Is Bush like Hitler?

An awful scandal broke out in Germany on the eve of upcoming parliamentary  elections. To tell the truth, such scandals are habitual for many countries, and Germany isn’t an exception. However, it is a sensation that American president is compared with Adolph Hitler in the leading political state.

Germany's Minister of Justice Hertha Daeubler-Gmelin made a statement which implies that George Bush follows the Fuhrer’s line when he wants to divert people’s attention from domestic problems and urges them to war with Iraq. In her words, “it is a classical tactic which had been followed by Hitler.”

The statement was immediately circulated first by the regional mass media and then by the federal ones, which in its turn caused a hail of protests. Certainly, the Christian-democratic and Christian-social unions immediately demanded that the minister should retire. They say, Hertha Daeubler-Gmelin has struck a shocking blow against Germany’s prestige.  Consequently, resignation of the minister is the least Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder should do to somehow improve the situation.

Reaction of the US authority to the statement was rather harsh and immediate, which is quite natural by the way. White House Press-Secretary, Ari Fleisher told that the statement made by the German minister was disgusting and unspeakable, and her opinion on  the problem was groundless at the same time.

However, this doesn’t mean at all that Schroeder will follow demands of the opposition. Social democrats won’t do it on the eve of upcoming parliamentary elections for one reason only: if it is said that the opposition is right, this will consequently cause damage to the Social-democratic party of Germany. However, according to opinion polls, social democrats just slightly outdistance the rivals from the Christian-democratic and Christian-social unions. So,  any slightest mistake may result in a defeat at the elections.

It’s hardly likely that the words said by the German Minister of Justice are rash, they look very much like a political trick on the eve of upcoming elections. It is an open secret that majority of Germans disapprove of Bundeswehr’s participation in an offensive in Iraq and of any war on the whole. Chancellor Schroeder declared several times himself that it wasn’t right to fight Saddam Hussein’s regime with force. By the way, Schroeder’s rival, Edmund Stoiber lost several percent of the votes when he failed to say what Conservatives were thinking about anti-Iraq war. Stoiber was speaking about the allied relations with the USA, which was treated as an approval to the deeds of George Bush and his administration.

So, the words by Hertha Daeubler-Gmelin are just an instrument in the pre-election struggle. It is quite likely that the instrument will be very useful and Social-democrats will gain more votes. All means are good for a successful result. But what is the chancellor to do with the minister if Social-democrats win the elections?

Vasily Bubnov
PRAVDA.Ru