<p>Early on Jan. 22, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder sat down for 20 minutes with Jacques Chirac in the French president's gilded office overlooking the gardens of the Elysée Palace.</p>
<p>As aides prepared for a glittering day of banquets and meetings to celebrate 40 years of Franco-German cooperation, the two leaders huddled after breakfast to discuss something more urgent: Iraq. For months, Mr. Schroeder had been a lone voice among European leaders saying that the U.S. had no cause to attack Saddam Hussein. His stand had helped him win a narrow victory in national elections four months earlier, but it also left him diplomatically isolated. Now, he was about to get some badly needed help.</p>