Osan Air Base (South Korea), Nov 18: US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld predicted today that Iraq would emerge in time as a success on a par with South Korea, once
under US occupation but now a thriving democracy.
Then the "rightness" of the US-led occupation of the war-torn country would become clear, he said as he toured US forces in South Korea on the final day of a three day stay
here.
US troops in South Korea live on the border between freedom and slavery, Rumsfeld told hundreds of US airmen and women gathered at an aircraft hangar here, referring to
Communist North Korea as an "evil regime" for spending its money on weapons while allowing its people to starve.
He drew a parallel between South Korea and Iraq, where US-led forces are coming under repeated attack following the invasion to topple Saddam Hussein.
He said that 50 years after the end of the 1950-53 Korean war, when US-led UN forces fought against the Chinese-backed North Koreans, the divide between the Communist North and capitalist south was now a Gulf.
Bureau Report
