![]() ![]() Military action against Iraq today could lead millions of Muslims to react to what may be seen as yet another humiliating defeat of a Muslim nation. The European concern is that, if we focus on Iraq alone, it may damage the international coalition against terrorism. The invoking of Article 5 of the NATO treaty is a testament to this commitment. Noting that Germany is not the only European country to question US policy initiatives on Iraq and that the issue is intensely debated in France, for example, Ischinger argued that the Europeans believe in a joint commitment to fight the international war on terrorism together with the United States. In a frank discussion of recent international policy debates, the Ambassador offered several reasons for this difference of opinion. Yet allies, no matter how good, do not always see eye to eye on every issue, and this is the case on the issue of Iraq. Germany has been a very good ally, Ischinger concluded. Finally, Germany is becoming a "normal country," and it should be remembered that the 10,000 German troops deployed abroad are the largest peacekeeping force of any country other than the United States. According to Ischinger, the presence of German soldiers in Afghanistan today answers the age old question posed by Konrad Adenauer: Is Germany with the East or with the West? Germany, the Ambassador argued, is clearly with the West, and the soldiers who have died in Afghanistan are the first Germans in a century to die fighting on the right side of a war. ![]() Of greater significance for Germany, is the first deployment since World War II of German troops outside its borders. There was no greater outpouring of support from any nation as the spontaneous gathering of tens of thousands at the Brandenburg Gate to mourn victims of the attack, and he noted that German companies donated $50-70 million in aid. Germany has been sympathetic and supportive of US efforts to combat terrorism in the wake of 9/11. The real question, Ischinger argued, is whether or not Germany has been a good ally in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. The Ambassador made his remarks at a luncheon seminar hosted by the Center for European and Eurasian Studies at the UCLA Faculty Center on Tuesday November 26 to a gathering of UCLA faculty, students, policy analysts, media, and business representatives from around the Los Angeles area. German-American relations are experiencing "neither a spat nor a separation," according to German Ambassador to the United States, Wolfgang Ischinger. ![]()
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