Gerhard Schroeder criticizes US
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder warned that the action to overthrow Saddam Hussein could prove to be very dangerous. Schroeder claimed in Hanover that Germany was not ready for the adventures in the Middle East.
Chancellor believes that one should keep on showing pressure on Hussein in order to give an opportunity to UN inspectors to return to Iraq. At the same time, the German leader again doubted in the necessity of the army operation in Iraq. Schroeder called upon those, who was developing the plans of the war, to think not only about the strategies of the military campaign, but also about its political consequences. The chancellor gave Americans to understand that they ought not to count on Germany during their campaign against Iraq.
Schroeder rejected the supposition that he was using the Iraqi issue for gaining political scores for his own election campaign. NATO’s conference on Iraq will take place on September 23, and the elections in Germany will take place a day before, so, as Gerhard Schroeder said, the electors had a right to know the position of their new government.
Americans proved during the Afghan campaign that they could successfully ignore the opinion of their European allies. Now they are more interested in the position of the Arab countries. Nevertheless, Schroeder’s words testify to the difference between the American and European approach to the solution of international issues.
Sergey Borisov
PRAVDA.Ru
Translated by Dmitry Sudakov
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Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2002/08/08/45387.html
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