[Opinion] Antiwar Protests

Heads of the U.S., Britain and the Soviet Union met in Teheran, Iran during the World War II. It was about one and a half years before Germany lost in the war. The major agenda in the meeting was how to form the second front in France. Stalin from the Soviet Union insisted upon an operation in Northern France, while British Churchill preferred an operation in the Mediterranean. Churchill reasoned that combats in France would inevitably lead to death of tens of thousands of soldiers. Then, Stalin replied, ˝When a man dies, it is a tragedy, but when thousands die it becomes statistics.˝ 27 million were killed during the battles and 25 civilians were killed – these are statistics from the Second World War. Then, this appalling record is really nothing but a mere number to the history of mankind? And wars are still going on in this world.

▷After the Teheran talks, the ally forces led by General Dwight Eisenhower successfully completed the historic Normandy operation in June 1944, and brought to an end to the German Reich in May following year. They might have felt proud of defeating the Fascists. Historians, in fact, have said that it was a great victory against Germans. Eisenhower, however, noted, ˝As a man who not only survived the war but also has experienced the brutality, futility and foolishness of the war, I hate a war.˝ Even to the respected war hero, a war is only a worthless fight regardless of who is to be blamed and who is to be credited.

▷Now Americans are about to wage what they call a war for peace against Iraq. And a great number of people in the world are not buying what they say. More than 10 million in dozens of countries across the world marched on Feb. 15 in a protest against the American war. The authorities in those countries said that they were the largest-ever antiwar demonstrations. Up to 200,000 people marched through New York, a city once torn by the Sept. 11 attacks. Still, Bush is not even blinking an eye. ˝President Bush believes that demonstrations is a part of American tradition of democracy,˝ said White House spokesman. Bush might believe that a majority of Americans support his war plan.

▷The history remembers the Vietnam War as a tragic war led by Americans. At that time, the world was divided into the communist East and the capitalist West. When antiwar protests broke out, therefore, some suspected that the Soviet Union was behind the demonstrations. Now it is a different story, however. Who will think that Iraq is behind the antiwar protests worldwide? ˝We do not want this war. We are here led by the disentitled and do unnecessary things for the undeserved,˝ soldiers used to write on their helmets during in Vietnam. And if a war indeed breaks out despite all those voices of opposition, what will American soldiers write on their helmets this time…..

Mun Myung-ho, Editorial Writer, munmh97@donga.com