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Schroeder should quit as chancellor: brother 27 September 2005 BERLIN - Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who is battling to stay in office after Germany's inconclusive elections earlier this month, was told to quit by his younger brother in a newspaper interview Tuesday. "I wish he wouldn't subject himself to all this stress," said Schroeder's half-brother, Lothar Vosseler, in comments to Berlin's B.Z. newspaper. Vosseler told the paper he had some advice for his older brother: "I think he should quit. He's done so much for his Social Democratic Party (SPD) that he can leave with his head held high." Chancellor Schroeder,...

No talks until Schroeder gives up chancellery: Merkel 26 September 2005 BERLIN - Angela Merkel turned up the heat on Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder by vowing Monday not to open formal talks for a coalition with his Social Democrats unless he gave up his demand to remain Germany's leader. Merkel's Christian Democratic alliance (CDU/CSU) came in first in Germany's September 18 election but failed to win a majority, leaving the nation in political deadlock. Both Merkel and Schroeder have claimed the right to set up the next government. Merkel, who met with Schroeder for exploratory talks last week and will do...

Schröder and Chirac ponder years of decline By David Rennie in Brussels (Filed: 03/06/2005) It is one of the grandest traditions of the European project: on the eve of any EU summit, the leaders of France and Germany meet to thrash out a joint approach, before descending, like gods from Olympus, to tell the other nations what they have agreed. Click to enlarge Tomorrow Jacques Chirac of France and Gerhard Schröder will meet in Berlin, to discuss the current crisis gripping the EU after France and Holland's No votes. But this time, there will be a distinct stench of mortality...

When we look at the constant assault on all that made America great -- a common language, personal liberty, the right to assemble with whom we wish, conventional marriage, the Boy Scouts, religion, etc. -- we need only look inward to those working among us. We can call them Democrats, liberals, the left, or progressives. The label is not important. By their acts, we know them as socialists and they have a plan to disassemble society as we know it. We have written about the infamous House Progressive Caucus[1] many times before. The Progressive Caucus is the Congressional arm of...

Politicus: Kerry-friendly Europe still has its own ideas John Vinocur IHT Monday, September 27, 2004 No German and French troops for Kerry ...But last week, just after Kerry's major speech on the war last week in which he insisted that the United States "must make Iraq the world's responsibility" and that others "should share the burden," Schröder's sense of courtesy collided with reality and he drove a spike into the notion. He told reporters, "We won't send any German soldiers to Iraq, and that's where it's going to remain." As for the Democrat, Süddeutsche (German newspaper) said Kerry "is suggesting...

<p>BERLIN, Germany -- Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder says Germany, which opposed the war in Iraq, is committed to helping rebuild the war-torn country.</p> <p>Germany is ready "to make a contribution" to the reconstruction of Iraq and "strongly help" move along the democratization process, Schroeder told reporters after a meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.</p>

For Americans, It's French Sissies Versus German He-Men By NINA BERNSTEIN t was on display again last week, that old double standard. On camera, Germany's chancellor got a muscular handshake from America's president and a meeting that let bygones be bygones. France's president got the official cold shoulder and columnists' heated denunciations. Yet France and Germany had taken the same position on the Bush administration's policies in Iraq. Both were offering to help train Iraqi security forces, but not to send soldiers. Both argued that only accelerated Iraqi sovereignty and a larger United Nations role could secure peace. Apparently, it...

French president Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder (L) enjoy a beer in a street bar in the eastern town of Dresden, after their for informal talks about the situation in Iraq (news - web sites) and in the middle-East, and the future European constitution. Germany and France rejected Washington's proposals for a planned UN resolution on Iraq because they do not go far enough to ensure a rapid transfer of authority to an Iraqi government.(AFP-DDP/Michael Urban)

Numbers from Tony Snow: George W. Bush job approval numbers Approve- 62% Disapprove- 29% Tony Blair approval numbers: Approve: 64% Disapprove: 7% Jacques Chirac approval numbers: Approve: 9% Disapprove: 26% Never heard of: 46% Not sure: 19% Gerhard Schroeder approval numbers: Approve: 6% Disapprove: 15% Never heard of: 59% **Didnt' catch the other number U.S. military disarming and removing Saddam: Approve: 71% Disapprove: 20%

...Schroeder told reporters he will call United Nations Secretary Kofi Annan later in the day to offer the services of German experts in biological and chemical weapons and missile technology, "if they are needed and wanted" -- ... a great success for the United Nations and Kofi Annan", adding that the development should now be used "as a chance for peace in the Middle East".