The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

JIM LEHRER: Good evening. I'm Jim Lehrer. On the NewsHour tonight: Our summary of the news; the day after the handover in Iraq, as seen by Dexter Filkins of the "New York Times" in Baghdad and by three Iraqi-Americans; then, the U.S. Supreme Court's last day decisions on Internet pornography and arrests abroad; a special report from inside North Korea; and a Roger Rosenblatt essay on American photos.

NEWS SUMMARY

JIM LEHRER: This was Iraq's first full day with the interim government formally in power.The new regime held its first official event, greeting diplomats from countries with troops in Iraq. The new U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, John Negroponte, presented his credentials to Iraqi President al-Yawer. He was joined by the ambassadors from Australia and Denmark. But amid the ceremonies, more U.S. Troops were killed. We have a report on events in Baghdad, narrated by Amanda Palmer of Associated Press Television News.

AMANDA PALMER: A day after the U.S.-led coalition transferred sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government, Iraqi troops officially take over the country's security. The 12,000-strong Iraqi National Guard, who have been trained by coalition forces, will form the backbone of Iraq's new army. On Tuesday, they could be seen patrolling the streets of the capital, Baghdad. But in the first fatal attack on U.S. forces since the transfer of sovereignty, a roadside bomb killed three marines and wounded two others in a residential area. On the streets of Baghdad, residents read about the low-key transfer of sovereignty to the interim Iraqi government. Many said they hoped the new government would bring much- needed security to their shattered country.

JIM LEHRER: Iraqi militants released three Turkish hostages today. The kidnappers had threatened to behead the Turks, but today, al-Jazeera Television showed a video of the captives. The militants read a statement saying the Turks were being freed "for the sake of their Muslim brothers." The U.S. Military said today it cannot confirm that another video shows army specialist Keith Maupin, who was captured in early April. In the images, a blindfolded man is kneeling. Al-jazeera reported gunmen killed him moments later. Iraqi Prime Minister Allawi said today he may announce emergency measures this week against insurgents. The tactics could include curfews and special searches. Also today, the interim government issued formal arrest warrants for Saddam Hussein and 11 other top officials in the old regime. The prime minister said Saddam will have his first pre-trial hearing on Thursday, and he promised a fair trial.

IYAD ALLAWI: There will be definitely proof and evidence and it will be a full legal proceeding. We don't think that they will be able to stage a propaganda coup, but it will be an open trial, an open court. And he is entitled to any representation.

JIM LEHRER: Saddam is not expected to face trial for several months. We'll have more on developments in Iraq, right after this News Summary. President Bush called today for the Muslim world to embrace freedom and democracy. He made the appeal in Istanbul, Turkey as the NATO summit concluded there. Mr. Bush acknowledged a clash of cultures between Muslims and the West, but he said, "freedom is the future of the Middle East."

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Some people in Muslim cultures identify democracy with the worst of western popular culture and want no part of it. And I assure them when I speak about the blessings of liberty, videos and crass commercialism are not what I have in mind. There is nothing incompatible between democratic values and high standards of decency.

JIM LEHRER: Also at the NATO summit, Afghan President Karzai pressed the allies to rush additional troops to his country. NATO agreed yesterday to send at least 1,500 more peacekeepers, for the September elections. Karzai said it's urgent they arrive as soon as possible. A U.S. Military tribunal was announced today for three terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. A five-member panel will handle the case. The accused are an Australian, David Hicks,plus suspects from Sudan and Yemen. They're charged with conspiracy to commit war crimes and other offenses. Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled detainees may appeal their status in U.S. Courts. A Pentagon spokesman said that ruling has no effect on the tribunals. The Supreme Court today ruled against a law designed to keep Internet pornography from children. The 5-4 decision said the law most likely violates free speech, and it ordered further hearings. The court has considered the issue three times since 1996. The Justices also ruled foreigners have a limited right to sue in the United States over alleged human rights abuses. But the court rejected damages for a Mexican doctor who was kidnapped, tried in the U.S., and then acquitted. We'll have more on both cases later in the program. Canada's ruling Liberal Party lost its majority in parliament in national elections yesterday. The party will now have to form a minority government. The liberals had ruled outright for 11 years, but they lost popularity after a financial scandal. Early today, with the returns in, Prime Minister Paul Martin said his party had gotten the message.

PAUL MARTIN: We as liberals have lost votes, we have lost good members of parliament, but an election is a time to pass judgment and the message in this regard was unmistakable. Canadians expected and expect more from this, and as a party and as a government we must do better and we will. I pledge that to you tonight.

JIM LEHRER: The Conservative Party gained more than 20 seats in the voting, but had been expected to do even better. A separatist party in Quebec did score major gains. Its leaders may call for a new referendum on independence for the French-speaking province. The U.S. has expelled two Iranian security guards at the U.N. for spying. A U.S. spokesman at the U.N. confirmed it today. He said the Iranians were caught photographing bridges, subways, and landmarks in New York City. The Iranian government is on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. In U.S. economic news, consumer confidence jumped in June, to its highest level in two years. The Conference Board, a business research group, reported that today. It said a better job outlook made Americans more optimistic. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 56 points to close at 10,413. The NASDAQ rose 15 points to close at nearly 2035. That's it for the News Summary tonight. Now it's on to Filkins in Baghdad, the Iraqi-American perspective, two final decisions, inside North Korea, and a Roger Rosenblatt essay.

FOCUS - TRANSFER OF POWER

JIM LEHRER: The day after the hand over. Terence Smith spoke with Dexter Filkins of the New York Times in Baghdad earlier this evening.

TERENCE SMITH: Dexter Filkins, welcome. Tell us what it was like today on this first full day after the transfer of authority to the Iraqis.

DEXTER FILKINS: There were things you could notice, I mean, just for starters, just little things but important things like the Iraqi flag was flying this morning over what had been the CPA complex. Just when I walked into the Palestine Hotel here for this interview, I didn't see any American soldiers. I was searched by Iraqi guards. You know, the government ministries were open today and they were working. They were all flying Iraqi flags which I saw all over the place today. It's visible and it's mostly symbolic at the moment, but I think that's what you would expect on the first day.

TERENCE SMITH: And the Iraqi security forces, are they more in evidence on the streets?

DEXTER FILKINS: I wouldn't say they were more in evidence, but certainly in relation to the American soldiers, they are now. I didn't see a lot of American soldiers today, and they... I don't know if they've made a concerted effort to take a lower profile since the hand-over yesterday, but I moved around the town today and all I saw was Iraqi police officers. I passed a bunch of stations again with the, you know, the Iraqi flag flying over head. So the town... the city of Baghdad definitely feels different. There is an area right out in front of the Tigris, just on the banks of the Tigris River across from the CPA, which just happens to be near our office, and used to be kind of a wreck of a place. And the Americans today had bulldozers out and they were taking down barbed wire. They dismantled the checkpoints. They were cleaning things up. You know, they were sort of cleaning up their mess, and it was, you know... over the past... that they had made over the past 15 months. So, it was... it's little things here and there, but definitely noticeable.

TERENCE SMITH: But I gather there were still... there is still insurgent activity. What, three U.S. soldiers were killed today?

DEXTER FILKINS: Yeah, there were three killed in an attack east of the city, an attack on a convoy-- homemade bomb, you know, same as every day here. There was a number of other attacks. There was a couple of insurgents were killed when they attacked the police station here. There was a Kurdish official who was killed, assassinated in the city of Kirkuk. So, you know, it doesn't... the insurgency didn't take a break, that's for sure. I mean, I should say that I've seen some intelligence reports certainly over the past week that suggested that these days, right around the time of the turnover were going to be extraordinarily violent, that, you know, there were dozens if not hundreds of car bombs that were ready to go and that there, you know, possibly, there were going to be takeovers of government buildings. And, in that sense, you know, there was a lot of apprehension and people were kind of bracing themselves for this period, and it hasn't really happened. So, in a sense, it feels kind of quiet.

TERENCE SMITH: Meanwhile, the prime minister had a news conference. You were there. What was that like?

DEXTER FILKINS: Well, you know, the first thing that strikes you about Mr. Allawi... I mean, I met him before, but he's very forceful guy and he's a very strong presence, and so I think if anybody had any doubts or had any sense that... doubted this guy's character or his independence, I think he dispels them immediately. He stood up today. I mean, probably some of your viewers have heard about this. But he stood up today and announced that the Iraqi government was going to take legal custody of Saddam Hussein and ten others, really high profile former members of the regime. The Americans were going to keep physical custody because they've got the guards, but it's all kind of a prelude to Saddam being charged -- you know, probably charged with genocide, probably charged with, you know, killing tens of thousands of people in the late 1980s and the early 1990s, but so... I think what we saw today was, you know, evidence of the Iraqi government getting a move on and, you know, that was very much in evidence today. And it was interesting that they chose... that Prime Minister Allawi chose this subject because, I mean, this is something... Saddam Hussein is something that a lot of Iraqis can agree on, certainly the Kurds and Shiites, which make up three quarters of the population here. So, they can all agree on that. And so, in a way, I think it was a galvanizing moment for a lot of Iraqis.

TERENCE SMITH: And he spoke also, didn't he, of the security situation? And was there a suggestion that there might be new measures imposed by the Iraqi authorities, curfews, things of the like?

DEXTER FILKINS: Yes. I mean, he's... Prime Minister Allawi has touched on this two or three times, touched on it again today, that he would likely be announcing some kind of emergency role. He doesn't like the term martial law, and I'm not sure many people are clear on what the distinction is between martial law and what he wants to impose, which I think he's calling emergency law, but it's things like curfews and, you know, detentions, a ban on public demonstrations, that kind of thing. It's... most of those things are enjoyed right now by Iraqis. But, of course, you've got to remember that there's a lot of restrictions, you know. Occasionally, towns now and cities now are put under curfew. And so I don't think it would... with the things he's talking about don't appear to represent a real draconian crackdown, at least not yet. I mean, I think he's talk about kind of a firm hand, but not a brutal one.

TERENCE SMITH: Dexter Filkins, thanks so much.

DEXTER FILKINS: Thank you.

FOCUS - IRAQI PERSPECTIVE

JIM LEHRER: Now, some perspective on the hand-over from three Iraqi-Americans, and to Ray Suarez.

RAY SUAREZ: What did yesterday's hand-over mean to Iraqis, and do they view themselves as sovereign? To assess those and other questions, we're joined by Anas Shallal, founder of Iraqi Americans for Peaceful Alternatives. Adeed Dawisha, professor of political science at Miami University of Ohio, who's written widely on the politics of the Middle East. And Ahmed al-Rahim, who teaches Arabic at Harvard University, and advised the coalition provisional authority on education and other issues. Adeed Dawisha, do Iraqis look on Iyad Allawi as their leader and on his cabinet as their government?

ADEED DAWISHA: Well, the initial response seems to be pretty positive. There has been a lot of goodwill toward the new government and Iyad Allawi. It remains to be seen. I think part of this is a natural response to the demise, at least in their own thinking, of the American administration. It's always good to see Iraqi faces on TV talking about Iraq's political future than American faces. Iyad Allawi is better at that than say Paul Bremer. So from that point of view there is a lot of goodwill. But I think he and the government really have to deliver and as we have heard now and we have been hearing all along, the security situation is the one thing that they have to tackle and tackle successfully.

RAY SUAREZ: Professor al Rahim, a good start for the new government?

AHMED AL-RAHIM: Yes, I think it is a good start. The issue, I think, will be security. This is on the forefront of the minds of Iraqis right now. And also I think this government is going to be about perception and how this government is perceived by Iraqis. And I think America has to allow this government to disagree publicly, to carry out on its disagreements. And so it's very important that perception of this government be seen in a way that makes it seem independent and resolute.

RAY SUAREZ: Anas Shallal, does government have to show some daylight between itself and the United States as professor al Rahim suggested?

ANAS SHALLAL: I think absolutely. I think in their actions and also in their rhetoric. I think most Iraqis are taking a wait and see attitude to the government. The government does not come in with no baggage behind it obviously. They all have some historical ties within Iraq, some not so clean. I think the Iraqi people are going to wait and give them a chance because they're tired of the violence. They're tired of the anguish they've had to go through for the past year. But you think more than just a security issues, which is very important to Iraqis, is they need their everyday needs met like electricity, for example, which has been in short supply in places like Baghdad, for example.

RAY SUAREZ: But is that in the hands of the new government? Does the government of Prime Minister Allawi have the wherewithal to provide for those things and security?

ANAS SHALLAL: I think if they want to distinguish themselves from the occupation forces have performed so far, I think one way to do it is to provide some basic needs for the Iraqi people. Electricity is first and foremost in these upcoming months because of the heat. If they don't see their electricity back on, something as simple as that, then they're going to say this is business as usual and they're going to probably not give this government much of a chance.

RAY SUAREZ: Professor Dawisha, can they do it? Do they have the tools necessary have they been given the tools by departing provisional authority to do it?

ADEED DAWISHA: The tools are there, and the Iraqi government being a sovereign entity can certainly ask foreign companies and foreign contractors, be they American, or German or French or Russian, to come to Iraq and help with reconstruction project. This is why I think I emphasize the security situation. After all, the American administration had hoped that by now they would be providing something like 6,000 megawatts of electricity to Iraq. We have only achieved 4,000 primarily because of the sabotage that has been going on. You sabotage oil pipelines, you sabotage electric grids and it takes weeks to repair those. You assassinate foreign workers, and the rest of them leave the country. That's what happened, for example, to the Russian and the German workers in the Durra refinery. So all of these things, really, I agree that the government has to provide the basic services for the Iraqis. But in a way, all of this is somehow attached to the security situation.

RAY SUAREZ: Professor al Rahim, you worked with the CPA for sometime. Did they leave behind any goodwill? Can Iraqis see both on the ground, in tangible ways, and see in the near future the residual impact of the CPA, their accomplishments?

AHMED AL-RAHIM: Yes, I think so. I mean as far as the school system goes and as far as universities, there has been a lot of progress. Schools are up and running. We had an accelerated learning program there which was very successful. And I think there will be some tangible results. But these things could be under threat if the security situation isn't handled and so all our work could go down the drain if security is not brought back to Iraq. So as the CPA is leaving, I think Iraqis are now concerned mainly with how this is going to happen, how this government is going to implement security. Will this government prepare for elections. And I think what we need to provide for them is the resources to have elections in January.

RAY SUAREZ: Well there, were no, Mr. Shallal, demonstrations, no outbursts of joy as Dexter Filkins reported earlier in the program. It was quiet, a little symbolic, but perhaps a growing sense of ease in the city. And the reporting from Baghdad made it sound that people were as exhausted as anything else, not necessarily ready to break out the flag and have a joyous celebration.

ANAS SHALLAL: They are exhausted. They have been exhausted for many, many years under the years of Saddam Hussein and this last year. It has been extremely tiring for Iraqis. Unemployment, of course, is rampant. Again, the electricity which people over and over talk about is still only a third of what it could be within Baghdad. I think for the new interim government to legitimize itself, they have to start speaking to the Iraqi people and not at them. It has to stop being an "us against them." They have to take their message out to the populous, to the ordinary people in Iraq, and not speak from behind fortresses, speaking down to the Iraqis people in this very hard rhetoric saying we are going to cut the hands and cut the necks off anyone who gets in the way of our reconstruction and so on -- yes, these are important things and I think that they need to be very strong with the people that are creating the insurgency, but I also think that the rhetoric needs to be changed so that the Iraqi people can see that this in fact is a change and not business as usual with the heavy handed tactics that the Americans were using and some of the situation that they had put Iraqis in, for example, knocking people's doors down and coming in the middle of the night and doing searches and so on.

RAY SUAREZ: Professor Dawisha, it has been suggested the security problems may ease somewhat just from a lower profile from the United States and a heightened one for Iraqi authorities. Do you accept that proposition?

ADEED DAWISHA: I think that's a possibility, and I think what interested me, for example, in the speech that Allawi made was he drew a fine line between those who were fighting against the Americans, as he called them, out of despair, to whom he seemed to be almost empathetic, and the hardened Islamist and diehard Saddamists. And his argument was that now that Iraq has had an Iraqi government, that these people are... should come in and in a sense participate in the political process, very much in the vain of Muqtada al-Sadr after his insurgency against the Americans. We now see that Muqtada al-Sadr, for example, is talking about forming a political party, is talking about a coalition with other forces and forming a government. And I think what Allawi is trying to do is in a sense draw some of the Sunni elements who were fighting the Americans, into the political process, but at the same time, reminding the others, the Islamists and the Saddamists the hard language that we just referred to such as cutting their hands and cutting their necks, that this government prosecution while willing compromise with those who want to compromise with it, is going to be resolute against those who don't want to compromise.

RAY SUAREZ: Professor al-Rahim, do you see that same syndrome working, perhaps Iraqis waiting on the sideline to see which way things are going to go and then returning to mainstream civil society?

AHMED AL-RAHIM: Yes, I definitely see that and I think you can see that most clearly in Fallujah and in the so-called Sunni Triangle. There, there is a real battle between the old Baathist Sunnis and this new Sunni Iraqi represented by Allawi. This split is I think represented by the suicide bombings that happened last week where more than 100 were killed. And the scales are right in the middle right now and we will have to wait and see which way they tip. If they tip towards Allawi's group, which looking toward a brighter future for Iraq, then I think you will have many Sunnis who will be going to Allawi's side. If, however, they tip to the other side, to the side of the insurgents and those who are committing these acts of terror in Iraq, then I think it's possible that they would get more support so we will see which way the scales tip. And right now I think it is right in the middle.

RAY SUAREZ: How does the trial and continue handling of Saddam Hussein play into these things that your colleagues have been talking about?

ANAS SHALLAL: I think it's confidence. It will be a very significant part of Iraqi history. I think it's very important for the new government to make sure that this trial is not put on a fast track, where it is going to be finished very quickly. Obviously Saddam will be guilty and hung at the end. I don't think that will help Iraq heal. Iraqis have been hurt by Saddam Hussein on many different levels. Those living inside of Iraq as well as those living outside Iraq, such as myself who have not been able to go back to Iraq to see relatives for over 30 years. So we would like to see that trial really be prolongated. We want to see a lot of witnesses come forward. We want to turn it into a truth and reconciliation, so to speak, type event for Iraq so that it becomes part of Iraq's collective trauma and we can all work through it together and heal.

RAY SUAREZ: Guests thank you all very much.

JIM LEHRER: Still to come on the NewsHour tonight, the Supreme Court's last decisions of the session, a report from North Korea, and a Roger Rosenblatt essay.

FOCUS - SUPREME COURT WATCH

JIM LEHRER: Margaret Warner has our Supreme Court story.

MARGARET WARNER: The court wrapped up its nine-month term today with two final rulings. In one, the court upheld an injunction blocking, for now, enforcement of a much-litigated federal law designed to keep Internet pornography away from children. And in the second decision, closely watched by the U.S. Business community, the court tackled the issue of whether foreigners can sue in U.S. Courts for alleged human rights abuses. Here to help us sort through the decisions is Marcia Coyle of the National Law Journal.

Welcome back, Marcia.

MARCIA COYLE: Thank you.

MARGARET WARNER: The first case, this Internet pornography case, involved a five-year-old law which has never taken effect, which imposed criminal penalties on commercial porn sites if they didn't take at least some steps, like asking for credit cards which would somehow distinguish between adults and children, to keep children off the sites. After today, that law still won't be enforced. Explain why. What was the ruling?

MARCIA COYLE: The government was asking the court to overturn the injunction. The Supreme Court, today, in a split decision, 5-4, ruled that the government hadn't carried its burden of proving that there were no less restrictive alternatives in the court. Justice Kennedy wrote the majority opinion and he said that there were many plausible, less restrictive alternatives to this statute. For example, he suggested filtering software. That was one alternative that, he said, could actually be more effective than a system that Congress had implemented in the statute. He suggested also that the case should go back to the court, the lower courts, for trial on the merits because this case has also been in the courts for more than five years and the Internet has changed dramatically. There may be many more plausible, less restrictive alternatives here and the parties ought to battle that out below.

MARGARET WARNER: Just as a procedural matter, all that happened is that the court upheld the injunction in effect for five years. It didn't throw the case totally out.

MARCIA COYLE: No, it didn't. The battle will continue in the lower courts between the government and the American Civil Liberties Union, some artist groups, health care communicators who believe the law violates first amendment.

MARGARET WARNER: Does the opinion written by Justice Kennedy recognize that Congress has a societal interest or right to try to restrict pornographic web sites, to keep it away from children?

MARCIA COYLE: Yes, he does, and he says that the courts have to be sensitive to that. After all, Congress does make the laws. But this is not the right law yet. There may be less other restrictive alternatives. The court is protective of speech that adults can legally access. If Congress is going to legislate to restrict access by minors, it has to be careful that it does not restrict too much speech that adults have the right to see.

MARGARET WARNER: What was Justice Kennedy's concern about requiring adult ID number or credit card or some form of identification?

MARCIA COYLE: He said that type of verification system had its flaws that, for example, minors today have credit cards and they could defeat the system that way. He also noted that Congress in this particular statute had created a blue ribbon commission to look at what's the best way to regulate pornography on the Internet and had concluded that filtering software was more effective than the system that congress created. So he said not only had the government not carried its burden of showing there no were no less restrictive alternatives but a government commission proved just the opposite.

MARGARET WARNER: Four members of the court dissented and the lead dissent was written by, of all people, Justice Breyer, who we usually consider on the left side of the court. What was his defense?

MARCIA COYLE: He was sympathetic to Congress. He said in Congress in 1998, filtering software was the status quo. Congress found that didn't work, so it took the additional step with the Child Online Protection Act. He said the court has now looked at this three times since 1997. There have been hearings below, decisions, and now the case is being sent back once again for more proceedings. He said what proceedings? If this statute doesn't pass muster, what will?

MARGARET WARNER: Didn't he also have a problem with affording huge First Amendment protections to this type of speech?

MARCIA COYLE: He did, in once sense. He felt that the statute did not impose huge burdens on speech or adult access to this type of speech. Justice Scalia wrote separately and he felt this type of speech can be regulated, and that's it.

MARGARET WARNER: Because it's obscenity.

MARCIA COYLE: Exactly. There was no First Amendment protection here and Congress can regulate. He wrote a very short dissent to that point. But I think with Justice Breyer, it was that he really didn't feel this statute went too far in harming adult access.

MARGARET WARNER: We'll have a lower court trial on filtering - does filtering software work or not, and what do we do about kids who now have the Internet on cell phones?

MARCIA COYLE: That did not come up today.

MARGARET WARNER: To the next case. Now the actual facts of the case that we are going to ignore, but it involved the Mexican doctor who was kidnapped, brought here for trial by some DEA agents, he got acquitted, but now he is suing for the damages. He lost his case. But the court, in this long opinion, kept an important issue alive. Explain that issue andwhat it said.

MARCIA COYLE: It may be hard to believe that there is a federal law that is over 200 years old that the Supreme Court has not interpreted, but this case gave the Supreme Court its first chance to take a look at a law enacted in 1789 that allows aliens to bring suits in U.S. courts for injuries resulting from violations of international norms. And by an international norm, we mean something that the civilized world agrees is wrong and that is clearly defined.

MARGARET WARNER: So the court... the opinion written by Justice Souter left that door open?

MARCIA COYLE: It did. Justice Souter said that... well, first of all, he rejected the government's argument that this statute was stillborn at its birth in 1789. He said it had a purpose. In 1789, it allowed suits involving piracy, assaults on ambassadors. The laws have evolved and claims can be brought under this statute. But he cautioned federal courts not to read it too broadly. When an alien brings a suit, it has to be an international norm that's accepted worldwide and is specifically defined, something like genocide, slavery, summary executions, torture.

MARGARET WARNER: Now the government had complained that if you let all these foreigners bring these suits, it can interfere with U.S. foreign policy. Did Souter deal with that?

MARCIA COYLE: He did. He said the federal courts must be sensitive to foreign policy concerns. For example, he gave a case that is now pending in New York involving South Africa's apartheid regime. Certain corporations have been sued for their complicity in human rights abuses during that regime. The United States Government has interceded to say this conflicts with our foreign policy. The South African government has said this litigation conflicted with its truth and reconciliation process. He said that's an example where a federal court has to weigh the foreign policy considerations.

MARGARET WARNER: Now could this ruling also apply to, say, detainees at places like Guantanamo or Abu Ghraib?

MARCIA COYLE: Very interesting. Just yesterday in the court's Guantanamo Bay decision, Justice Stevens, who wrote for the majority, said these detainees now can not only come into federal government, but they can bring their claims, including claims under this particular statute. So, yes, it may apply to these detainees. As far as the Iraq prison situation, there is already a lawsuit that has been filed in California against the private contractors who provided guards and translators, under this particular statute.

MARGARET WARNER: Marcia, we'll leave it there. Thank you so much.

MARCIA COYLE: You're welcome.

FOCUS - INSIDE NORTH KOREA

FOCUS - INSIDE NORTH KOREA

JIM LEHRER: Now, a look inside North Korea. Western journalists rarely are allowed to visit the secretive nation, but special correspondent Martin Himel traveled there recently. Here's his report.

MARTIN HIMEL: The Min Jo Shik Tang Restaurant in Pyongyang. South Koreans, Chinese and other foreigners meet the privileged elite here. It's a place for deal making. North Korea is testing waters of change, but very slowly and cautiously. South and North Koreans sing songs about reunification here. For now, it means flirting with each other in business relationships, ventures that have the potential of opening up the economy of this communist state. Cha Yong Sik is one of those officials probing business options with the outside world. He is a deputy director in the people's trade ministry.

CHA YONG SIK: Our nation is one. The song means... every song means that our nation is one. (Applause) It's our people, our parents, our sisters, you know, our family. If you have, how can say, to promote economic projects between South and North.

MARTIN HIMEL: Cha is meeting with Mihail Kocavic, a Serb businessman. Kocavic has arranged a grant of medical aid for the North. He also brokered with Cha an opportunity for me to see some of the problems facing this country. Cha opened the door for me to go beyond the socialist symbolism so prevalent here as in this facade of North Korea-- the monuments of communism, quotes from the founding leader Kim Il- Sung seen in public places throughout the capital. While getting this closer glimpse of North Korea, we were always accompanied by government representatives and taping was limited. This is Pyongyang's central hospital. It's one of North Korea's most advanced facilities. But conditions are difficult. Seven to eight patients are sandwiched into beds which stretch wall to wall. There are acute shortages of essential medicines. Modern equipment taken for granted in western hospitals are non-existent. In the Ophthalmology Department, there is no digital technology, few, if any, computerized instruments. Resident doctors like Tang Chol So are always improvising. There are no spare parts for the old examining tools. They often fix the instruments themselves, trying to make them perform beyond their original design. Dr. Tang treated eye injuries during the recent rail explosion that claimed more than 100 lives.

DR. TANG CHOL SO ( Translated ): We don't have the proper medicines to treat people. If we just have some equipment, I could have helped them. If only I had the medicines, we could cure these people. I could have opened their eyes.

MARTIN HIMEL: There is a need to treat 20,000 cataract patients a year in this hospital. But according to Dr. Tang, they can only help 5,000. There's even a shortage ever sanitary gloves for operations. Doctors here blame the United States for a shortage of medicines and facilities. They claim American sponsored sanctions, which were tightened because of the current nuclear crisis, are aggravating the medical problem.

DR. TANG CHOL SO ( Translated ): We are blocked in our dealings with other countries. We want to trade with western and advanced countries. But we have a problem with the system and with sanctions. Experts cannot visit us and we cannot visit them.

MARTIN HIMEL: Education is very important in Korea, just like in any other country. It's considered the future for its citizens. At Pyongyang Medium School, they face unusual challenges. In this chemistry class, there are no labs, no experiments, no computers for basic research. And if there were computers, the Internet is banned in the country. Textbooks are not replaced or advanced. There is an acute lack of notebooks. It all stems from a serious shortage of paper supplies. This prestigious foreign language school shows another side of the experiment to open up the country a little.

SPOKESPERSON: My name is Linda.

SPOKESPERSON: My name is Sue.

SPOKESPERSON: She's my mommy.

SPOKESPERSON: And she's my wife. ( Laughter )

MARTIN HIMEL: Students are encouraged to master English and other languages.

STUDENT: Tomorrow is a holiday. We are going on a picnic.

STUDENT: Oh, great. We have to get up early.

STUDENT: That's great.

MARTIN HIMEL: But since they are barred from outside television, the internet and unauthorized contact with the outside world, their English is literal, not conversational.

STUDENT: I'm going to have a picnic in Italy.

STUDENT: In Italy? It's very nice.

STUDENT: Italy! Italy is very beautiful, indeed.

STUDENT: That's very nice.

MARTIN HIMEL: On the one hand, North Korean officials say the country needs a new generation that can interact and trade with the outside world.

STUDENT: Water is becoming a lot deeper.

MARTIN HIMEL: But at the same, time, these students are limited by restrictions imposed on their contact with foreigners. Ma Gun Hai is one of the school's finest pupils. She would like to talk to foreign students to ease their concerns about her country.

MA GUN HAI: People feel afraid of things because they don't understand us, and if they understand, well... it's understanding comes from sharing and experimenting experiencing. Our teacher said "seeing is believing." If people come in and spend some time with us and get to know our culture more better and get to know our people more better, they will know that we can be very good group. I would say that that would create relationships and, like, friendly relationships.

MARTIN HIMEL: All around, even a guided visitor can see why North Korean leaders are ready to try some economic experimentation. This is a poor country. A visitor sees very few private cars. The official stores have few quality goods. Pyongyang depends on old Russian electric generators which cannot meet demand. At night, the city is unusually dark. Only the Ju Che Tower commemorating the philosophy of Kim Il Sung remains bright. We were only allowed to record pictures of the impoverished countryside from our vehicle. There are very few tractors to maintain rice fields. Labor is back breaking. The highways have little or no traffic. After facing several years of starvation, the situation has improved somewhat. Foreign aid has made up much of the shortfall but there is still a gap of 400,000 tons of grains. The government is trying to make up the shortfall by allowing farmers to select which crops to grow and too sell part of the produce privately in sanctioned capitalist markets like Tong Il. We visited the Tong Il market but we were not allowed to film there, so we filmed the Pyongyang International Market. Unlike the official stores, Tong Il is full of merchandise and shoppers, but only a small number of North Koreans have the hard cash to buy there. North Korea is slowly beginning to understand it must have market exposure like Tong Il. Another sign of this experimentation is this international exhibition where the Peace Motor Company is promoting its new jeep. Another co-venture with Fiat has produced this vehicle for sale. For now, it's being offered locally as a potentially first middle class car. The cost is far beyond the reach of most North Koreans. But the biggest and possibly most ambitious project is Hyundai's industrial park. Hyundai is one of South Korea's leading automotive industry producers. In this conference room, Senior Vice President Jae Won Shim is managing the Industrial Park Developments, which is now breaking ground just inside the North Korean side of the demilitarized zone.

CHA YONG SIK: We are coming a lot of economic companies from South Korea and we are build together some joint economic zone straight away on the demarcation line.

MARTIN HIMEL: Hyundai and its associates will invest $20 billion over seven to ten years to build 16 factories to produce cars, trucks and parks. The infrastructure could provide jobs for up to 300,000 North Koreans. The cheap labor would benefit Hyundai, and the massive investment could be a model for transforming North Korea's closed society and economy. The numerous photos of North Korean leader Kim Jung Il with the Hyundai management demonstrates official support for the project. This industrial park is symbolically located next to Korea's ancient capital, Kae Sung. It was the first capital of the Koryo Dynasty. These kind of ventures have been promoted by the South Korean government. It hopes to use the country's vastly superior wealth to moderate the north's xenophobic policies. Some South Koreans remain cautious and advocate conditions for that assistance. While many in the North Korean elite want to gently open the gates to their country and increase investment from South Korea, there are few signs that this desire has changed North Korea's basic view of the world, especially its nuclear ambitions. At the demilitarized zone, North and South Korean soldiers still face each other down. It hasn't changed in a half a century. Major Phack Myong Chol guides us in the demilitarized zone. We were told not to ask him questions.

SPOKESPERSON: ( Translated ): That is the American post.

MARTIN HIMEL: That just paved the way for him to make a carefully crafted and approved political statement reaffirming North Korea's self-prescribed need for a nuclear weapons defense.

MAJOR PHACK MYONG CHOL: ( Translated ): America's Bush strengthened his aggressive policy against us. He declared our state as part of the axis of terror. He intends to attack us with nuclear weapons. We do not hide the fact that we have our own nuclear deterrents. There is no war in the Korean Peninsula. There is still an armistice because we have this power.

MARTIN HIMEL: That hard-line overshadows the efforts by some North and South Koreans who hope for unification, an aspiration echoed in their song and verse. The North Korean government desperately needs the investment from the south. But it fears that if it opens the gates too quickly, that will undermine its power.

JIM LEHRER: The U.S., North and South Korea, Japan, China, and Russia completed talks this past weekend aimed at curtailing North Korea's nuclear program. Those talks are expected to resume in September.

ESSAY - OVEREXPOSED

JIM LEHRER: Finally tonight, essayist Roger Rosenblatt looks for a picture of America.

ROGER ROSENBLATT: Some years ago, I did a NewsHour essay on an exhibit in New York of picture postcards of mostly African Americans who had been lynched or burned at the stake. These pictures displayed both the horror of the acts and the aroused excitement of the white crowds observing them, as if at a county fair. Naturally, they came to mind when the Abu Ghraib photos were published, though the former dealt with murder, and the latter with humiliation. The glee of the onlookers, however, was similar. In Abu Ghraib it was overtly sexual. But there was a sexual element in the lynching photos, too-- people "getting off" on the destruction of others.

SECRETARY DONALD RUMSFELD: No one had seen the photographs...

ROGER ROSENBLATT: During his testimony before the Senate, Secretary Rumsfeld said that he had been unaware of the extent of the depravity at Abu Ghraib, though he knew that abuses were occurring, until he saw the photos.

SECRETARY DONALD RUMSFELD: You see the photographs, and you get a sense of it, and you cannot help but be outraged.

ROGER ROSENBLATT: Seeing was believing. For everyone, it was, also, understanding; understanding then brought shame and outrage. It was the same with Vietnam. ( Gunfire ) Michael Arlen's classic, "The Living-Room War," would be written today as the Media-Room War, but little else has changed in terms of a picture's effects. Tell me about criminal behavior, and I am dismayed. Show me, and I am in a white heat. Between Vietnam and the present day, however, people have learned to take the sure thing out of news photos. What you see may not be what you get. See Rodney King beaten by the police. But the police then said that we weren't seeing that. King had started punching the cops seconds before the video was taken; the cops said that the beating was justified. In the case of Abu Ghraib, some people are claiming similar things. The glee was posed, not authentic. They were carrying out orders. The prisoners had to be softened up to save the lives of our troops.

SEN. JAMES INHOFE: They're murderers, they're terrorists, they're insurgents. Many of them probably have American blood on their hands.

ROGER ROSENBLATT: Senator James Inhofe said as much in the hearings. Also, these pictures were stills, and stills bear a powerful yet deceptive clarity. You can look and look again, as into a text. What you see is what you want to see; interpretations change. The question is not: can you believe your eyes? Rather it's, what connects your eyes and your mind and your heart? Shocking as those prison pictures were, they really did not appear out of the blue. The entire chaotic atmosphere of Iraq had subconsciously prepared us for more bad news. In some dark way we anticipated those pictures, if not their content, then their message-- that the place is out of control. Interesting to recall that the government did not wish us to see the flag draped coffins of our honored war dead. So we have seen these other pictures instead. A connection could be drawn between them, but most of us would have kept our reactions separate. There are things honorable and things shameful, and somewhere in the space between them is America these days, of which no clear and satisfactory picture has been shot. I'm Roger Rosenblatt.

RECAP

JIM LEHRER: Again, the major developments of this day: Iraq's interim government spent its first full day formally in power, but there was more violence, with three U.S. Marines killed in Baghdad. The Iraqi prime minister announced Saddam Hussein will have his first court appearance on Thursday. And the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a law to keep Internet pornography from children. The court has considered the issue three times since 1998. "Flashpoints" with Gwen Ifill and Bryant Gumbel airs later tonight on most PBS stations. It's called "America's Role in the World." Please check your local listings for the time. We'll see you online, and again here tomorrow evening. I'm Jim Lehrer. Thank you and good night.