And I must add, you've got to love that Condi. ;)
Regards, Ivan
Posted on 09/21/2002 11:03:22 PM PDT by MadIvan
Gerhard Schröder was last night holding on to a wafer-thin lead before today's German general election as his government became embroiled in a diplomatic row with Washington over its anti-war rhetoric.
A final poll published by the influential Allensbach organisation predicted that the Chancellor's governing Social Democrats would capture 37.5 per cent of the vote, putting it just half a percentage point ahead of Edmund Stoiber's conservatives.
Statistically insignificant - Ivan
What promised to be the closest fought German election in more than a decade was, however, overshadowed by a blistering dispute between Berlin and Washington over Mr Schröder's outspoken criticism of US plans for military intervention in Iraq - an issue that has formed the centrepeice of his campaign.
And destroyed his international credibility - Ivan
The row hit new depths on Thursday after Herta Daubler-Gmelin, the justice minister, was reported to have compared President Bush's talk of an imminent war with Iraq to the tactics used by Adolf Hitler.
The minister's alleged remarks prompted an angry response from Washington yesterday. In an interview with the German-language edition of the Financial Times, Condoleezza Rice, President Bush's national security adviser, said that relations between the two countries had been "poisoned".
"It has not been a happy time with Germany," she said, "How can you use the name Hitler and the name of the President of the US in the same sentence?
"Particularly how can a German say this given the devotion of the US in liberating Germany from Hitler? An atmosphere has been created in Germany that is in that sense poisoned."
Her comments followed similar criticism of Mr Schröder's government that has emerged from Washington over the past few weeks. Mr Bush has let it be known that he is "furious" about the Chancellor's opposition to his plans for Iraq.
Mrs Daubler-Gmelin has insisted that she was falsely accused of comparing Mr Bush to Hitler. She was quoted as telling a meeting of businessmen last Thursday: "Bush wants to divert attention from domestic difficulties. That is a popular method. Hitler has done that before."
The editor of the Tagesspiegel newspaper, which reported her remarks, said that he had "never seen anybody lie so much as the minister" after she had attempted to exonerate herself at a press conference.
In an effort to minimise the damage resulting from the affair, Mr Schröder sent a written explanation to Mr Bush late on Friday apologising for the alleged remarks of his justice minister.
"I want to let you know how much I regret the fact that the alleged comments have given an impression that has offended you," he wrote.
And this letter was supposed to make things better? Weak, Gerhard, very weak - Ivan
German political commentators left no doubt, however, that the Schroder government's attitude to the Iraq crisis has done unprecedented damage to US-German relations.
"This is the deepest crisis in relations since the founding of postwar Germany," said Professor Werner Weidenfeld, a political scientist at Munich University. "It will take a long time before it can be repaired."
In his final election rally in Berlin on Friday, Edmund Stoiber, the conservative challenger, attempted to take a clear stance on the deepening row with America by insisting that Chancellor Schröder's campaign had "left relations between the two countries in tatters".
One of the main reasons for the evaporation of Mr Stoiber's lead in the opinion polls, however, has been his failure to offer a decisive response to Mr Schroder's outspoken criticism of America.
On Friday he even insisted that if he were elected Chancellor he would prohibit American forces from using US military bases in Germany in the event of an attack on Baghdad. After officials pointed out that this was legally impossible, Mr Stoiber said he would not put German bases at America's disposal.
Despite the row, there was little sign yesterday that Mr Schröder's criticism of US policy was affecting his election chances in anything but a positive way.
Opinion polls have shown a consistent 65 per cent majority in favour of the Chancellor's stance on Iraq - an issue that has eclipsed the problem of Germany's four million unemployed in the final weeks of campaigning and robbed Mr Stoiber of his lead.
And I must add, you've got to love that Condi. ;)
Regards, Ivan
Regards, Ivan
She's right
BTW .. what's this Edmund Stoiber guy like?? .. he doesn't sound any better
He's more dour, grey and responsible I'd say. He has presided over the only region in Germany that is doing well - Bavaria. He'd be a marginal improvement over Schroeder, and better behaved.
What would be best about his victory would be it would bring the Liberals into power through a coalition. German Liberals are "liberals" in the "classic" sense, more or less - they want to cut taxes, reduce government and so on. Guido Westerwelle, their leader, is reasonably good, and would likely get the Foreign Ministry.
Regards, Ivan
Here's hoping the Germans have enough good sense left in them to oust that pompadoured blowhard, Gerhard.
I've long thought that Germany's greatest problem is that all of the best Germans emigrated to our Midwest in the last century.
That's what Germans consider liberals??? ..
On Friday he even insisted that if he were elected Chancellor he would prohibit American forces from using US military bases in Germany in the event of an attack on Baghdad. After officials pointed out that this was legally impossible, Mr Stoiber said he would not put German bases at America's disposal.
Looks like a case of Dumb and Dumber with these two German Euro-cretins.
They've been around for a while, at least since the end of World War II.
The Liberals are selling themselves now, with their tax cuts, and this is useful, as "a party of the hard-working - that's something different from a party of the better-off".
We should remember that the next time the Tories or Republicans get accused as being the party of the rich, we're the parties of the hard working.
Regards, Ivan
Well in most European countries, liberals are actually more libertarian than anything else. The word "liberal" got hijacked in America by your left because they knew "socialist" didn't sound too good. ;)
Regards, Ivan
Apologies to the Queen.
Regards, Ivan
LOL .. got a point there and thanks for the bit of education
That is the worst non-apology apology I have ever heard.
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