"Die Zeit" (German Paper)Op-Ed: German Guilt in the War; Weapon's Inspector; Schröder was "crazy".

"Die Zeit" ^ | March 30, 2003 | Jochen Bittner and Reiner Luyken

[TopQuark]

Was the failure of the mission programmed from the beginning? No, say the inspectors: A unified Security Council could possibly have forced a peaceful disarmament. The same is true about Hitler "walking through" a divided, pacifict Europe.

[TopQuark]

We finally hear from the inspectors themselves. Thanks for the post, longjack.

[NeonKnight]

It makes one wonder if Blix ever actually consulted with his inspectors.

[longjack]

You're welcome.

I appreciate the kind words.

longjack

[Michael81Dus]

Well, the idea of boycotting US goods is not very popular and was initiated after news that many Americans boycott our products... when you point with one finger at another, three fingers point on you.

In fact, the start of the war has improved Schröders situation a bit - his party gained 3% more than before the war (now SPD 30%, CDU 45% - still the Conservatives could form the government).

[expatguy]

bump

[struwwelpeter]

Here are the Russians slowly and steadily coming around as well. Reading between the lines, it looks like everyone is having problems with the brutality of Saddam.

Bad PR stunt with the PWs. The Arab street was never as useful as Berlin, Moscow, and Paris.

[faithincowboys]

Time will be very cruel to the "leaders" in Berlin, Paris and Moscow!!!

[RightWhale]

I wonder if Rush routinely checks "Die Zeit."

This isn't the daily local, the "Tagblatt." Your German has to be pretty good to read "Die Zeit." Maybe Bush's German is that good, but in reality he would probably have to wait for longjack's translation.

[americanbychoice]

While the idea of boycotting each others products is more emotion driven, the real backlash is going to be Tourism and big ticket items. France was the #1 tourist spot of Americans, Germany #2. Now France is virtually deplete of Americans and it will be that way for quite some time. It is not a Government sponsored situation, but a patriotic one. I just continue to be amazed with Schroeders continuation of his Anti-Americanism. How far does he want to drive this one? I can already see the headlines in the left Papers: Our economic desaster is the fault of America. If he does not stop this madness he will do so much damage to Germany. He is hell bound to destroy NATO, the EU and the UN, because he bet on the wrong horse.
If you are in a Hole, you should stop digging.

[McGavin999]

So, is anyone in Germany paying any attention to these little nuggets of truth, or are they burying their heads in the sand like the french?

[nicollo]

Thanks for the article and translation. That's a lot of work.

We are FR have long understood the self-destruction of the Franco-German-Russo policy, that their anti-war stance ensured a war. Glad to see it being stated in Germany, however late.

I haven't thought about weapons inspectors for a while. Despite their inanity, and the Inspector Clouseau routine, they gathered good information -- and names. When the bombs first fell, one wonders which knock on the door those scientists got first: ours or Saddam's?

There's much fear of a long seige of Baghdad. "Seige" is the wrong term, which is why it won't happen. We're working Baghdad inside out.

[fso301]

I'll read this after lunch.

[longjack]

So, is anyone in Germany paying any attention to these little nuggets of truth, or are they burying their heads in the sand like the french?

Heads in the sand, I would say. More willing to believe in or want to believe in Iraqi successes.

I keep a dpa news ticker on 24/7. The dpa (Deutsche Presse Agentur), or German Press Agency, like AP, UPI, etc, is the news source for many newspapers and other media.

IMHO, they haven't broken any war story since the war began. We have the stories here long before dpa posts it. What they do report that I don't see reported over here is also oftentimes not later substantiated, or later proves as inaccurate.

Their Basra coverage, for example, mentions Iraqi's shooting their own citizens only in passing. They try to quote independent British reporters inside Basra, also, that contradict the British forces statements. That, in itself, is OK. The idea that the Baghdad market strikes could have been the Iraqi's own AA, however, was also lightly, if at all mentioned. They do report the news of the pauses or slowdowns in our advance as the 'attack has stalled (or sputtered)'. This causes me to think they are biased rather than neutral.

They had a short release earlier this morning about how the embedded journalists are being censored and made mention of the animosities growing between embedded reporters and military. Also, they mentioned jealously between our Armed Forces services (air force, army, etc.). My conspiracial tendencies attempt to intrepret that as them preparing their readers to not take future news items from embedded reporters as not completely objective.

IMO, they tend to editorialize some news releases in a way that is critical of the Alliance forces. Since this is a news source, the media using that source, and there are many, is inherently skewed.

Pepsionice has written that the reports on TV and radio over there are very anti-American, anti-Alliance.

Perhaps the dpa is attempting to be neutral, and my perception from Fox News is biased. At least I can attempt to watch events that would substantiate reports in one way or the other to test if my views are actually biased. If I were in Germany I don't think I would have that option.

Maybe some other Freepers who watch German sites can weigh in on this topic. I'd like to know if I'm way off base, here.

Over 80% of Germans think Schroeder's war stance is correct. No wonder, IMHO.

longjack

[longjack]

Thanks for the article and translation

You're welcome. BMCDA found the original article.

longjack

[longjack]

My conspiracial tendencies attempt to intrepret that as them preparing their readers to not take future news items from embedded reporters as being not completely objective.

Oops, double negative.

longjack

[speekinout]

They had a short release earlier this morning about how the embedded journalists are being censored and made mention of the animosities growing between embedded reporters and military.

That's an interesting slant. Most of what I've read has Liberals complaining that the "embeds" are becoming too cozy with the troops, as in the use of the word "we" when describing the day's activities.

I think this embedding thing will result in more balanced reporting - maybe for a long time. Many of these journalists were left leaning (with the usual attitude that gov't should be passing out butter, not defending us), and now they have a respect for the military that they never had before.

[tophat9000]

The true irony is Saddam could have stay in power if he had really been willing to give up his WMD

His need for; his willingness to risk all to hide his offensive WMD weapons is the most telling of all

[nkycincinnatikid]

Micheal, we're not actively boycotting. It's just that our Volkswagens are all in the repair shop, so we can't get to the Mall and buy our Bittburgers.

[aristeides]

A number of sources suggest that Saddam judged that he could not have stayed in power without his WMDs, that his conceding that point would have been a confession of weakness that would have undermined the terror on which his regime is based.