Posted on 09/13/2002 5:30:24 PM PDT by demlosers
Germans see positive side to Bush speech
Glimmer of hope for Security Council solution
German leaders' first reaction to U.S. President George Bush's keenly awaited speech to the United Nations on Thursday was generally positive, but they gave no indication that Germany would change its position that it is not prepared to back military action against Iraq, although some politicians outside of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's coalition have not ruled out German participation with a UN mandate.
They did, however, sound encouraged at Bush's suggestion that he might still be prepared to forsake military action if the world body can find a way to ensure Saddam Hussein stops what the Americans say is Iraq's production of weapons mass destruction. The president did not say what action he would take if the world body could not find a way to make the Iraqi leader comply.
Still, with the issue sensitive at home and general elections only 10 days away, the opposition chancellor candidate, Edmund Stoiber, sounded relieved that Bush had not driven a harder line. Speaking to reporters in Munich, Stoiber welcomed “the clear recognition by the American president that he recognizes the pre-eminence of the United Nations and the Security Council.“
The tone was markedly different from the one taken by Stoiber a few hours earlier in a telephone conversation with French President Jacques Chirac, in which the German categorically ruled out any involvement by German troops in an attack initiated by the United States. Until now Stoiber had appeared to leave the door slightly open to that possibility, but he told Chirac that an international solution had to be found. Stoiber was less categorical as to whether Germany could support an invasion authorized by the United Nations, saying that he hoped the country could reach “a common position with France.“ The French have insisted that they will take part in military action only with the UN's blessing.
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, who addressed the United Nations after Bush, called the U.S. leader's speech “very hard and clear.“
Fischer, who took part in Sept. 11 memorial ceremonies in the United States on Wednesday, has been at pains during his talks there to stress that Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's insistence that Germany will not take part in an attack, even one with a UN mandate, will not cause a rift between the two countries. The United States can continue to count on Germany's “unbroken solidarity,“ said Fischer.
Schröder was not immediately available for comment on the U.S. president's speech, but has repeatedly ruled out any German involvement in an attack - whether backed by the world body or not.
The general secretary of his Social Democratic Party, Franz Müntefering, reiterated that position on Wednesday, saying that Germany would never take part in an invasion of Iraq as long as the SPD remains in power. Müntefering said Germany would not even support such a campaign financially, as it did under former Chancellor Helmut Kohl in the 1991 Gulf War. German constitutional experts have raised questions about whether Germany could prevent the United States from using its airbases. Earlier this week, German President Johannes Rau said Germany should not take part in any attack on Iraq, and warned against “a war of cultures.“ mig
Interesting...hmmmm....
That utterly sickens me...And he is by no means the only pice of eurotrash interpreting the president's speech before the UN yesterday as a confession of US subordination to the UN.
Allow me to quote John Adams' toast he gave his family and friends from his deathbed:
"Independence forever!!"
"We won't have to get our own hands dirty!"
No, Stoiber, you dick.............he's just showing good manners by giving the UN the chance to do the right thing, but either way, he's going to do what he has to do.
Liberal Euroweenies (not sliming our sensible, conservative, right-thinking European brothers and sisters) just don't understand Southern men.
What will happen is that Germany will be on board, and Freepers will be starting a bunch of threads about WHAT THE HELL IS BUSH WAITING FOR.
Just like what happened with Afghanistan.
Germany absorbed East Germany not long ago after the East Germans had been brainwashed by communists for a half century. And these East Germans are now voting in German elections.
Maybe they should have taken the East Germans and marched them around in the Sinai for forty years before allowing them back in the country.
1. About half pretty much ignored (IMO) the speech itself, and concentrated on GWB's appearance before the UN. They concluded that it was a victory for "multilateralists" and doves in the WH, the EU, and the UN. They are interpreting the appearance itself as proof of US subordination to the UN and as a sign that the US needs EU backing in any Iraq action or it cannot act. They believe Blair and Powell are to be thanked .
The commentators and sites taking this stance are known to be leftist, and they no doubt had this opinion in mind well before the speech.
2.About half actually listened to GWB's speech, and they concluded it was a warning to the UN : Back the US and act on Iraq or become irrelevant and risk losing all US support.
The commentators and sites taking this stance are known to be conservative .
IOW,most of the commentators out there heard what they expected to hear.
There is also a terrifying
3.Ultra leftists, who agree with the conservative take on the speech, and therefore conclude that GWB's speech is a wakeup call for the UN :Time for the UN to become a global policeman with a standing army, to enforce all resolutions, verdicts of the ICC, and the global tax to pay for it all.
Stance 3 is (thank God) a small minority.
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