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Germany refused help Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
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Berlin Rejects Some U.S. Requests for Help on Iraq
Nov. 27
-- By David Crossland
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany put new pressure on its strained relations with the United States Wednesday by refusing some U.S. requests for support in any Iraq war.
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, whose refusal to back any U.S. attack on Iraq has angered President Bush, ruled out assistance beyond allowing American troops to use Germany as a staging post and providing Israel with defensive missiles.
He told a news conference the United States, which is asking some 50 nations to help in a possible war, had given Germany a list of specific requests, including opening its air space.
It had also asked Berlin to provide defense systems against chemical, biological and nuclear attack as well as military police, missile defense systems and financial and material help for possible reconstruction after an Iraq war, he said.
But Schroeder told reporters it remained "clear as glass" that Germany would stay out of a conflict.
Berlin continued to assume there would be no war and that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein would comply with a U.N. resolution offering him a last chance to give up weapons of mass destruction, Schroeder said.
Germany would grant flyover and transit rights for troops from the United States and other NATO countries and would accede to a request from Israel for U.S.-built Patriot missiles, designed to intercept incoming missiles, Schroeder said.
He also said Germany would agree to provide Israel with some of its Fuchs armored vehicles, which are equipped to detect chemical, biological and nuclear contamination. The Israeli government made a request for vehicles two days ago, he said.
But he ruled out military help going beyond that.
"We do not intend to provide further resources beyond what I have said, and definitely no more personnel," Schroeder said.
SCHROEDER SEES NO WAR IN IRAQ
Schroeder said Fuchs vehicles stationed in Kuwait as part of Washington's declared war on terrorism could not be used in any military action against Iraq.
Germany's constitution requires parliamentary approval of troop missions outside the NATO area.
Schroeder's government almost collapsed over a vote last year on backing the U.S. anti-terrorism drive with up to 4,000 troops, including the forces stationed in Kuwait. At the time, his government had a bigger majority than it does now.
Asked if Germany would help rebuild Iraq after any war there, Schroeder said:
"We expect that there will be no need for a military intervention and that is the German government's political goal, and I think it would be wrong to assume...the country will have to be rebuilt."
Schroeder's coalition of Social Democrats and pacifist-leaning Greens has a majority of just four seats in the Bundestag lower house of parliament since September's election.
It might face an embarrassing defeat if it took any decisions on troop movements that involved a Bundestag vote.
Schroeder's popularity has plummeted since the election because he has broken election promises not to raise taxes.
Breaking his promise not to involve Germany in an attack on Iraq could do irreparable damage to his reputation ahead of key regional elections in February.
Berlin denied this week that delivering Patriot missiles to Israel would conflict with its opposition to a war with Iraq.
"If the Israeli government feels it needs this added security, we will help -- and promptly," Schroeder said in an interview with Die Zeit newspaper due to be published on Thursday.
"This is our moral and historical obligation... The security of Israeli state and its citizens is of utmost importance to us," he said, in a reference to Germany's Nazi past.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld declared relations with Germany "unpoisoned" this month after a deep chill caused by Schroeder's stance on Iraq which helped him win the election.
But U.S. officials say Schroeder's perceived anti-American rhetoric did lasting damage to relations with Bush, despite a handshake before cameras at a NATO summit in Prague last week.
photo credit and caption:
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder(C) addresses the media on the German Iraq policy together with Defense Minister Peter Struck(L) and Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer(R) in Berlin November 27, 2002. Germany put new pressure on its strained relations with the U.S. by refusing some U.S. requests for support in any Iraq war. Schroeder ruled out assistance beyond allowing American troops to use Germany as a staging post and providing Israel with defensive missiles. Photo by Tobias Schwarz/Reuters
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