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1 iraq liberation: week 1 Why is Tony Blair smiling? Despite a sober week of the "brutal and bloody business" of war, which for Brits ended with two soldiers from a Desert Rats unit shown executed on Al-Jazeera TV, Mr. Blair joined President Bush at Camp David in an optimistic recap of the week's fighting. Mr. Blair had reason for confidence: According to WORLD's checklist, coalition forces achieved most goals set out to signal the start of a successful operation ("Six signs the war is going well," March 29). The troops secured southern oilfields, controlled the only major seaport, thwarted Saddam Hussein's ability to launch missiles at neighbors, took control of territory along the Euphrates, and engaged Iraq's Republican Guards just south of Baghdad. Despite widespread assessments that forces had bogged down in a sandstorm outside the capital, the pause, if not the weather, may be part of the plan. While all eyes were on Baghdad and the south, the United States parachuted 1,000 troops from the 173rd Airborne north of Kirkuk. With troops slowly building in that region through the first week, the fresh troops signal the coalition is ready to open a second front. The United States has longstanding troop presence in that region, including building an airfield there up to a year ago. The lull in fighting may be part of a positioning of forces to squeeze Baghdad from the north. From that direction coalition forces are more assured of assistance from Iraqi opposition fighters, mostly Kurds, already trained by the United States. But there's no way to victory except through Baghdad, and President Bush was careful to underscore the challenge to come: "We are now facing the most hardened and most desperate units" of the Iraqi regime, he said, "but we know the outcome." 2 while the cat's at war... War in Iraq gives cover for mischief in farflung hot spots. Experts say North Korea may use the time out of the international spotlight to flex its long-range missiles or reprocess spent nuclear fuel rods to make weapons-grade plutonium. Chinese President Hu Jintao, in his first phone call with President Bush since becoming head of state, asked for direct talks between Washington and Pyongyang. But with a war underway, Mr. Bush left crisis containment to China and Japan, backed by forces in South Korea. Howard Baker, U.S. ambassador to Japan, warned Japan that North Korea may be preparing to test-fire a long-range missile. In Cuba, Fidel Castro arrested two to three dozen journalists and democracy activists-the largest mass roundup of opponents in years. The State Department called the crackdown an "appalling act of intimidation." The Castro crackdown coincided with the start of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights annual meeting in Geneva. Last year the human-rights delegates appointed a UN special representative to monitor rights violations in Cuba. Just prior to the Havana arrests, Mr. Castro blocked the visit of the UN designate, French expert Christine Chanet. The Castro regime said her mission was invalid and the resolution authorizing it was illegitimate. While the Jacques Chirac government continued steady condemnation of U.S. action in Iraq, it did not repudiate Mr. Castro. In Geneva, no government has so far expressed interest in sponsoring a motion against Cuba or protesting Ms. Chanet's aborted mission. 3 playing with fire Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe unleashed a juggernaut of reprisals against participants in a widespread, two-day strike that ended on March 20. Described as "unprecedented violence" by the United States, more than 400 people had been arrested and about 250 hospitalized with broken fingers, toes, and legs by March 24. Victims reported beatings, abductions, and night raids. Two women told the BBC that police had sexually assaulted them. Over the past three years, Mr. Mugabe has driven the country from relative prosperity to pauperism with his policy of redistributing white-owned commercial agricultural land to veterans of the "independence struggle." Inflation hovers at 200 percent while about 7 million are in danger of starvation. The opposition party Movement for Democratic Change organized last month's strike to force Mr. Mugabe to relinquish his oppressive rule. Opposition leaders issued 15 demands for the president to fulfill by March 31, including ending torture and political control of the police force. Mr. Mugabe said he could be a "black Hitler 10-fold" as he warned the opposition not to resort to violence in the strike's wake: "Those who play with fire will not only be burned, but consumed." The ax fell just days before weekend elections for two vacant parliamentary seats that the opposition easily scooped in 2000. 4 battle of the bilge i France condemned America's use of force in Iraq-then deployed armored vehicles and 500 additional soldiers across Paris to prevent possible terrorist attacks against the city. Security was especially tight around the U.S. embassy, where 60,000 demonstrators gathered the morning of March 20 to protest the war. And while the American media have tried to "mainstream" domestic demonstrators, French newspaper reports of the protest were less bashful about identifying the far-left militancy of Paris protesters. A March 21 story in Le Monde, one of France's most respected newspapers, quoted several students identifying themselves on the political fringe. One 17-year-old described himself as "close to the Communist Party." University Trotskyists, amid occasional swirls of marijuana smoke, chanted, "United States, Barbaric State, Bush, Sharon-Murderers!" Anarchists shouted, "Yankees, Iraqis-desert, sabotage, burn your officers!" One woman who brandished a placard saying, "Bush, re-read your gospel" received this rejoinder from a young man: God, he said, is "the cause of all this." As night fell, reporters said, a troupe of protesters broke windows in one McDonald's before authorities dispersed the crowd by water cannon and tear gas. One group lingered to chant support for Osama bin Laden before departing. 5 battle of the bilge ii The initial wave of Operation Iraqi Freedom was followed immediately by yet another wave of protests around the United States. The big ones in New York and San Francisco received national publicity-police arrested more than 2,000 demonstrators in San Francisco alone-but smaller ones as well showed an emphasis on hate-America messages. The demonstration in Austin, Texas, planned for the first Monday after the start of the war, was typical. The "Unholy Trinity Tour: Austin's Own Axis of Evil" began cheerfully on March 24 with 150 protesters sharing vegan snacks and water. Then came a visit to the Federal Building, the march's first stop, with anti-Bush slogans yelled out to the rhythmic beating of bongo drums. Next stop was the local Fox News building, targeted because "they have refused to provide equal time to those opposed to the war." The final stop was a defense contractor's building, where demonstrators blocked the building entrance and sprawled in the street to imitate civilian casualties, until police moved in for arrests. The protest quickly ended and did not make much of a splash even in liberal Austin. Around the country, demonstrations are likely to pick up steam only if networks not only give ample time to war opponents but imitate Iraqi television in emphasizing every civilian casualty and U.S. military difficulty.