Free Republic

Germans in one of Germany's richest cities, Mainz(near Frankfurt), give their opinion on Trump's election.

BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday that German troops would stay in Afghanistan until their goals were achieved, dismissing the possibility of setting a timeline for withdrawal. In an interview with ZDF television being aired Sunday night, provided in advance to the AP, Merkel said she could not commit to bringing the troops home in a specific timeframe. She said she wanted them home “as soon as possible” but not until the mission was complete. “We have a goal, and that is self-sustaining security for Afghanistan,” she said. She would not speculate on when that goal might be reached....

Several hundred Bundeswehr soldiers, backed by heavy “Marder” tanks and fighter jets, are currently helping about 1,200 Afghan National Army forces conduct major anti-terrorist operations near the Taliban stronghold of Chahar Dara, southwest of the city of Kunduz, where the bulk of Germany’s roughly 4,000 troops are stationed. The fighting--which started on Sunday and involves looking for Taliban / Al Qaeda fighters “village by village and house by house”--is expected to go on until at least next week. The Bundeswehr soldiers are part of the German-led NATO Quick Reaction Force (QRF), which provides force protection and serves as emergency back-up...

Germany's parliament has voted to extend the country's military mission in Afghanistan and to deploy an extra 1,000 troops there. The decision will keep German troops in Afghanistan until December 2009, boosting their number to 4,500. Germany is the third-biggest contributor to the 47,000-strong Nato-led force. The plan put forward by Chancellor Angela Merkel was overwhelmingly approved by members of the lower house. The motion was backed by 442 MPs, while 96 voted against it and there were 32 abstentions. The move already has the support of the upper chamber of parliament. "This decision contributes to the stabilisation and peaceful...

Britain and Germany today watered down a strong European Union call for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Lebanon conflict as foreign ministers clashed in Brussels. Instead of calling for an immediate ceasefire a convoluted statement issued by the 25 member states called for "an immediate end to hostilities to be followed by a sustainable ceasefire". The move by Britain and Germany backs the stance of the United States which believes a ceasefire call should only be made if it was "sustainable". It will be also interpreted as a snub to Jacques Chirac, the French president, who has been demanding an...

ROSTOCK, Germany - The huge headline in Wednesday's edition of the German national newspaper Bild blared the question that inquiring minds in Germany wanted to know: "What Does Bush Find So Fascinating About His Girlfriend Angela?" President Bush, who arrived Wednesday evening in this Baltic Sea coastal region of what once was communist East Germany, has formed a fast friendship with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that has made them the new odd couple of international politics. He's the architect of the pre-emptive-strike war on Iraq and defender of the U.S.-operated prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. She leads West Europe's biggest...

AP) WASHINGTON President Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel presented a united front Wednesday on the need to stifle Iran's nuclear ambitions but tread cautiously in public on their uphill push for possible U.N. sanctions. "We spent a lot of time on Iran -- after all, we're close allies in trying to make sure that the Iranians do not develop a nuclear weapon," Bush said after his Oval Office meetings with Merkel. "We will continue to consult with our partners as to how to achieve a diplomatic solution to this issue." Other than Merkel's statement that it is crucial to...

German spies handed Saddam Hussein's war plans to the Americans while their government was denouncing the planned attack, it was claimed yesterday. The documents were transferred as the coalition completed its invasion plans in February 2003. A month later, American and British forces entered Iraq. The claims, in yesterday's New York Times, were swiftly denied by German officials. The paper said that a classified American military document referred to Saddam and his aides meeting in late 2002 to radically amend Iraq's war plans. They had wanted an invading army slowed and deflected by Iraq's military en route to Baghdad. But...

KABUL, Afghanistan, Jan. 26, 2006 — The capabilities of the Afghan National Security Forces were enhanced Jan. 24 by a donation of 10,000 9mm German Walther P-1 pistols from the German Armed Forces. The weapons were divided evenly between the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police in a ceremony at the Afghan Security Forces Depot. The donation is the result of a weapons request made by the U.S. Embassy in Berlin one year ago, according to Dr. Rainald Steck, German Ambassador to Afghanistan. “This donation will enable (the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police) to contribute...

BERLIN (AP) - New German Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed to strengthen relations with the United States and smaller EU nations in remarks released Sunday, a day before her top diplomat heads for Washington. In an interview with Focus magazine, Merkel also suggested the close links with Russia pursued by her predecessor, Gerhard Schroeder, were a lower priority for the new government.

The CIA in Europe Berlin's Silence for Washington By Matthias Gebauer in BerlinGerhard Schröder's government had detailed information on how the CIA operated in Europe -- and said nothing. The lower echelons of the administration even co-operated actively. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is likely to expect the same silent complicity from the new chancellor, Angela Merkel. DDP Planespotters, hobby airplane photographers, say they noticed an increase in the number of flights at the Frankfurt Airport between 2002 and 2004. In his heyday as leader of Germany, Gerhard Schröder was always ready to demonstrate indignation at how George W. Bush waged his war...

Bad News for Putin and Chirac: German right vows improved U.S. relationsTo France: 'Don't make us choose between you and the United States, because we probably won't choose you' By Nicholas Kralev and Tom Goeller THE WASHINGTON TIMES June 4, 2005 German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder BERLIN -- The conservative Christian Democrats and their Free Democratic partners will restore Germany's alliance with the United States and downgrade Berlin's ties with Russia if they win elections in September, leaders from both parties say. In a series of interviews, they also said that they would review their alliance with France, which they intend...

AN ENCOURAGING WORD Below is an e-mail from a young ensign aboard the USS Winston Churchill to his parents. (Churchill is an Arleigh Burke-class AEGIS guided-missile destroyer, commissioned March 10, 2001, and is the only active U.S. Navy warship named after a foreign national.) "Dear Dad, "We are still at sea. The remainder of our port visits have all been cancelled. We have spent every day since the attacks going back and forth within imaginary boxes drawn in the ocean, standing high-security watches, and trying to make the best of it. We have seen the articles and the photographs, and...

During Bush visit, chancellor says he and president have settled their differences Chancellor Gerhard Schröder was determined to make the best out of Wednesday's much-anticipated visit by U.S. President George W. Bush. But just when the chancellor wanted to make an especially good impression, he ran into a bit of trouble. ”I would like to raise my glass to German-American friendship and cooperation,” Schröder told the guests assembled for a midday banquet in Mainz. But then the chancellor added: ”That is if I had a glass.” But when no one rushed to give him one, the chancellor was forced to...

Danke, Amerika!by PETER BOENISCH A Two-Thirds-Majority will always be right.Think again!Two Thirds of the germans don't want to be thankful to the Americans.So short a memory can't be permitted.Without the Amis Berlin would be KhrushchevgradWithout the Amis there would still be the Wall and barbed wire.Without the Amis we'd still have the Nazis at our throats.Without McDonald's and without Coca-Cola, we Germans could live, but life wouldn't be worth as much without the American freedom to say what you want, what you think is good or bad, what you would like to have, and having the ability to ctiticize...

Germany to train Iraqi troops Germany's Bundeswehr has started preparations to train soldiers for Iraq's post-war army. A government spokesman told reporters in Berlin that the training would likely take place in the United Arab Emirates, and would include things like truck maintenance, as well as road and bridge construction. He stressed that German soldiers involved in the training mission would do so on the basis of bilateral agreements and would not be under US command. The details of the mission are still to be worked out. Germany and other NATO member nations agreed last week to help provide training...

<p>U.S. to Open Iraq Contracts to Germany, Handelsblatt Reports Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. will allow German participation in $5 billion worth of contracts to rebuild Iraq, the Handelsblatt business newspaper reported, citing unidentified U.S. government officials.</p> <p>German companies will be permitted to bid for orders to rebuild Iraq's electricity network, water supply and transport systems, the paper said in an advance release of a story in tomorrow's edition. Along with those of other countries that didn't join the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, German companies were excluded from an initial batch of contracts worth 18.6 billion euros ($23.6 billion), Handelsblatt said.</p>

<p>NEW YORK &#8212; German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder yesterday dropped many of his objections to U.S.-led efforts to rebuild Iraq, telling President Bush that Germany is now prepared to offer economic assistance for reconstruction and training for Iraqi soldiers and police.</p>

Bush Declares End to Differences with Germany VOA News 24 Sep 2003, 13:58 UTC U.S. President George Bush says "our differences are over" after meeting with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder for their first direct talks since their bitter dispute over the Iraq war last year. The meeting came on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, where several world leaders Tuesday criticized the Bush administration's doctrine of pre-emptive war in the face of perceived threats. Before the meeting, observers said Mr. Bush and Mr. Schroeder were both likely to try to improve strained relations. Germany has firmly...

Just heard from Rush Limbaugh that Germany has joined the American-lead coalition against Iraq and is sending chemical weapons decontamination specialists to Kuwait.