China's foreign minister Yang Jiechi has met North Korea's ambassador and spoken on the phone to his US and South Korean counterparts.
Officials say China's priority is to avoid a recurrence of Tuesday's attack on Yeonpyeong island which killed four people.
Tomorrow the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington, with its 75 planes and crew of 6,000, will take part in massive naval war games.
North Korea has warned this will push the region to the brink of war and is threatening to launch fresh attacks if it is sufficiently provoked.
But it is playing a dangerous game. This week it killed four South Koreans in an artillery attack and in March it torpedoed a South Korean naval ship killing 46 sailors.
In what could be a crucial development, state-owned newspapers in China have blamed North Korea for this week's attack; one even editorialised that North Korea could be a country without a future.
The North may have gone too far this time. But if it keeps resorting to military strikes out of the blue it will eventually lead to a more brutal response from Seoul.
Adding nuclear weapons into the mix, the deadly standoff is well short of being resolved.
China has also voiced its displeasure at the participation of a United States aircraft carrier battle group in tomorrow's war games.
But South Korea and its American allies are keen to put on a show of strength.
The North yesterday started firing fresh volleys of artillery two days ahead of the war games, sending South Korean residents who remain on Yeonpyeong Island running to air raid shelters.
The sound of fresh rounds of artillery emanating from North Korea led to fears of a fresh attack.
But the South Korean Government has said that this seemed to be a training exercise and that no shells landed on its territory.
US commander in South Korea, General Walter Sharp, has called on North Korea to stop its attacks.
"What I've seen here is basically North Korea attacked this island, which is a clear violation of the armistice agreement," he said.
"We and the United Nations command will investigate this completely and will call on North Korea to stop any future attacks."
The hope is that Pyongyang's warning is just aggressive rhetoric from the North, but the South is bolstering its troop numbers in border regions just in case.
The South Korean government of Lee Myungbak has been criticised, even by some in its own party, for not responding to this week's artillery attack with enough force.
This is despite the fact that it fired 80 shells back across the border at the time. There has been no information about what damage this caused in the North.
South Korea's former defence minister Kim Yae-yong defended the decision not to call an airstrike on the North's artillery positions that fired on Yeonpyong, saying he did not want to risk starting a full-scale war.
He has now resigned, accepting full responsibility for what has been described as an inadequate response.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
North Korean attack on South Korean island
North Korea's artillery attack on a South Korean island Tuesday, coupled with its choreographed rollout of a new nuclear program, has presented the United States with a massive strategic challenge in one of the most dangerous corners of the world.
The 50-minute barrage on the island of Yeonpyeong - which killed two South Korean marines, wounded at least 19 other people and set buildings and forests ablaze - marked the first time in years that North Korea has trained the firepower of its 1.1 million-strong military on South Korea's civilian population. It prompted a withering round of return fire from South Korean batteries, the scrambling of the South's air force and concerns that the firefight could spiral into all-out war.
Despite North Korean claims that the South fired the first shots during a round of military exercises, U.S. officials said the barrage appeared to have been unprovoked and premeditated.
They noted that the North began firing artillery four hours after the South's guns had fallen silent. Administration sources also said North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and his third son, the heir apparent Kim Jong Eun, visited troops over the weekend in the region where the barrage originated - apparently as a kind of pep rally.
Indeed, Tuesday's attack on the island off the western coast of the Korean Peninsula appears to have been just as scripted as the nuclear revelations, which Pyongyang has dribbled out in phases over the past month, culminating with the disclosure that it has a uranium-enrichment program. That development had already significantly complicated U.S.-led efforts to push North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons; in addition to its production of plutonium, the North now has a second way to make a bomb.
The United States, which is obligated by a treaty to defend the South, now faces few good options with regard to the North.
If it declines to hold talks with North Korea unless the government there agrees to give up its nuclear weapons - part of the Obama administration's policy of "strategic patience" - Pyongyang could escalate with more artillery barrages or with an attack on a South Korean warship, similar to the one it is accused of launching in March. The government could also conduct a third nuclear test, long rumored to be in the offing, or continue to hawk its nuclear-weapons technology abroad.
On the other hand, if the Obama administration is pulled into talks with the North Koreans, it won't be able to escape the appearance that it is caving in the face of pressure. And even if talks do resume, there is no guarantee that North Korea won't continue the provocations and attacks.
"We've had an underlying philosophy of not rewarding bad behavior with concessions," said a senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. "And that philosophy will continue to underline our next steps."
Still, without some form of renewed engagement, analysts such as Siegfried Hecker, the former director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory who was shown North Korea's uranium- enrichment program on Nov. 12, worry that North Korea will simply continue along its confrontational path. "You have to address the fundamentals of North Korean security," Hecker said.
For now the Obama administration's primary concern is the security of the South - and ensuring that the situation does not spin out of control.
President Obama learned of the attack at 3:55 a.m., according to a spokesman. U.S. Army Gen. Walter L. Sharp, commander of United Nations forces on the peninsula and the 28,000 American troops stationed there, was in constant touch with his South Korean counterparts after the attack.
A senior U.S. military official said the United States was urging restraint by South Korea, saying, "Nobody right now wants to see this escalated.The attack occurred in a region that has long been a flash point between the two Koreas. The North does not recognize the maritime border that was unilaterally drawn by the United Nations at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. The two have battled three times in those seas in recent years, most recently in November 2009, when the South blasted a North Korean warship in an attack that some analysts suggested set the stage for the sinking of the Cheonan in March.
"They waited for approximately four hours after the exercise was over before they started lobbing shells," the senior U.S. military official, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, said of Tuesday's barrage. "It's not like they heard the sound of guns and thought they were under attack and started volleying."
In an official statement, South Korean government spokesman Hong Sang-pyo called the North's action a "clear military provocation" and warned that any further attack would be met with "stern retaliation."
The North Koreans were unrepentant. The military high command said that if the South "encroaches even 0.001 millimeters on our marine territory, our revolutionary forces will continue to respond without mercy." The state-run nightly news said the North had warned the South repeatedly not to hold its military exercises, which thus provoked "a strong physical response."
At the White House, senior officials from the CIA, the Pentagon, the State Department and other government agencies gathered to chart a way forward. Obama attended as well. But again, analysts said, that road will be tough.
For one, the United States lacks influential partners in the region. China, which had for years worked in close coordination with successive presidents when it came to dealing with North Korea, has moved in recent months to embrace Pyongyang and seemingly slow-walk Obama's entreaties to rein in the North.
U.S. envoy Stephen W. Bosworth, the State Department's special representative for North Korea policy, met with counterparts in Beijing on Tuesday but was tight-lipped about the results of the meeting, calling them "very useful." China responded to the attack and to the revelation of the new North Korean nuclear program with caution, calling on all parties to resume talks.
Secondly, even if Tuesday's crisis should subside and somehow talks resume on the nuclear issue, the administration will find itself facing another problem. North Korea will now have not one but two nuclear weapons programs for it to deal with.
North Korea's nuclear program had been based on isolating plutonium, which is easier to track because it involves using nuclear reactors, generally visible to intelligence satellites. A uranium-enrichment program, however, is much easier to conceal. On Nov. 12, Hecker was given a tour of an enrichment facility in a nondescript building with a blue roof in Yongbyon, the site of much of the North's nuclear activity.
"My jaw just dropped," he said, describing a modern facility containing row upon row of centrifuges, capable of enriching uranium. "I was stunned."
Even Hecker, who advocates engagement with North Korea, acknowledges that the revelation complicates any potential talks because such facilities are so easy to hide.
"The more that we have these halls," he said, "it changes the picture."
Correspondent Keith B. Richburg in Beijing and staff writer Greg Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
The 50-minute barrage on the island of Yeonpyeong - which killed two South Korean marines, wounded at least 19 other people and set buildings and forests ablaze - marked the first time in years that North Korea has trained the firepower of its 1.1 million-strong military on South Korea's civilian population. It prompted a withering round of return fire from South Korean batteries, the scrambling of the South's air force and concerns that the firefight could spiral into all-out war.
Despite North Korean claims that the South fired the first shots during a round of military exercises, U.S. officials said the barrage appeared to have been unprovoked and premeditated.
They noted that the North began firing artillery four hours after the South's guns had fallen silent. Administration sources also said North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and his third son, the heir apparent Kim Jong Eun, visited troops over the weekend in the region where the barrage originated - apparently as a kind of pep rally.
Indeed, Tuesday's attack on the island off the western coast of the Korean Peninsula appears to have been just as scripted as the nuclear revelations, which Pyongyang has dribbled out in phases over the past month, culminating with the disclosure that it has a uranium-enrichment program. That development had already significantly complicated U.S.-led efforts to push North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons; in addition to its production of plutonium, the North now has a second way to make a bomb.
The United States, which is obligated by a treaty to defend the South, now faces few good options with regard to the North.
If it declines to hold talks with North Korea unless the government there agrees to give up its nuclear weapons - part of the Obama administration's policy of "strategic patience" - Pyongyang could escalate with more artillery barrages or with an attack on a South Korean warship, similar to the one it is accused of launching in March. The government could also conduct a third nuclear test, long rumored to be in the offing, or continue to hawk its nuclear-weapons technology abroad.
On the other hand, if the Obama administration is pulled into talks with the North Koreans, it won't be able to escape the appearance that it is caving in the face of pressure. And even if talks do resume, there is no guarantee that North Korea won't continue the provocations and attacks.
"We've had an underlying philosophy of not rewarding bad behavior with concessions," said a senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. "And that philosophy will continue to underline our next steps."
Still, without some form of renewed engagement, analysts such as Siegfried Hecker, the former director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory who was shown North Korea's uranium- enrichment program on Nov. 12, worry that North Korea will simply continue along its confrontational path. "You have to address the fundamentals of North Korean security," Hecker said.
For now the Obama administration's primary concern is the security of the South - and ensuring that the situation does not spin out of control.
President Obama learned of the attack at 3:55 a.m., according to a spokesman. U.S. Army Gen. Walter L. Sharp, commander of United Nations forces on the peninsula and the 28,000 American troops stationed there, was in constant touch with his South Korean counterparts after the attack.
A senior U.S. military official said the United States was urging restraint by South Korea, saying, "Nobody right now wants to see this escalated.The attack occurred in a region that has long been a flash point between the two Koreas. The North does not recognize the maritime border that was unilaterally drawn by the United Nations at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. The two have battled three times in those seas in recent years, most recently in November 2009, when the South blasted a North Korean warship in an attack that some analysts suggested set the stage for the sinking of the Cheonan in March.
"They waited for approximately four hours after the exercise was over before they started lobbing shells," the senior U.S. military official, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, said of Tuesday's barrage. "It's not like they heard the sound of guns and thought they were under attack and started volleying."
In an official statement, South Korean government spokesman Hong Sang-pyo called the North's action a "clear military provocation" and warned that any further attack would be met with "stern retaliation."
The North Koreans were unrepentant. The military high command said that if the South "encroaches even 0.001 millimeters on our marine territory, our revolutionary forces will continue to respond without mercy." The state-run nightly news said the North had warned the South repeatedly not to hold its military exercises, which thus provoked "a strong physical response."
At the White House, senior officials from the CIA, the Pentagon, the State Department and other government agencies gathered to chart a way forward. Obama attended as well. But again, analysts said, that road will be tough.
For one, the United States lacks influential partners in the region. China, which had for years worked in close coordination with successive presidents when it came to dealing with North Korea, has moved in recent months to embrace Pyongyang and seemingly slow-walk Obama's entreaties to rein in the North.
U.S. envoy Stephen W. Bosworth, the State Department's special representative for North Korea policy, met with counterparts in Beijing on Tuesday but was tight-lipped about the results of the meeting, calling them "very useful." China responded to the attack and to the revelation of the new North Korean nuclear program with caution, calling on all parties to resume talks.
Secondly, even if Tuesday's crisis should subside and somehow talks resume on the nuclear issue, the administration will find itself facing another problem. North Korea will now have not one but two nuclear weapons programs for it to deal with.
North Korea's nuclear program had been based on isolating plutonium, which is easier to track because it involves using nuclear reactors, generally visible to intelligence satellites. A uranium-enrichment program, however, is much easier to conceal. On Nov. 12, Hecker was given a tour of an enrichment facility in a nondescript building with a blue roof in Yongbyon, the site of much of the North's nuclear activity.
"My jaw just dropped," he said, describing a modern facility containing row upon row of centrifuges, capable of enriching uranium. "I was stunned."
Even Hecker, who advocates engagement with North Korea, acknowledges that the revelation complicates any potential talks because such facilities are so easy to hide.
"The more that we have these halls," he said, "it changes the picture."
Correspondent Keith B. Richburg in Beijing and staff writer Greg Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
'Harry Potter' poised to pass 'Star Wars' as biggest franchise
LOS ANGELES — Harry Potter is near the end of his cinematic journey, but not before he casts more magic on the box office.With the two-part Potter farewell —Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 opens Friday, with Part 2 following July 15 — almost here, analysts expect the boy wizard to anchor the highest-grossing film franchise of all time.
And Part 2 doesn't even open until next summer.
"This is one of the greatest box office franchises in movie history," says Brandon Gray, president of Box Office Mojo. "It's phenomenal they could maintain this level of business six movies in. That's nearly unheard of."
Analysts expect that Part 1 not only will enjoy the biggest debut in the series' history, but also propel the planned eight-film odyssey past Star Wars to become the highest-grossing franchise ever.
The George Lucas saga is king of the series heap, having raked in $1.9 billion domestically over six movies. But most observers say that by the end of Hallows' first-half run, the franchise — already at $1.7 billion — will force Star Wars down a peg.
"What's amazing to see is how consistent each film has been," says Jeff Bock of industry tracker Exhibitor Relations. "That's not just in quality, but also in terms of ticket sales."
Indeed, each series installment has averaged $285 million — steadiness matched only by Star Wars. According to Box Office Mojo, even James Bond is no match: Over 23 movies, 007 has earned $1.6 billion. Star Trek's 11 multiplex installments have beamed up $1 billion.
Analysts also expect Hallows to shatter the franchise's opening weekend record, which belongs to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which bowed to $103 million in 2005. Projections this weekend range from a $115 million to $125 million debut.
And that should come with less marketing muscle than other franchises require, Bock says.
"The books were so huge, you really don't have to tell people another Potter movie is coming," he says.
"Typically, when is book is off-the-charts successful — I think Girl With the Dragon Tattoo will be huge — you get a big series along with it, because the fan base is going to turn out for both."
Gray says distributor Warner Bros. and filmmakers have relied on more than just the bespectacled wizard's name to lure fans.
"You have to credit them for not just riding the wave of the books," Gray says. "If people didn't like the movies, people wouldn't be standing in line overnight to get in."
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Exit polls point to miserable night for Democrats in US midterms
Democrats appeared to be heading for a night of political disaster as exit polls showed US midterm voters were overwhelmingly concerned about the state of the economy. The polls made grim reading for any Democrats hoping they might avoid being swamped by a Republican wave.
The exit polls showed that an extraordinary 86% of voters were concerned about the economy, dwarfing any other issue – which is bad news for the Democrats.
At stake in an election that has turned into a referendum on Barack Obama's time in office are 435 seats in the House of Representatives, 37 in the Senate, and 37 governorships, as well as state legislatures.
The numbers suggest the Democrats are heading for one of their worst defeats in recent history. One of the most worrying findings was that four out of ten voters expressed support for the Tea Party.
Exit polls tend to be more accurate than those taken before elections, as they are based on what actual voters say.
Although half said they thought Obama's policies will hurt the country, only a quarter blamed him for the state of the US economy.
The election is likely to sweep away any remnants of the euphoria that surrounded Obama's White House victory two years ago.
The one cause of optimism for the Democrats is that the vote was mainly a vote against them, rather than a positive vote in favour of the Republicans.
Obama is almost certain to be magnanimous at a White House press conference on Wednesday. A White House official said yesterday that, although speechwriters and advisers were still working on his statement, it was likely he will call on the Republicans to work with him for the good of the country.
But behind the scenes, both sides are preparing for a series of prolonged battles in Congress and in the courts, that are set to consume the remaining two years of Obama's term in office.
Obama, in a radio interview in Chicago, said: "My hope is that I can co-operate with Republicans." But he went on to suggest that such co-operation was unlikely, given the agenda the Republicans have already signalled.
"That means that their desire to roll back health care reform, that they've already announced, or their desire to roll back financial regulatory reform, that they've already announced … that's going to be their agenda," he said.
Obama spent today in a series of phone-ins to radio stations as voters went to the polls. He participated in shows in Los Angeles, Chicago, Las Vegas, and Jacksonville, Florida, where Democrats were in close races.
"The future is yours to shape," he said on one show. "But if you don't get involved, somebody else is going to shape it for you."
Although Obama remains favourite to secure re-election in 2012, a poor midterm showing would leave him vulnerable to a strong Republican challenge.
Although he was not on the ballot in the elections, which were for the House, Senate and governorships, it was treated by many Republicans and Democrats as a referendum on his presidency.
The exit polls showed that an extraordinary 86% of voters were concerned about the economy, dwarfing any other issue – which is bad news for the Democrats.
At stake in an election that has turned into a referendum on Barack Obama's time in office are 435 seats in the House of Representatives, 37 in the Senate, and 37 governorships, as well as state legislatures.
The numbers suggest the Democrats are heading for one of their worst defeats in recent history. One of the most worrying findings was that four out of ten voters expressed support for the Tea Party.
Exit polls tend to be more accurate than those taken before elections, as they are based on what actual voters say.
Although half said they thought Obama's policies will hurt the country, only a quarter blamed him for the state of the US economy.
The election is likely to sweep away any remnants of the euphoria that surrounded Obama's White House victory two years ago.
The one cause of optimism for the Democrats is that the vote was mainly a vote against them, rather than a positive vote in favour of the Republicans.
Obama is almost certain to be magnanimous at a White House press conference on Wednesday. A White House official said yesterday that, although speechwriters and advisers were still working on his statement, it was likely he will call on the Republicans to work with him for the good of the country.
But behind the scenes, both sides are preparing for a series of prolonged battles in Congress and in the courts, that are set to consume the remaining two years of Obama's term in office.
Obama, in a radio interview in Chicago, said: "My hope is that I can co-operate with Republicans." But he went on to suggest that such co-operation was unlikely, given the agenda the Republicans have already signalled.
"That means that their desire to roll back health care reform, that they've already announced, or their desire to roll back financial regulatory reform, that they've already announced … that's going to be their agenda," he said.
Obama spent today in a series of phone-ins to radio stations as voters went to the polls. He participated in shows in Los Angeles, Chicago, Las Vegas, and Jacksonville, Florida, where Democrats were in close races.
"The future is yours to shape," he said on one show. "But if you don't get involved, somebody else is going to shape it for you."
Although Obama remains favourite to secure re-election in 2012, a poor midterm showing would leave him vulnerable to a strong Republican challenge.
Although he was not on the ballot in the elections, which were for the House, Senate and governorships, it was treated by many Republicans and Democrats as a referendum on his presidency.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Attack on a Church in Baghdad Hits Iraq’s Soul
BAGHDAD — Blood still smeared the walls of Our Lady of Salvation Church on Monday. Scraps of flesh remained between the pews. It was the worst massacre of Iraqi Christians since the war began here in 2003. But for survivors, the tragedy went deeper than the toll of the human wreckage: A fusillade of grenades, bullets and suicide vests had unraveled yet another thread of the country’s once eclectic fabric.
“We’ve lost part of our soul now,” said Rudy Khalid, a 16-year-old Christian who lived across the street. He shook his head. “Our destiny, no one knows what to say of it.”
The massacre, in which 58 people were killed, paled before the worst spectacles of violence in Iraq. Since the American invasion, tens of thousands have died here — Sunni and Shiite Muslims — and few of the deaths generated the outrage expressed Monday.
But in a country that was once a remarkable mélange of beliefs, customs and traditions, the killings on Sunday seemed to draw another border in a country now defined by war, occupation and deprivation. Identities have hardened; diversity has faded. Nearly all of Iraq’s Jews left long ago, many harassed by a xenophobic government. Iraq’s Christians have dwindled; once numbering anywhere between 800,000 and 1.4 million, at least half are thought to have emigrated since 2003, their leaders say.
“They came to kill Iraq, not Iraqis,” said Bassam Sami, who huddled in a room for four hours before security forces managed to free him. “They came to kill the spirit of Iraq. They came to kill the reason to live, every dream that you want to make true.”
Down the street was Mr. Khalid, as upset as he was anxious at a country that seems to grasp at the mirage of normalcy, fleeting as it might be, only to turn away in disgust at the resilience of violence.
“No one has any answers for us,” he said.
On the morning after security forces stormed the Syrian Catholic church, freeing hostages but leaving far more dead and wounded behind, there were no answers. Not in the statements of outrage from Iraqi leaders, themselves blamed for the dysfunction of the Iraqi state. Not from Pope Benedict XVI, who condemned the “absurd and ferocious violence.” Not from security officials, whose accounts contradicted each others’ and prompted suggestions they might have inadvertently worsened the carnage. Most of all, not from the survivors, one of whom said the gunmen who seized the church on Sunday evening had only one task in mind.
“They came to kill, kill, kill,” Mr. Sami said.
Not even the police who stood guard at the church, its doors barricaded with barbed wire and its walls lined with roses, orange trees and a plant Iraqis call “the ears of an elephant,” knew quite what to say. One discouraged anyone from entering the shattered doors, under a portico that celebrated the glory of God “on the land of peace.”
“Blood, flesh and bones,” he described the scene. “You can’t bear the smell.”
Knots of survivors, as well as their friends and relatives, stood in the street amid bullet casings and bandage wrappers, some of them crying. Meyassr al-Qasboutros, a priest, was among them. His cousin, Wassim Sabih, was one of the two priests killed. Survivors said Mr. Sabih was pushed to the ground as he grasped a crucifix and pleaded with the gunmen to spare the worshipers.
He was then killed, his body riddled with bullets.
“We must die here,” Mr. Qasboutros said defiantly. “We can’t leave this country.”
Some survivors echoed his sentiments.
“If we didn’t love this country, we wouldn’t have stayed here,” said Radi Climis, an 18-year-old who wore a floppy bandage on his forehead, where he was wounded by shrapnel from a grenade thrown by the gunmen.
But many others looked in disbelief when asked whether they would stay in a place still so unsettled, so dangerous.
“Why? That’s no question to ask,” said Stephen Karomi, who had come to Baghdad a day before from Qaraqosh, a troubled Christian town in the north. “Everyone wants to leave for one reason: to protect ourselves and to keep our sanity.”
“We’ve lost part of our soul now,” said Rudy Khalid, a 16-year-old Christian who lived across the street. He shook his head. “Our destiny, no one knows what to say of it.”
The massacre, in which 58 people were killed, paled before the worst spectacles of violence in Iraq. Since the American invasion, tens of thousands have died here — Sunni and Shiite Muslims — and few of the deaths generated the outrage expressed Monday.
But in a country that was once a remarkable mélange of beliefs, customs and traditions, the killings on Sunday seemed to draw another border in a country now defined by war, occupation and deprivation. Identities have hardened; diversity has faded. Nearly all of Iraq’s Jews left long ago, many harassed by a xenophobic government. Iraq’s Christians have dwindled; once numbering anywhere between 800,000 and 1.4 million, at least half are thought to have emigrated since 2003, their leaders say.
“They came to kill Iraq, not Iraqis,” said Bassam Sami, who huddled in a room for four hours before security forces managed to free him. “They came to kill the spirit of Iraq. They came to kill the reason to live, every dream that you want to make true.”
Down the street was Mr. Khalid, as upset as he was anxious at a country that seems to grasp at the mirage of normalcy, fleeting as it might be, only to turn away in disgust at the resilience of violence.
“No one has any answers for us,” he said.
On the morning after security forces stormed the Syrian Catholic church, freeing hostages but leaving far more dead and wounded behind, there were no answers. Not in the statements of outrage from Iraqi leaders, themselves blamed for the dysfunction of the Iraqi state. Not from Pope Benedict XVI, who condemned the “absurd and ferocious violence.” Not from security officials, whose accounts contradicted each others’ and prompted suggestions they might have inadvertently worsened the carnage. Most of all, not from the survivors, one of whom said the gunmen who seized the church on Sunday evening had only one task in mind.
“They came to kill, kill, kill,” Mr. Sami said.
Not even the police who stood guard at the church, its doors barricaded with barbed wire and its walls lined with roses, orange trees and a plant Iraqis call “the ears of an elephant,” knew quite what to say. One discouraged anyone from entering the shattered doors, under a portico that celebrated the glory of God “on the land of peace.”
“Blood, flesh and bones,” he described the scene. “You can’t bear the smell.”
Knots of survivors, as well as their friends and relatives, stood in the street amid bullet casings and bandage wrappers, some of them crying. Meyassr al-Qasboutros, a priest, was among them. His cousin, Wassim Sabih, was one of the two priests killed. Survivors said Mr. Sabih was pushed to the ground as he grasped a crucifix and pleaded with the gunmen to spare the worshipers.
He was then killed, his body riddled with bullets.
“We must die here,” Mr. Qasboutros said defiantly. “We can’t leave this country.”
Some survivors echoed his sentiments.
“If we didn’t love this country, we wouldn’t have stayed here,” said Radi Climis, an 18-year-old who wore a floppy bandage on his forehead, where he was wounded by shrapnel from a grenade thrown by the gunmen.
But many others looked in disbelief when asked whether they would stay in a place still so unsettled, so dangerous.
“Why? That’s no question to ask,” said Stephen Karomi, who had come to Baghdad a day before from Qaraqosh, a troubled Christian town in the north. “Everyone wants to leave for one reason: to protect ourselves and to keep our sanity.”
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