America Officially Ask for Support for the Iraqi War

It has been confirmed that America asked around 50 countries including Korea for human and material support in preparation for the Iraqi War.

The US Secretary of State officially announced on the 20th (local time) that the US Government asked around 50 countries for support in preparation for the Iraqi War, which would be happened if the effort of disarming Iraq was failed.

The Deputy Spokesman of the State Department Phillip Licker said, “I ordered the US diplomats in each country to find out whether they were willing to support combat troops, transportation, and materials.” The Deputy Spokesperson Licker added, “We are discussing with other countries what we are going to do if Iraq does not obey the UN Security Council Resolution #1441.”

A Korean Government official said about this on the 21st, “Recently, America asked general support to the Korean Government through a diplomatic channel in preparation for the Iraqi War,” and “we did not set the official position of the Government, yet, and we will closely consult with related Ministries including the Ministry of Defense.”

He did not eliminate the possibility of dispatch of forces by saying, “I cannot not say the details but the definite and official dispatch of forces request was not included,” but “if there is any part that Korea can support voluntarily, we will do that.”

The Korean Government dispatched a large-scale non-combat force to the Anit-Terror War in Afghanistan last year including △130 medical support troops (including 16 marine corps patrol troops), △170 Navy transportation support troops (1 large landing ship), and △150 Air Force transportation troops (4 carriers); therefore, the non-combat part including medical and transportation are predicted to be discussed first.

Ki-Heung Han Dong-Ki Sung eligius@donga.com esprit@donga.com