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German Politician: "Rumsfeld Is No Diplomat" (while others agree with Rumsfeld)
Deutche Welle ^ | January 23 2003

Posted on 01/23/2003 3:27:01 PM PST by knighthawk

While Germany thinks about the need for more reports arms inspectors in Iraq, Germans and French assail U.S. defense secretary's criticism of "old Europe."

Politicians in Berlin and Paris expressed their disapproval on Thursday at the latest salvos volleyed by U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld over Germany and France's reluctance to move forward with plans for a U.S.-led war against Iraq.

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld criticized German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and French President Jacques Chirac on Wednesday for their public demands that a second resolution be brought before the United Nations Security Council before any military action could be taken. As a permanent member of the Security Council, France could veto any resolution, raising the possibility that U.S. President George W. Bush would be forced to wage war without the support of the international body.

Rumsfeld dismissed critical comments made by Schröder and Chirac, responding to reporters queries by saying: "You're thinking of Germany and France. I don't. I think that's the old Europe."

"Problematic" comments that are "deeply insulting"

Rumsfeld's shoot-from-the-hip comments drew swift criticism across Germany and France on Thursday -- and even came from some unlikely quarters, including senior members of Germany's main opposition party, historically a close ally of Washington.

Angela Merkel, chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) described Rumsfeld's comments as "problematic," adding: "I don't think it is right to make such noises -- calling us the 'old Europe.'" Her colleague Volker Rühe, who heads the German parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, went a step further, saying "Rumsfeld is no diplomat."

European Parliament member Bernd Posselt, a member of the CDU'S sister party, the Christian Social Union, admonished Rumsfeld for his "neocolonialist" statements and called on him to think of Europe as a "partner" rather than a "protectorate."

The feathers seemed even more ruffled In France, where Economics Minister Francis Mer said he was "deeply insulted" by the defense secretary's comments.

"He hit the nail on the head"

But some political observers approved of, even greeted the comments. Bernhard May of the German Council of Foreign Relations said he thought Rumsfeld was taking a negative approach to achieve a positive result: to show the Europeans that they are needed in the confrontation with Iraq.

"Only when we work together can we achieve something," May told DW-WORLD. "If we don't work together, then the alliance becomes weakened and the pressure on Saddam lessens."

Meanwhile, from his office in the former German capital of Bonn, Professor Christian Hacke told DW-WORLD he agreed with Rumsfeld's comments. "He really hit the nail on the head," Hacke said. The problem, he said, is that Germany is pursuing a "catastrophic" policy in its dealings with the United States. "We have turned the United States into an opponent of our own diplomacy," he said

Germany to demand second report from inspectors

Officials in Germany's government sought to play down the spat. "Mr. Rumsfeld described the Europeans as being old," Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said on Thursday. "And, in fact, the cultures and countries are older than the USA."

But the rhetorical skirmish with Rumsfeld comes at a difficult time for Schröder's government, which has said it will ask the U.N. Security Council to require its weapons inspectors to issue another report on their work after they turn in their much-anticipated first review next Monday.

"We want the inspectors to keep working," Fischer said on Thursday.


TOPICS: Germany; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: axisofweasels; german; germany; rumsfled
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1 posted on 01/23/2003 3:27:01 PM PST by knighthawk
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To: MizSterious; rebdov; Nix 2; green lantern; BeOSUser; Brad's Gramma; dreadme; keri; Turk2; ...
Europe-list

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

2 posted on 01/23/2003 3:27:25 PM PST by knighthawk
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To: knighthawk
Last time I checked, the Secretary of Defense isn't a diplomatic post.
3 posted on 01/23/2003 3:28:24 PM PST by RonF
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To: knighthawk
When in February are the elections in Hesse and Lower Saxony that Schroeder's party is expected to lose badly?
4 posted on 01/23/2003 3:31:05 PM PST by aristeides
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To: knighthawk
German Politician: "Rumsfeld Is No Diplomat"

Thank God for that!!!

5 posted on 01/23/2003 3:31:46 PM PST by evad
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To: knighthawk
"Rumsfeld is no diplomat."

Thank you! We like him too.

6 posted on 01/23/2003 3:32:04 PM PST by Harmless Teddy Bear ("The avalanche has already started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote.")
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To: knighthawk
Hmmm. Looks like Schroeder and Fischer are facing blowback for their Anti-Americanism. How many toes do those guys have to shoot off?
7 posted on 01/23/2003 3:32:04 PM PST by colorado tanker (and I still think Binny is dead)
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To: knighthawk
Rumsfeld is no diplomat. We should thank the Almighty for that!
8 posted on 01/23/2003 3:32:40 PM PST by sheik yerbouty
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To: knighthawk
"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'nice doggie!' 'till you find a rock."

:)
--
Pyrion, Archangel of Anachronisms.

9 posted on 01/23/2003 3:33:16 PM PST by Pyrion
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To: knighthawk
Rumsfeld is one smart, smart man. This was a brilliant statement designed to scare the hell out of the Germans and French...letting them know that Rumsfeld and others in the Bush administration will not be afraid to make Western European nations "irrelevant" in the global picture. The "old Europe" comment is a thinly veiled threat that the United States will seek to discard alliances like NATO in favor of a new alliance that will include a much, much larger role for the new Eastern European democracies and Souther European nations that are far more in line with the political and social values of the United States.

I can't imagine where the Germans and French found the balls to be angry at Rumsfeld's comments...you cannot have it both ways. They are NOT acting like our friends, but they want to be treated as such.
10 posted on 01/23/2003 3:34:21 PM PST by MarkDel
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To: knighthawk
I think the Germans are just whining because it looks like they're not going to be able to start a third world war any time soon.
11 posted on 01/23/2003 3:34:49 PM PST by Psycho_Bunny
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To: Pyrion
"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'nice doggie!' 'till you find a rock."

Rummy: "Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
I shall fear no evil......because I am the meanest SOB in the Valley...."
12 posted on 01/23/2003 3:39:01 PM PST by TRY ONE
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To: knighthawk
Volker Rühe, who heads the German parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, went a step further, saying "Rumsfeld is no diplomat."

German Buys A Clue.

13 posted on 01/23/2003 3:42:10 PM PST by hellinahandcart (Buck Floomberg :P)
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To: Psycho_Bunny
Tell them that the US would like some more inspectors
in Irag. We have about 50,000 of them ready to go in
and start their "inspection" Just tell them that they
are really not US soldiers, just "inspectors"
14 posted on 01/23/2003 3:43:44 PM PST by tesshu
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To: knighthawk
"You're thinking of Germany and France. I don't. I think that's the old Europe."


15 posted on 01/23/2003 3:49:46 PM PST by Fraulein
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To: aristeides; Michael81Dus; tictoc
When in February are the elections in Hesse and Lower Saxony that Schroeder's party is expected to lose badly?

A question for one of you.

16 posted on 01/23/2003 3:50:52 PM PST by knighthawk
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To: knighthawk
I can't wait to see how foolish we will make prissy France and gutless Germany feel when Saddam's arsenal is exposed.

I'LL REPEAT: I CAN'T WAIT!
17 posted on 01/23/2003 3:53:31 PM PST by demkicker
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To: knighthawk
It is always fun to watch the Euro's grapple with their newly realized obsolescence. It used to be that they were the seat of philosophical, political, and economic power in the world and now they are not. In fact, their bellicose rhetoric is nothing more than a vain attempt to convince themselves they are still relevant as the United States marches on without of them.
18 posted on 01/23/2003 4:00:00 PM PST by lews
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To: knighthawk
Rumsfield is no diplomat?

Try this one on for size . . .

Back in mid-2002, there was a period of weeks during which it appeared that India and Pakistan seemed to be on the brink of a large-scale military conflict. Does anyone here remember when that story completely disappeared from the news?

I don't know the exact date or even the month, but I do know this: The conflict between India and Pakistan became a non-issue and completely disappeared from the headlines the day after Rumsfeld stopped in each country on his way to visit the U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

At the time I considered it highly unusual -- even bizarre -- for such a diplomatic mission to be carried out by the U.S. Secretary of Defense (as opposed to the Secretary of State, for example), but there is no disputing the effectiveness of Rumsfeld's visit.

Let the Germans and French chew on that one for a while.

19 posted on 01/23/2003 4:04:14 PM PST by Alberta's Child
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To: knighthawk
Yeah, well, Hitler was no military leader, either, and we can all be thankful for that. We've been listening to low-level 'diplomats' insult Bush for quite a while now. I think its our turn, and they won't really like what we have to say.
20 posted on 01/23/2003 4:09:15 PM PST by Citizen of the Savage Nation (I'm in the lobby of the Howard Johnson's, and I'm wearing a pink carnation)
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