America, “We Are Going Our Way”

A day after, which was the 12th, the US Senate and House approved the George W. Bush Administration to use military power against Iraq, the US Department of Defense ordered the core combat personnel stationed in Europe and California to go to Kuwait. And it considers to vaccinate hundreds of thousands combat troops against possible bio-chemical attack by Iraq, so the war preparation in America began in earnest.

However, since Russia, Germany, and France are still opposing to use of force, so it is unclear whether the Bush Administration starts military operations or not.

▽ Preparing to start the war = The Washington Post and other US media reported on the 12th that the US Department of Defense ordered the 5th Army Corps in Germany and the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in California to moved to Kuwait.

While the personnel of the Navy and Air Force Headquarters are placed in the Gulf area, a detachment of the Central Army Headquarters, which will command the Iraqi War, is planned to move from Florida to Qatar following the detachment of the combat personnel such as the 5th Army Corps.

The Department of Defense spokesperson Victoria Clark said that the US Department of Defense, in addition to this, would start to vaccinate up to 500,000 US soldiers as soon as the public health officials approved it in the middle of next month. The foreign news added that out of 1.4 million soldiers in active duty, around 350,000 ~ 500,000 were predicted to be vaccinated and most of them belonged to the units that could be detached to the Middle East.

▽ The prudent international public opinion = The French Defense Minister Michelle Alio Mari said although they found trace of TNT in the oil tanker Linbrough, which had explosion accident on the 11th, this evident would not weaken the French status that opposed to the one-sided invasion of Iraq by America. The Russian President Bladimir Putin also said right after the summit with the British Prime Minister Tony Blair, “I do not exclude the possibility for us to support the UN Resolution,” but “I am still against the military attack against Iraq.” The German Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer reconfirmed his status that regardless of the movement in the US Congress, Germany opposed to attack Iraq.

The Asahi News of Japan asked America for prudent act through the editorial on the 12th, “America must not give other ways than the war until the end. The Tokyo News also warned the containment offensive against Iraq by the President Bush through the editorial, “It is a matter for regret in the international society if the US Congress took the Resolution with the interim election in the beginning of next month in their mind.”

▽ Response of Iraq=The Iraqi Government strongly criticize the pass of the Resolution in the US Congress, and promised the inspection ‘without any obstacles’ to the Head of the UNMOVIC, Hans Blicks and the Secretary General of the IAEA, Mohamed El 바라데이 through their second letter.

The IAEA spokesperson said, Iraq, however, did not promise the limitless approach to the core suspicious facilities including the Iraqi Presidential Palace.

Rae-Jeong Park ecopark@donga.com