ogukuo72
03-19-2004, 08:21 PM
WASHINGTON : US President George W. Bush hailed Asia's contribution to the US fight against terrorism as he marked the first year of the invasion of Iraq by paying tribute particularly to Japan and South Korea.
Speaking to diplomats from 84 countries that backed the US-led campaign against terror, he said "our coalition is sending an unmistakable message to the terrorists: These killers will be tracked down and found, they will face their day of justice."
He said many Asian states had "sacrificed" in both Iraq and Afghanistan as part of the effort to eliminate terrorism, but cited Japan and South Korea for their "historic commitments" of troops, particularly to rebuild Iraq from the ashes of the war.
Japan has pledged five billion dollars to rebuild Iraq, the biggest donor after the United States, and has passed a bill allowing the dispatch of troops there, breaking a taboo which has kept the country's troops out of war zones since 1945.
The dispatch of troops, although only for humanitarian reasons, has caused controversy at home because of Japan's pacifist constitution.
It has so far deployed some 430 ground troops in the southern Iraqi city of Samawa as part of an eventual 550-strong mission.
South Korea has sent 400 non-combatants, including medics and engineers to the war-ravaged country.
And Seoul had agreed last month to dispatch another 3,000-odd troops to northern Iraq in phases, starting from next month, but on Friday put the plan on hold due to deteriorating security.
US State Department spokesman Adam Ereli downplayed the move as "a logistical issue," telling a Friday briefing Washington was discussing with Seoul the details of its new deployment, which reports say could now begin in June.
If the plan is implemented, the South Korean contingent would be the third-largest in the war-torn state after those of the United States and Britain.
"In this contest of will and purpose, not every nation joins every mission, or participates in the same way," Bush said.
"Yet, every nation makes a vital contribution, and America is proud to stand with all of you as we pursue a broad strategy in the war against terror."
Bush particularly referred to the tragic death of Katsuhiko Oku, one of two Japanese diplomats killed in a highway attack north of Baghdad last year, saying Oku "believed in our cause" to liberate Iraq and win freedom for its people.
Bush said that the 45-year-old Oku, who was Japan's representative at the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority, had in his diary described his pride in working in Iraq.
"The free people of Iraq," Oku wrote, "are now making steady progress in reconstructing their country -- while also fighting against the threat of terrorism," Bush said, reading excerpts from the journal.
"This is also our fight to defend freedom," said Oku, who would post letters from his mission in Iraq onto the Japanese foreign ministry website hoping to spark more interest among his compatriots.
The two diplomats were the first Japanese to be killed in Iraq since the invasion, and their deaths drew much sympathy at home and had initially threatened to disrupt Tokyo's deployment.
Bush took pains to mention the other countries whose citizens perished in Iraq and Afghanistan and the efforts being undertaken to stem the terrorist problems in Pakistan, Indonesia and the Philippines -- the "frontline" states in Asia.
- AFP
Finally! It's about time that the US realise that its real allies are over here in Asia. If someone attacked an Asian country before an election, you can bet that the people of that country won't vote to cut and run.
Speaking to diplomats from 84 countries that backed the US-led campaign against terror, he said "our coalition is sending an unmistakable message to the terrorists: These killers will be tracked down and found, they will face their day of justice."
He said many Asian states had "sacrificed" in both Iraq and Afghanistan as part of the effort to eliminate terrorism, but cited Japan and South Korea for their "historic commitments" of troops, particularly to rebuild Iraq from the ashes of the war.
Japan has pledged five billion dollars to rebuild Iraq, the biggest donor after the United States, and has passed a bill allowing the dispatch of troops there, breaking a taboo which has kept the country's troops out of war zones since 1945.
The dispatch of troops, although only for humanitarian reasons, has caused controversy at home because of Japan's pacifist constitution.
It has so far deployed some 430 ground troops in the southern Iraqi city of Samawa as part of an eventual 550-strong mission.
South Korea has sent 400 non-combatants, including medics and engineers to the war-ravaged country.
And Seoul had agreed last month to dispatch another 3,000-odd troops to northern Iraq in phases, starting from next month, but on Friday put the plan on hold due to deteriorating security.
US State Department spokesman Adam Ereli downplayed the move as "a logistical issue," telling a Friday briefing Washington was discussing with Seoul the details of its new deployment, which reports say could now begin in June.
If the plan is implemented, the South Korean contingent would be the third-largest in the war-torn state after those of the United States and Britain.
"In this contest of will and purpose, not every nation joins every mission, or participates in the same way," Bush said.
"Yet, every nation makes a vital contribution, and America is proud to stand with all of you as we pursue a broad strategy in the war against terror."
Bush particularly referred to the tragic death of Katsuhiko Oku, one of two Japanese diplomats killed in a highway attack north of Baghdad last year, saying Oku "believed in our cause" to liberate Iraq and win freedom for its people.
Bush said that the 45-year-old Oku, who was Japan's representative at the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority, had in his diary described his pride in working in Iraq.
"The free people of Iraq," Oku wrote, "are now making steady progress in reconstructing their country -- while also fighting against the threat of terrorism," Bush said, reading excerpts from the journal.
"This is also our fight to defend freedom," said Oku, who would post letters from his mission in Iraq onto the Japanese foreign ministry website hoping to spark more interest among his compatriots.
The two diplomats were the first Japanese to be killed in Iraq since the invasion, and their deaths drew much sympathy at home and had initially threatened to disrupt Tokyo's deployment.
Bush took pains to mention the other countries whose citizens perished in Iraq and Afghanistan and the efforts being undertaken to stem the terrorist problems in Pakistan, Indonesia and the Philippines -- the "frontline" states in Asia.
- AFP
Finally! It's about time that the US realise that its real allies are over here in Asia. If someone attacked an Asian country before an election, you can bet that the people of that country won't vote to cut and run.