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Politics : DON'T START THE WAR

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To: Sultan who wrote (4612)1/30/2003 10:11:00 PM
From: PartyTime  Read Replies (1) of 25898
 
Will Bush visit the German Parliment?

newsday.com

German Parliament Eye U.S. Bases Role

By TONY CZUCZKA
Associated Press Writer

January 30, 2003, 6:41 PM EST

BERLIN -- Legal experts in parliament argued Thursday that Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's pledge to let the United States use German bases in a war with Iraq need not apply if Washington acts unilaterally.

While angering Washington by staunchly ruling out a German role in military action against Iraq, Schroeder said in November that the U.S. military could count on using crucial bases in Germany and German airspace.

But a parliamentary study made a potentially significant distinction, concluding that accords on the stationing of U.S. troops in Germany guarantee base and overflight rights only for exercises or if the NATO alliance acts jointly. A copy of the study was obtained by The Associated Press.

"Preventive military measures by an individual country ... are not covered by the current NATO troop statute," said the study, commissioned by conservative opposition lawmaker Hans-Peter Uhl.

Schroeder has avoided revisiting the question of basing rights as U.S. pressure for action against Saddam Hussein has built. But he has insisted that any decision on war must be an international one, made by the U.N. Security Council.

Schroeder's anti-war stance has aligned him with France and the German public, but he has found himself increasingly at odds with other European countries.

The chancellor hinted Wednesday in the clearest terms yet that he is losing hope that war can be avoided.

Speaking in the western town of Wesel, Schroeder said he was "concerned -- more than one might sometimes think -- concerned whether we will succeed" in preventing a war in Iraq.

"We have to use all our strength to ensure ... that we avoid war and resolve the conflict peacefully," Schroeder said.

Copyright © 2003, The Associated Press
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