German parties rally for last push amid furore over Hitler jibe

Agence France-Presse | September 20, 2002

[HAL9000]

BERLIN (AFP) - Germany's main parties wrapped up their campaigns for Sunday's federal elections confident of victory, but in a mood soured for Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder by an embarrassing Hitler jibe at the United States.

Before addressing 16,000 jubilant supporters in Dortmund, Schroeder wrote an apology to US President George W. Bush after a senior minister reportedly compared the latter's tactics over Iraq to those used by Hitler.

"I would like to say how sorry I am that remarks attributed to the German justice minister may have hurt you," he wrote in the letter.

"The minister has assured me that she did not say the words attributed to her," he added in the letter, which was made public.

He assured Bush: "I can guarantee that anyone who draws a link between the American president and a criminal does not have a place in my government."

The incident has soured German-US relations, which had already been badly holed by Schroeder's outright refusal to join any US-led attack on Iraq even with a UN mandate.

With the main parties neck and neck in the polls, the last thing Schroeder wanted was to have an alleged gaffe by Justice Minister Herta Daeubler-Gmelin dominate the day's news.

It was a bonus for his rival Edmund Stoiber, whose conservative Christian Union (CDU/CSU) alliance has been wilting in the final weeks of its campaign to oust the chancellor's Social Democrats (SPD).

"Every hour that this unspeakable woman is in office is damaging Germany," he thundered to loud applause at his closing rally in Berlin.

He accused Schroeder of using his anti-war stance on Iraq to win votes at the cost of the cherished relationship with the United States.

The chancellor made no mention of the furore in his closing campaign rally in Dortmund, an SPD bastion in the industrial heart of western Germany.

Like Stoiber, he too confidently predicted victory when the polls close at 6:00 pm (1600 GMT) Sunday.

"Four years of SPD-Greens coalition have moved us forward, but we are not yet there. We want to continue on that path," he said.

The Christian Union "wants to govern but is not capable of it."

Lending their support were newly re-elected Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson, who spoke in German, and Nobel literature laureate Guenter Grass.

In Berlin, Stoiber rallied the faithful with a speech haranguing Schroeder for what he branded as a litany of failure: too much unemployment, crime and immigration, not enough education, nothing for small businesses.

"Our country does not need play-acting, it needs competence," he intoned, adding: "Every hour brings us closer."

Two polls released earlier in the day showed the political mood in favour of Schroeder's SPD, who have governed for the last four years in a coalition with the Greens.

The main poll, for RTL television, showed 38.5-39.5 percent for the SPD to 37-38 percent for the CDU/CSU.

While the survey sought to test the political mood rather than how people might cast their ballot Sunday, the figures correspond closely to what voter intention polls have said for the past two weeks.

There was no indication how Daeubler-Gmelin's reported remarks might play on polling day.

Visibly shaken as she was grilled by reporters for more than an hour, she admitted using the words "Adolf" and "Nazi" in a debate about using war as a method of drawing attention from domestic problems.

However, she insisted she had not meant to compare Bush with a "criminal" and her words had been misquoted by a journalist who was present without her knowledge.

Daeubler-Gmelin also denied reports that she had claimed the United States had "a lousy justice system" and that if laws on insider trading had been in force in the 1980s, when Bush was in the oil business, "he would be in prison today."

US Secretary of State Colin Powell called German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer to voice his "outrage" at the reported statements, a State Department spokesman said.

[doug from upland]

The lovely Herta. Doesn't she look like most of the RAT women?

[A Citizen Reporter]

Sorry I've been absent from all these German "hitler" threads. So I'm sure it's alread been said, but isn't it somewhat ironic, that a German foreign minister would equate the US president to the German Hitler? I mean, is this some kind of new liberal guilt type thing?

[Wait4Truth]

Additional comments here that we haven't heard before. She thinks GW should have gone to jail in the 1980's sounds like to me. (shaking my head)

[Righty1]

Actually, her hair is a bit long and plush to make it as a U.S. femarat. Wouldn't it be great if the hyphenated bitch cost her party the election?

[goldstategop]

Her "conservative" opponents are not that great a friend of the U.S either. Seems Edmund Stoiber and the CDU want to prevent U.S use of German bases in the event of a war with Iraq. That's how Chancellor Kohl's once proud party repaid our standing with the Federal Republic Of Germany throughout the Cold War while their country was divided in two.

[McGavin999]

We should have left the damn wall up! These people are a disgrace and the "apology" was NO SUCH THING! It added insult to injury.

[pepsionice]

This particuliar election has sunk German politics to a new low. Most Germans already agree now that they are starting to act like American elections. The amount of hatred between the two major parties is absolute. The interesting thing is the standing 3 additional minor parties, who will likely take in 20 percent of the total vote between them. Shroeder will likely win, but I would doubt that he gets any kind of US invitation to the White House ever. The Bush administration will likely just isolate them completely out of worldly affairs, and I would guess that both the British and French will go at least half that distance. The behavior of Shroeder upset the French government greatly. I doubt that the most Germans grasp the entire significance of the episode. Having been here for almost 10 years, one gets the impression that they really don't have any understanding of world affairs.....and just kinda live off their beer and BMWs. Don't bother us....is the capital theme of the country...as long as we can work and make money, nothing else matters.

[Shermy]

Boy, Schroeder sounds better here, as in: "I would like to say how sorry I am that remarks attributed to the German justice minister may have hurt you,"

I think he changed it, or AFP Frenchies missed some nuances. White house says the letter says this:

"I want to let you know how much I regret the fact that alleged comments by the German justice minister have given an impression that has offended you."

[Bullish]

Sweet!

[Malesherbes]

I hope Bush refuses even to reply to this insulting "apology."

[DB]

Yes, I found "alleged" to be very interesting as well. Either she did or she didn't. If she didn't he should say so, if he can't trust her answer enough to know, he should fire her.

[piasa]

She said she didn't, but the reporters say she did. They went further and said that they wanted to be sure and read the statement back to her. She confirmed it as written so they went ahead and published it.

[DB]

Yes, my point was Schroeder was unable to say definitively one way or the other. In other words someone is lying and Schroeder wouldn't go on record believing her or not believing her. How do you have people in your government that you can't explicitly trust?