GUSTAVE, in light of the following news from Germany, would you mind telling us again about your "diplomatic snooker theory ".
Oh, and since you're at it, I'd like to hear again how Lewinski and Tripp "obviously were Mossad agent". Could it be that you' re sometimes full of crap ?
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NEIN! Germans Veto Ground Troops
London Evening Standard
5/18/99 Charles Reiss
Germans veto ground troops
by Charles Reiss Political Editor
German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder today rejected hawkish proposals led by Britain to deploy ground troops for war in Kosovo.
He said it would be "unthinkable" to launch a ground war for Kosovo. He was speaking after a meeting with Italy's Prime Minister, which was in the starkest possible contrast with the line taken by Tony Blair and Foreign Secretary Robin Cook.
They reaffirmed only yesterday that Nato troops could enter the province once Serb forces had been largely neutralised and suggested the time might be not far away.
Mr Cook, in Brussels yesterday, said Nato Secretary General Javier Solana had been asked to produce a timetable for sending in the troops once Serb resistance had been reduced to a minimum. He added: "We are not going to hang around on the border for Milosevic to hold a grand signing ceremony in front of flags and cameras."
Mr Schröder, however, at a news conference today in Bari, was blunt. "Germany believes that sending in ground troops is unthinkable," he said. "This is our position and it won't change in the future."
His words threatened to open a public split in the alliance which the British side has all along denied.
Ministers have maintained consistently that the resolve of the 19 alliance members is solid. That assertion, though, has already been undermined by growing evidence from Washington that Bill Clinton, the far the most decisive voice, has moved against committing troops except as a peace-keeping force once a ceasefire has been signed.
Downing Street, aware of the dangers of any split within Nato, immediately sought to play down the effect of Mr Schröder 's comments.
A spokesman said: "We have always underlined the significant difficulties of a land invasion against organised Serb resistance. Because of this, Javier Solana has been charged with examining all the options."
Mr Cook is heading for Washington later this week for another round of talks, regarded as a British attempt to stiffen US resolve.
Mr Schröder 's words make the chances of a ground war, which most military experts have been demanding for weeks, even more remote. Polls in the United States today show public support even for Nato's bombing campaign to be slipping, and President Clinton seems determined to resist British pressure for ground action.
The future of Nato's campaign will therefore depend solely on a successful outcome of the air campaign.
Mr Blair went out of his way yesterday to praise America's pre-eminent part in Nato's effort. Both London and Washington are going all out to avoid any open rift. Both sides maintain they are united over the ultimate aims, to compel Serb troops and paramilitary forces to pull out of Kosovo.
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