harder, and the Iraqis will disperse and innovate new, unthought of ways to strike back. A month ago in Baghdad, it was a cement truck loaded with explosives. Last week, it was donkey carts. What will it be next time? Women carrying baskets? An Imam with a rocket launcher in his robe?

[David__77]

2. Occupation is intolerable...

S. Korea must not abet the occupation. Safeguarding sovereignty is the main issue.