Schröder's Team Not Telling Full Story on Iraq, Foes Say

New York Times ^ | February 4, 2003 | By RICHARD BERNSTEIN

[prairiebreeze]

ERLIN, Feb. 3 — Members of Germany's conservative opposition have accused Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's government of withholding a true picture of the threat from Iraq, citing classified German intelligence information that Iraq possesses the smallpox virus and that the Saddam Hussein regime has mobile factories capable of producing chemical and biological weapons.

The German health minister, Ulla Schmidt, has recommended that Germany stockpile smallpox vaccine to guard against a possible terrorist attack. The recommendation, reported on the Web site of the German newsweekly Der Spiegel over the weekend, has not been made public.

On Friday, the federal intelligence service said only that it had passed along information about Iraqi weapons programs to the United Nations inspectors who are charged with verifying Iraqi disarmament, but gave no details on the intelligence or with whom else it had been shared.

A text of the full memorandum from a closed parliamentary committee meeting last November was provided to The New York Times by a member of the opposition, which has apparently been emboldened by the defeat of Mr. Schröder's Social Democrats in state elections on Sunday to assail the government's opposition to war in Iraq.

In the memorandum, Ms. Schmidt, a Social Democrat, denies that there is any intelligence information that is new, suggesting that the German government has known for some time of the Iraqi smallpox stock. Her overall recommendation, however, seems to align her with the American position that a biological attack emanating from Iraq is a real possibility.

"It is to be assumed that countries such as North Korea and Iraq have access to viral strains that could present a potential threat," the memorandum quotes Ms. Schmidt as saying. "It was stated earlier that no one would use these because of the risk of self-injury, but it is the case, given the numerous suicide bomber attacks, that there is a completely different situation."

"Therefore," the memorandum says, "the danger cannot be excluded that someone could infect himself to launch a suicide attack."

Until now, opposition politicians have been constrained on Iraq by the strong antiwar sentiment in this country. But they now say Sunday's defeat has encouraged them to end what they see as Germany's isolation on the Iraq question and to align Germany with its traditional allies, the United States and Britain.

Mr. Schröder, however, reiterated today that he would not bend in his opposition to war with Iraq. "We were against military action and we remain against it now," he said.

Nonetheless, Mr. Schröder appears isolated. The cover on Der Spiegel today showed a picture of him under the headline "The Lonely Chancellor."

[prairiebreeze]

*"It is to be assumed that countries such as North Korea and Iraq have access to viral strains that could present a potential threat," the memorandum quotes Ms. Schmidt as saying. "It was stated earlier that no one would use these because of the risk of self-injury, but it is the case, given the numerous suicide bomber attacks, that there is a completely different situation."*

ahem, eyup.

[river rat]

The murderous dream doesn't change...just the allies.

Semper Fi

[wretchard]

Human folly arises from the desire to believe what is convenient. No, there will never be a threat to a skyscraper in New York. No, the tiles will never fall of a shuttle, even if they have done in every flight in the past. No, there will never be a biological warfare attack on Western Europe.

At least Americans have been disabused of many illusions and are alert to the threat. The Europeans are still asleep.