Posted on 03/07/2003 9:53:35 AM PST by kattracks
Berlin (CNSNews.com) - Adding another sticking point to strained relations with the United States, Germany says its troops will not come to the rescue of American soldiers if they invade Iraq and face a chemical or biological attack there.
German defense minister Peter Struck said Friday that his forces will only defend and assist American soldiers and civilians based in Kuwait, where some German troops are currently stationed.
German soldiers in Kuwait possess equipment to detect contamination by biological and chemical weapons. But if the attack takes place in Iraq, German troops will not go forward to assist U.S. soldiers or their allies.
"Our soldiers will remain in Kuwait because the defense agreement applies to the citizens and American troops stationed in that country," Struck said in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. "The protection of American soldiers advancing in Iraqi territory must be taken on by the Americans themselves."
Germany has stood firm in its view that there should be no war. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder reiterated this stance Thursday when he said that the United Nations and the international community should discuss ways to achieve a peaceful solution. On Friday, Germany's foreign minister told the U.N. Security Council that there are "efficienct alternatives to war in Iraq."
After a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the German Chancellor said that Germany, France and Russia agreed that there was no need for a second resolution.
"The cooperation of Iraq has got better, but it still needs further improvement," Schroeder said. "Germany's basic position will remain intact, and it is a very, very firm position."
The German government has also announced that it would not help finance the rebuilding of Iraq if America invades. In 1991, Germany did not play an active military role in the first Gulf War, but it shared a large portion of the financial burden.
Last week, Berlin turned a request by NATO for additional Patriot air defense missiles for Turkey. The German government said that it had already fulfilled its obligation to NATO.
At the same time, however, Germany is prepared to increase the strength of its troops in Kuwait. The defense minister said that he would send additional troops to Iraq's neighbor to maintain security if the U.S. presence at Camp Doha is reduced because of war.
Last week, Germany said that it would send some 30 additional soldiers to join the elite troops operating the Fuchs - vehicles specially fitted with advanced equipment for detecting chemical, biological or nuclear contamination. The vehicles are stationed about 60 miles from the Iraqi border.
The German parliament has authorized the deployment of 800 elite troops in the region.
But the opposition Christian Democratic Union criticized the defense minister for his position on assistance to U.S. troops.
Friedbert Pflueger, the CDU foreign policy spokesman, described the move as "dangerous and unwise."
"I can't imagine that a German defense minister would deny emergency help for attacked American soldiers in Iraq only kilometers from where the Fuchs are stationed," Pflueger said.
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Thank God there is still a modicum of sanity out there.
AMEN!!!
Withdraw all our troops from Germany, if we have some in France, pull them out too!
Place an immediate halt to all import/exports for Germany, France, Russia, and yes...CHINA!!!
Use tactical nukes to neutralize the threat from N. Korea, and Iraq...sooner, rather than later!!!
Fickle, aren't we?
You might want to revise that comment to read: "...they were still considered a strong ally."
That perception has obviously changed - by Germany's recent actions. No, we're not fickle. It's just that our eyes have been opened to Germany's true nature.
(Dulles Airport, Virginia)
However, in my earlier days in the Army in the early 90's I trained with some German airborne troops and found them, to say the least, lacking in true soldier skills: they were physically unfit, mortally afraid to conduct a night time airborne op (standard stuff for US troops), and generally sloppy in dress and drill.
Howeffer, ve vill be obserrvink ze effekts und takink detailt hrekorts, ja!
They have done a lot for us, fighting terrorism, and they are good allies.
That said, the problem is the socialists, and there as many such left-wing socialists in the United States --- which socialists oppose our moving against Saddam Hussein --- as there are such socialists in Germany and in France combined.
If the terrorists attacked Berlin this evening, and they killed 5,000 Germans, we are assured that "Americans" --- such socialists, here --- will oppose going to the Germans' aid.
I'm voting that we help the Germans; same for the French; same for the Russians; because there are as many of them who would fight for freedom, as there are, of us, so willing.
But I admit that I have no interest in helping the Red Chinese, because it is they, who are our mortal enemies; it is Red China who has been whispering in the ears of the "third world" order, giving that, fascist order, cause to have a confidence serving Beijing.
Fickle, aren't WE???
Germany: "We are your friend."
Germany: "We are not your friend."
Germany: "I hope you get what you deserve, and don't come crawling to us when your soldiers are ambushed with the WMD that we know Iraq doesn't have."
Germany: "Pttthhhhhhhhtttt!"
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