Schroeder Regrets Words That Hit U.S.-German Ties

Reuters ^ | April 19, 2003 | Erik Kirschbaum

[BillF]

Schroeder is just sucking up.....if he and Chirac could stick it to us again they would..

Right you are. The French and German govts. were up to their eyeballs in illegal trade with Iraq and were simply covering for their customer. The French were selling them arms (through cut-outs) very aggressively.

Give France back to Germany and make them both suffer!

[hobson]

bookmark

[Tribune7]

should be accepted by GWB, as I'm sure it will be.....

Not yet. What Dubya must insist on before any return to normalcy is that Schroeder do a sincere act of penance -- like a Sgt. Schultz impersonation on a major American prime time show. The O'Reilly Factor would be good

The Man Show would be good too. Probably better actually.

[Jorge]

Schroeder doesn't sound very sorry to me....

[bart99]

Yours was the best post in this thread......

IF Gernamy would actively work to end the oil for food sanctions, against the actions of France and Russia, then Germany would have shown by their actions that they were a bit.... ummm..... misguided...... and want to make up.

But they do have to be active. Words of apology aren't enough. Sorry Germany, but some concrete action is required.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

What Dubya must insist on before any return to normalcy is that Schroeder do a sincere act of penance -- like a Sgt. Schultz impersonation on a major American prime time show.

That is a great idea. Or he could have to dance on Sprockets and say, "Touch my monkey. Touch him. Love him."

[DaiHuy]

Yep, now he can explain the deals he tried to cut with Iraq to keep us from attacking.

[WoofDog123]

"We need to pull our military out of Germany"

My understanding on this is that Ramstein is a base the US could not functionally replace. the cost of placing a similar infrastructure in a friendly ex Warsaw Pact country would be something simply not in the budget, nor would the lease we would need (many decades, not one) be necessarily forthcoming.

The us moved out of Howard afb in Panama nearly 4 years ago (as far as ops went) and has yet to replace the net utility of that base in their replacement forward airfields (ecuador, aruba, some other i can't remember). ditto it would be for main airbases in europe, if the gringos pack up and go.

[WoofDog123]

"What has happened this time is different; the American people have been aroused.
We have long memories."

I would argue that all people have long memories, but the difference here is that the people in question are from the most powerful country on earth, and are still new at this War in the Homeland thing, and so remember every single slight in much greater detail. (unless it is TSA doing the slighting, of course)

[truth_seeker]

In time it will be revealed just what QUALITY this apology is.

In the future, if a more cooperative position is taken, without the extreme comments, it will have been genuine.

I lived in Germany, and to atone as a society, there is a strand of Pacifism. I'll grant them the right to oppose military attacks.

But to loudly oppose the US, and make inflammatory remarks, goes beyond what "friends and allies" do with each other.

Judge by actions, not merely by words.

[Rasputin_TheMadMonk]

Hey Scroter! Gehen Sie zu Hölle! Sie Stück Abwasser!

[Ronin]

If Schroeder wants to do something positive for Geman-American relations he can resign and retire. Nothing else is going to work.

I doubt if Bush will act to punish Germany (Rummy might, but that's another story) but Schroeder can apologize until he is blue in the face and it will won't make the slightest difference.

Bush is not going to forgive or forget and he certainly is not going to trust Schroeder again -- ever.

[greasepaint]

I G Farbensaddam...OUT OF BUSINESS

[RockBassCreek]

I agree with you. Also, he knows that there is no necessity to return all our troops to Germany that were based there. I expect some to return to Hungary and Poland. The German economy is precarious. That loss of military money will hurt deeply.

[dsc]

"Ooops, picked the wrong side. Time to do the weasel dance."

[Conservativegreatgrandma]

All my mom's grandparents came from Germany. I don't care. I'm renouncing my German heritage. I'm pure American.

[Tom Bombadil]

German media have reported Bush has declined to take calls from Schroeder.

When are Bush's detractors going to learn that he doesn't play pattycake after you dis him?

[dennisw]

This skunk figures all he has to do is look better than Chirac to get back in our good graces. He might be right.

[Ole Okie]

When are Bush's detractors going to learn that he doesn't play pattycake after you dis him?

I suppose this might happen when they finally discover that George W Bush ain't Sick Willie Klintoon.

[Tribune7]

Or he could have to dance on Sprockets and say, "Touch my monkey

I like it. Make him do both. Every night for a month.