Posted on 02/08/2003 9:42:15 PM PST by pepsionice
BERLIN: Washington is tightening the economic screws on Berlin over a looming conflict with Iraq, threatening to clamp down on both the government and private companies in staunchly anti-war Germany, according to Press reports.
The US has decided to freeze all but the bare minimum of its planned multi-million investments in its German military bases "because of the political situation," the weekly Welt am Sonntag reports today.
A letter from the office of Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announcing the decision has been sent to the US command in Germany, according to the weekly.
Washington is also threatening to clamp down on German companies who maintain their trade ties to Iraq, the newspaper Die Welt said in its edition yesterday.
The administration of US President George W Bush, in a letter to Berlin's economy ministry, said companies that do business with Baghdad would compromise their ties to their US trade partners, according to the daily.
Germany-Iraq trade ties are worth some $ 364million yearly, according to German government statistics.
Blocking US military investment across Germany could mean a major loss of capital, as it would shelve a100 -million-euro US Air Force investment in the southwestern state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Renovation at the US military airport at Ramstein, in the same state, could also be affected by the plan, the paper said.
Germany has more US military bases than any other European country.
Berlin, a traditional US ally, has come out strongly against waging war on Iraq, saying it will not participate in military operations and will not vote in the Security Council in favour of the use of force.
Pentagon chief Rumsfeld has lashed out several times at Germany, recently lumping it together with Libya and Cuba - Washington's sworn enemies - as countries who would not participate at all in a US-led coalition against Iraq.
I do.
While we needed the French, Washington himself had mixed feelings about their presence here and concerns about French ambition to re-assert its territorial claims in North America. (Yes, he said so.) It also complicated our relationship with our supporters in England, such as Burke, making it much more difficult for them to argue our case before Parliament and with the ministry. France pulled Spain into this alliance, which complicated matters even further.
And fyi, the Constitution specifically gives the federal government the power to make treaties and does not exclude the formation of alliances for mutual defense.
With victory, the status of the Franco-American alliance became controversial. Some held that the alliance continued, as there was no limit specified in the treaty of 1778. Americans who disliked the suggested perpetual connection with France saw the French Revolution of 1789 as an opportunity to get rid of the treaty. However, Washington agreed with Jefferson that the treaty of 1778 remained in force even with France changing to a republic. The problem was intensified as the French Revolution led to another French-Anglo war, and the US wanted to remain neutral.
A French minister to the US, Edmond C. Genêt, arrived in April 1793. He attempted to foment a war between the US and England, as well as to encourage American privateer actions against Spanish and English possessions. His overt activities forced Washington to have Genêt recalled in August 1793. The episode embarrassed even the modest amount of Francophile support that remained in the US.
1794
Even when his successor arrived in February 1794, Genêt's elected to remain in the US. He possibly feared returning to France during the Reign of Terror. However, the Americans did not want to be reminded of the 1778 treaty with France. They did not want it to disrupt lucrative commerce with the rest of Europe, and especially with England.
The American minister, John Jay negotiated the 'Jay Treaty' with England in November 1794. It accommodated American policy to British interests, and permitted British seizure of French goods on American ships.
The French reaction was abrupt. France broke relations with US and the French began to harass US shipping in the West Indies.
Those who believe that our country could ever exist in splendid isolation from European and global conflict and intrigue are only fooling themselves.
Still think our alliance with the French was not "entangled?"
Thanks very much for the heads-up...appreciate it.
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