A taunting Schroeder sticks by Iraq position after narrow re-election

Associated Press ^

[martin_fierro]

History will prove him a fool.

[Numbers Guy]

We don't need German approval or German aid for the war with Iraq, so Schroeder winning won't affect the U.S. much at all.

It will affect Germany, greatly. Schroeder's burned some major bridges here, especially given his condescending "apology" to Bush after his Justice Minister's vile remark.

You know how sometimes someone angers you enough that you just don't bother with him anymore except where politeness requires some interaction? That's going to be the U.S. position with Schroeder's German government. It won't be worth the waste of time to yank our troops or anything, we just won't give a rip about what the Germans think on any level, on any issue.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I'd like to see them try to stop US overflights in regard to Iraqi action.

[Stultis]

and rebuild ties with the United States

Uh, yeah, whatever. We'll get back to you on that. Don't call us, we'll call you.

Enjoy your irrelevance, Gerry.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Latest addition to W's Axis of Evil list: Deutschland.

[scooby321]

Where in the West did the 9-11 terrorist come from GERMANY

[Stingray51]

Time to pull our forces out of Germany? Even Stoiber said he would not permit Germany to be used as a base for operations against Iraq. Perhaps we should start a steady redeployment of our ground forces out of Germany. If we want to keep a presence in Europe, I'm sure Poland or Hungary would love to have them.

[FoundersRWatching]

How about a nice little economic boycott of German products!! According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Dept. of Commerce, in 2000 the U.S. imports from Germany were $58.7 billion while exports to Germany were $29.2 billion. Gosh let's hit old Scrotum... er Schroeder in the pocket. May be a good way for us to "vote" in their election. Vote with your $

[ReleaseTheHounds]

How about we just re-station all our Nato troops out of Germany and into, say, England? Taking 60-100,000 Americans (and some families) out of the unfriendly and unsympathetic Germany would mean withdrawing all that economic activity that goes to the local economy. And aren't there some war-debts still on the books? We'll happily accept the cash.

[caltrop]

It's way past time to bring our forces home from Germany. I believe we have 26 bases in Germany and something on the order of 75,000 GIs and their dependents. We maintain hospitals, schools, PXs, etc., all at huge expense. The Army, which has had no real mission in Europe since the end of the Cold War, should close up shop in Germany and return to the US. We already have an air base at Taszar, Hungary. The Hungarians are thrilled we're there and I'm less inclined to want to shut down expensive to duplicate Air Force bases than Army installations anyway.

[Brian Allen]

<< History will prove him a fool. >>

And will prove him a thieving, lying, looting, Neo-Axis mass-murdering gangster bastard, to boot!

[Brian Allen]

<< RCW2001

Why don't we just recall our ambassador and refuse to speak with Germany as long as a liberal is in power? >>

Good idea.

Let's start that comendable practice with [The Peking-based medieval Maoist mob of 250 psychopathological, invading, conquering, colonizing, enslaving, lying, looting, thieving, mass-murdering ganster bastards that calls itself] "china," though.

[Defiant]

After we reconstitute Iraq with a new government, we need to arrange it so that Germany is completely shut out of any deals.

[veronica]

This is good. The more Americans see this perfidy from Germany, the less they will care whether Bush gets support from these so-called "allies" in his quest to take out Saddam. :) Unilateralism is in, baby.

[white trash redneck]

Pull our troops out of Germany. It's not like we need them there anymore in case the Russkies invade.

[Austin Willard Wright]

So you think Saddam poses the same threat as Hitler? What a laughable comparison.

[Billthedrill]

Schroeder seems a bit befuddled by the intensity of the U.S. reaction, and I'll tell you why - under the previous administration, whose ideological and demographic makeup more closely matches Schroeder's than the current one, unsubtle anti-American rhetoric was blown off as something that all sophisticates indulged in, something that was pretty much a given among the chic and leftist. Beating up on common external foes was a straight ticket to that voting block - what was the lady's felicitous phrase, "even Hitler did it..." (I've forgotten her name - didn't she used to be a minister in his government?) Offending mainstream Americans was a sport with no risk whatever because it was understood that it was all among friends who followed a "bigger" vision than mere nationalism.

It isn't like that now, and that seems to be confusing a lot of people, Schroeder not the least - I'd say it confused bin Laden and it seems to be confusing Saddam as well. It may be just me, but I get the strong impression that part of this confusion led the confused to conclude that we'd whine about 3000 murdered people for a few days and then back to business as usual. After a year they still don't get it, and they find it annoying that we seem to be taking this more seriously than they are. Bush isn't Clinton, and Afghanistan isn't Vietnam - neither is Iraq - and the precepts of the middle third of the previous century are as outmoded and archaic as buggy whips.