Word: derlying
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Last week European opposition to an assault on Iraq was particularly shrill. In Germany, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder kicked off his re-election campaign by proclaiming in a speech in Hanover that "under my leadership, this country won't participate in any adventures [against Iraq]." And in Britain, everyone from trade union leaders to former military chiefs felt compelled to air their misgivings. Pax Christi, a Catholic group, submitted a petition signed by nearly 3,000 individuals to Prime Minister Tony Blair condemning any invasion as "immoral and illegal...
Without conclusive proof, public opinion is unlikely to be swayed. In Germany, for example, Schröder's stance is undoubtedly linked to the fact that most Germans - - more than 80% in one survey - oppose an attack on Iraq. Schröder may be calculating that a little saber muffling may help him in the polls. But even in the U.K., a survey conducted by NOP for Channel 4 News found that 52% of the British public don't want their country's forces to join a U.S.-led attack, while...
Patriotism", wrote Dr. Johnson in the 18th century, "is the last refuge of a scoundrel." Make that "campaigner" today, and take a look at pre-election Germany. In the aftermath of Sept. 11, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder pledged "unconditional solidarity" with the United States. Now, he is telling George W. Bush to count Germany out. "Under my leadership, this country won't participate in any adventures [against Iraq]," the Chancellor thundered. "We will go our own German way; we won't be roped in." Not even a U.N. mandate would make Berlin join...
What happened? Easy. Schröder has to face the voters on Sept. 22, and all the polls signal a sure defeat. His Social Democratic Party has been trailing Edmund Stoiber's Christian Democrats for many weeks, most recently by seven percentage points. Schröder simply cannot clamber out of the hole that is deepened daily by a sinking economy, plummeting stock markets and worsening unemployment. About to end up as a one-term Chancellor, he is playing his last worst card: nationalism with an anti-American tinge...
...flag-waving Schröder is both shortsighted and disingenuous. By dashing out in front without coordinating with Paris and London, he will more likely reap self-isolation than influence over U.S. decision making. Nor is his calculated play with the fires of nationalism completely honest. Since Sept. 11, Germany has stationed a number of Marders - tanks configured for operation in nuclear, chemical and biological environments - in Kuwait. If Schröder were really serious about keeping Germany out of "adventures," he would have withdrawn those tanks. But he has not, and he will not risk so blatant a breach...