Germany Says "No" to Iraq Involvement

As the world waits for the decisive moves in the dangerous game being played out over Iraq, the ebb and flow of support and opposition leaves the outcome far from certain. While protests and words of warning spread across the globe, the decision-makers prepare to take positions that could avert or spark conflict in Saddam Hussein's country.

Time has maneuvered Germany into one of the prime decision-makers in the current unfolding crisis. Germany began its two-year term on the United Nations Security Council in January and will chair it in February, at a time when a resolution to authorize war may be brought before the council.

Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer addressed the Security Council on Monday as part of a specially arranged meeting to discuss the on-going war against terrorism. But events in Iraq were also discussed. Fischer took the opportunity to tell those assembled that Germany will not play a direct military role in any conflict in Iraq.

"In addition to the disastrous consequences for long-term stability, we also fear possible negative repercussions for the joint fight against terrorism," Fischer said.

Germany sticks to its non-firing guns

Fischer's comments added weight to recent announcements by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and Defense Minister Peter Struck. Speaking after talks with Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis and Foreign Minister George Papandreou, whose country now holds the six-month rotating EU presidency, Fischer told reporters, "Germany's position is clear. We reject military participation. We want U.N. Resolution 1441 (on disarmament)... to be implemented without the use of military force... everything else is speculation."

Chancellor Gerhard Schröder dropped substantial hints over the weekend that Germany might vote "no" or abstain on an eventual United Nations resolution authorizing a military campaign against Saddam Hussein. The official position of the German government until now has been that it has yet to decide how it will vote on a U.N. resolution authorizing military action in the Gulf. However, Schröder, who faces state elections in February, said in a campaign speech on Saturday that "we will not take part in a military intervention in Iraq, and that is exactly how our voting behavior will be in all international bodies, including the United Nations."

The Chancellor's speech fuelled the growing speculation surrounding a possible "no" vote that began with Defense Minister Peter Struck telling a German newspaper last week that a German vote in favor of war was "no longer conceivable." A government spokesperson later tried to defuse the situation by adding that the comments had been Struck's own personal opinion.

Opposition says a "no" vote would be damaging

However, the spate of revelatory comments has ignited heated discussion in Germany. Wolfgang Schäuble, the foreign affairs spokesman for the opposition Christian Democratic Union, as quoted in the International Herald Tribune, said that Schröder could not evade Germany's international responsibilities. "Germany cannot vote differently than other Western countries," he said. "That would be a disaster for the Atlantic Alliance."

Meanwhile, Schröder's coalition partner, the Green Party, has taken the opportunity to reinforce its own pacifist principles. "There is no situation I can imagine today where Germany would support military action," said Angelika Beer, the co-head of the Green Party. Beer added that Germany was "striving for a common European position."

Germany is likely to be involved in some peripheral capacity even if a definite vote against participation in military action is passed. It has already agreed to requests from the United States and NATO that would assign Germany an incidental role. Germany has also allowed the Pentagon to deploy troops to and from its military bases in Germany and has granted American warplanes use of German airspace in the event of war.

German troops to guard U.S. bases

In a further attempt to placate the United States in the event of a "no" vote on Iraq, German troops are to be deployed to protect all U.S. military bases in Germany from being attacked ahead of a possible war, according to German Sunday newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. The newspaper cited defense ministry officials as saying that around 7,000 troops would be called upon to fulfill the mission, with half of the troops selected from the army and the remaining personnel to come from the air force, navy and services bases. The deployment is expected to begin on Friday and could last for two years, the defense sources said.

The news of the deployment of the Bundeswehr has caused more controversy and has increased pressure on the chancellor. Schröder's critics claim he is retreating from his anti-war stance with these conciliatory actions. In their defense, government officials have argued that the possible measures do not mean the government is betraying its stated position, since they do not constitute "active" participation.

Humanitarian aid and tank deployment offered

The growing list of indirect supportive action could also include "humanitarian aid" to U.S. soldiers wounded in a possible Iraq war, according to a report in the daily Handelsblatt newspaper on Monday. Defense Minister Peter Struck is quoted in the paper as saying, "It is imaginable that wounded U.S. soldiers (in the possible war) are to be carried to Germany."

Struck added that the Fuchs surveillance tanks, which are deployed in Kuwait to detect biological, chemical and nuclear weapons, could also be used to help U.S. troops in case of war if Kuwaiti or American installations are threatened by such weapons. The defense minister also reiterated the German promise of a definite deployment of AWACS (airborne warning and control system) surveillance aircraft operated by German personnel in the event of an Iraq war.