Al Re..I would say his aggressiveness is a liability for the Bush administration. But then, since his boss sets the example, it is in a strange way difficult to fault him alone for his careless, stupid, no upside remarks.
I agree that trading insults with press briefings is hardly the way to do diplomacy. But if diplomacy is what you are looking for, why didn't you also raise hell when Schroeder and his minions dissed GW by comparing him to Hitler etc. Both sides are guilty of bad diplomacy, however Germany's actions are not only bad diplomacy, but they also threaten the UN, they also threaten make NATO irrelevant. How you say.
NATO is a group of 18 nations, who have a pact, which says an attack upon one, is an attack upon all; and all members are supposed to work toward the safety of the group. 2 wks ago, in an effort to forestall Turkeys help for the Iraq invasion, Germany and France got together and blocked a resolution, shifting additional resources from NATO countries to Turkey, to bring Turkeys strength up to needed levels, should the war spill over into Turkey. That is an absolute dereliction of duty to the NATO pact, to refuse to help a fellow NATO member. Additionally, Powell stated that that mobile chemical lab, in northern Iraq, was used to train Al Qaeda members used in the ricin attacks on Paris and Britian. ONce again, there is proof, an attack upon nato members from Iraq soil took place, and Germany is trying to block the efforts by the US to block any future attacks. By refusing to join in the defense of fellow NATO members, hasn't Germany and France made the treaty irrelevant. Sure they are great at squealing like a pig for help when they are attacked, but they haven't shown any inclination to hold up their end of the bargain. A treaty is a treaty, and if one of its members is attacked; like it or not, all remaining members are supposed to respond to those attacks. Who cares what their personal feelings are, if you don't honor the treaty, there is no treaty. Schroeder could easily have said, "I don't agree with the war on Iraq, but we have a treaty, and upholding the treaty is paramount." He didn't, instead he took action to undermine NATO, making Germany's participation in NATO irrelevant, possibly making NATO itself irrelevant. All, just to gain a few votes, by pandering to the voters.
INterestingly, in that news conference, Rumsfeld also stated that NATO is working upon reducing the 70,000 US troops based in Germany. Rumsfeld should not only reduce, but remove all of the US troops from Germany, and shift them to nations who want US troops based there, and NATO should consider closing its NATO bases on German soil, and let Germany defend itself. That is what they want, and it should be given to them. |
