Ini namanya tidak tahu malu. Headline di seluruh dunia mengenai berita ini menguntungkan Indonesia. Mestinya war-crime tribunal lebih dulu dilakukan kepada AS yang pelakunya juga mengakuinya. Washington Post menyajikan berita yg lebih lengkap dari yg tadi (sorry, jarang buka WP sih). Di bagian akhir ditulis seperti ini. One of America's most popular military historians, Stephen E. Ambrose, signaled that the news about No Gun Ri was not surprising. ``Whenever you put guns into the hands of poorly trained young men and send them off to a foreign country, bad things are sure to happen,'' he said. Masalahnya, bagaimana kalau yg melakukan bukan tentara AS lalu diadakan mahkamah internasional. Kalau AS yang melakukan disebut accident. Is it fair? Setelah banyak warga Korsel (bukan Korut yg saya bilang sebelumnya) menuntut AS, bagaimana hubungan antar negara ya? Seorang ahli AS kawatir bahwa situasi ini akan membawa Korut dan Korsel bersatu. Nah lho, jadi AS nggak menghendaki mereka bersatu tho? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/daily/sept99/skorea29.htm ---------------------------- Koreans Want Possible War Crimes Investigated By Sang-Hun Choe Associated Press Writer Thursday, September 30, 1999; 6:39 a.m. EDT SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - With new evidence in hand, South Koreans who say they survived a U.S. Army machine-gunning of hundreds of refugees in the Korean War demanded a formal U.S. investigation today into what happened beneath the No Gun Ri railroad bridge in July 1950. ``The U.S. government can no longer deny its responsibility,'' they said in a statement. The Pentagon said any ``compelling new evidence'' would cause it take another look at the long-standing allegations. The South Korean government said it will investigate whether the survivors' claims are true or not. ``With keen attention, we'll try to verify the truth of all related things concerning the case,'' Foreign Ministry spokesman Chang Chul-kyun said. ``Any further action will be decided after those efforts are finished.'' The Associated Press on Wednesday reported that a dozen Army veterans, in AP interviews, corroborated the core of the Koreans' account of the killings at No Gun Ri, a hamlet 100 miles southeast of Seoul. The Koreans say 300 of their relatives and other civilians were shot to death at the bridge, and 100 others died in a preceding U.S. air attack. American veterans said anywhere from 100 to ``hundreds'' of civilians were killed. The AP also reported, based on declassified U.S. military archives, that U.S. commanders at the time issued orders to their troops to shoot civilians to guard against disguised North Korean enemy among columns of South Korean refugees. Defense Secretary William Cohen, traveling in Indonesia today, said past examination had found nothing to back up the claims. ``I am not aware of any evidence that would support or substantiate those claims. But to the degree that any substantive information is forthcoming, we certainly would look at it,'' he told a press conference in Jakarta. ``But this has been examined on several occasions in the past and I am not aware that there is any information that would corroborate or support that,'' he said. The AP research also found no official Army account of the No Gun Ri events. Chief Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said that ``if there's compelling new evidence to look at, obviously it would be important to make sure we've left no stone unturned in getting to the bottom of it.'' After years of futilely pressing their claim, the ``Petitioners of No Gun Ri'' group was jubilant over the U.S. news report. ``I looked up at the heaven and looked down at the earth, but there was none who would listen to our sad story,'' said Chun Choon-ja, 61, her voice quivering over tears. ``I have never been happier before. Now I can rest in peace when I die,'' said Park Sun-yong, 75, who said her small son and daughter were killed by U.S. soldiers at No Gun Ri. The group filed a claim with the South Korean Government Compensation Committee in 1997, but it was rejected last year because a five-year statute of limitations had expired long ago. In its statement today, the group demanded that the U.S. and South Korean governments launch immediate investigations of No Gun Ri, that ``the U.S. president and Congress make an apology and compensation,'' and that the United States build a memorial to the dead at the site. ``We hope the U.S. government will meet our demands and console the wandering souls of those who died an unfair death,'' it said. The Koreans had the support of the U.S. National Council of Churches. ``The South Korean victims and their relatives deserve justice,'' its general secretary, the Rev. Dr. Joan B. Campbell, said in New York. She urged that the ``truth should be disclosed to the public and the families of the victims should be compensated adequately.'' Her statement also praised the courage of the American veterans who talked publicly about the events. The church group had taken up the South Koreans' cause last year, asking the Pentagon to investigate No Gun Ri. Elsewhere in the United States, a veterans' leader called the news report ``propaganda more than anything else.'' ``Even if it did happen, I don't think we need to hear this really,'' said Harley Coon, president of the Korean War Veterans Association. ``I can't see where it's going to do anyone any good. It's certainly not going to shed any good light on our military.'' But a top Korean War historian, the University of Chicago's Bruce Cumings, said the new information is essential to setting the historical record straight. ``Anything that can be done to bring out the truth of the Korean War as Koreans experienced it will serve reconciliation. It will serve to bring Koreans together,'' Cumings said. One of America's most popular military historians, Stephen E. Ambrose, signaled that the news about No Gun Ri was not surprising. ``Whenever you put guns into the hands of poorly trained young men and send them off to a foreign country, bad things are sure to happen,'' he said. � 1999 The Associated Press ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
