The German position is that military options are not off the table! Just at the moment. This is still the time of talk. I understand that the impatience, but you can be sure that neither the EU, Israel or the US will accept a nuclear-armed Iran. So, I fully trust our leaders that they´ll stop Iran in time, and we can hope that this can be achieved by diplomacy. If diplomacy fails (the deathline hasn´t passed yet), the necessary steps will be taken, with or without the approval of Russia and China. NATO has acted once against the UN (1999), it can repeat that. There´s no dispute between Merkel and Bush on Iran.
Michael,
The EU, Germany included, had two years to deal with Iran.Iran deceived you and then bragged about it. Your former Chancellor looked the other way in the Oil for Food program while our young men prepared to go into battle, and prior to that, which strengthened Saddam's hand.
I disagree that this is the time for talk. Iran has no intention of dealing honestly with the West. They have dreams of leading Islam into a new future, armed with nuclear power. Crazy or not, they are an extreme danger to the Western world/ They are the head of the snake of terrorism worldwide, and have been for thirty years.
Their public pronouncements lead to no doubt to their intentions. The demise of the mullah regime is the linchpin to the end of Islamic terrorism.
The West is not showing a united front. The temerity of Germany and France to call a spade a spade, and the interference from Russia and China convince me that the US will once again have to take the lead.
We will benefit by getting rid of a threat, but so will all of you. What bothers me most is the reluctance for your country and others to do the right thing because it is hard, and to not shoulder your fair share of the war on terror.
In historical parallel, we are passing from the fall,1938 to the summer,1939 more quickly than we think. It is time to choose sides, and to act.