German Defense Minster Extends Hand to Rumsfeld

DW-World ^ | November 9 2002

[knighthawk]

German Defense Minister, Peter Struck meets his American counterpart on Friday in a further attempt to mend poisoned U.S.-German relations.

After being snubbed by U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at a NATO meeting in September, German defense minister Peter Struck flew to America on Friday to meet with his American counterpart.

Hot on the heels of German Foreign Minister Joscka Fischer, who met last week with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, the meeting is being billed as a further attempt by Germany to mend its strained relations with the United States.

Fischer maintained last week that despite current problems the transatlantic alliance between Berlin and Washington remained a cornerstone of German foreign policy.

"Poisoned" relations

Bilateral ties between Germany and the USA have been on the rocks since German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder’s outspoken rejection of a possible attack on Iraq during his election campaign. After Schröder made his comments during the recent German general elections, Struck further soured relations by adding that German war tanks and personnel would be removed from Kuwait if war occurred.

Relations between the two countries nose-dived again after the German Justice Minister at the time, Herta Daeubler-Gmelin, likened U.S. president George W. Bush to Hitler. She was later forced to resign over the comments.

The amount of ‘poison’ – in Washington’s words – in German-U.S. relations was clearly obvious at September’s two-day NATO meeting in Warsaw. In what was regarded as a very public snub, Rumsfeld declined to meet with Struck and refused to call him by name at a press conference referring to the German defense minister simply as "that man."

A fresh start?

Although the meeting between the two defense ministers in Washington on Friday is unlikely to result in any change in Germany’s position on Iraq, there are signs of conciliation by the German government on joint U.S.-German military issues.

Yesterday the German government met to discuss prolonging its mandate for German troops in the U.S.-led anti-terror campaign "Enduring Freedom" for one year rather than the six months it had previously debated. The final vote is expected next week.

Currently, 1,250 Germans are involved in the mission which was launched after Sept. 11 to root out biological and chemical weapons and terrorists. The mandate allows for the deployment of up to 3,900 soldiers.

Struck and Rumsfeld will also focus on the offer made by Germany and the Netherlands to lead the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan starting next year. Germany's participation in this month's NATO summit in Prague, is also expected to be discussed.

Pentagon officials said the two defense ministers would meet for around 40 minutes of talks on Friday. According to a Pentagon spokesman, the meeting had been requested by Struck. A joint press conference is expected for the evening.

[knighthawk]

Europe-list

If people want on or off this list, please let me know.

[Drango]

Although the meeting between the two defense ministers in Washington on Friday is unlikely to result in any change in Germany’s position

When the next Al-Quida bomb explodes in Hanover, Frankfurt, Bonn or Berlin, don't expect any help from us.

[zingzang]

Rummy should kick that jerk right in his lederhosen and send him packing...after telling him that we expect full cooperation from them in all military matters.

[facedown]

Bump

[scouse]

We should move all our troops out of that country and let them take up the cost of their own defense.

[riri]

We'll help them-we always do. Then they will turn around and stab us in the the back. Probably with the same butter knife they use for their haircuts. LOL

[americanbychoice]

i am for pulling our troops out of germany. This would bankrupt them. Luxemburg, canada and germany rank at the bottom for the amount of defense spending. Let them take care of their own rather than using our tax dollars. The government is totally broke already. They are trying to raise taxes in all areas. What they don't realize is that their firms will have no choice but to relocate somewhere else increasing the already high unemployment. etc.,etc.,etc.

[Cicero]

What are they going to discuss? How Germany won't help?

[LisaFab]

Their press conference is on CSPAN live right now. They don't appear too chummy to me.

[OldFriend]

American troops are in Germany for a very good reason. The Germans are not to be trusted..as we have seen.

[zingzang]

If I was Rumsfeld, and they didn't have any audio during the shot, I'd sit there and tell him that German women are generally obese, beer-stein carrying, pretzel eating pigs, and that the German men who marry them are men of weak constitution who allow these portly Brunhildas to control them; all the while smiling and showing him a map of Germany devoid of US military bases.

[caltrop]

Give me a break. American troops are in Germany at enormous expense and with no mission. Whether the Germans can be trusted is an altogether different question and, regardless of the answer, has no bearing on keeping a permanent military force in Germany pouring money into their economy. Bringing the troops home is long overdue.

[zingzang]

Exactly. And with this new focus on rapid deployment we can really put our military to the test. I say they put out the word and have them deployed back to US soil in one week, tops. I know our men and women would rise to the occasion for such a mission. Leave it to the dork Germans to decide how to use the places after we leave so fast it makes their collective Nazi heads spin.

[Ronin]

Don't hold your breath, Fritz!

[GOPJ]

Thanks for the ping

[Sunsong]

I didn't see the news conference. How "not chummy" were they?

I was sorry that Rumsfeld even met with Struck.