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Europe
Germany: Opposition leader - Berlin must oppose US missile defence
2008-08-21
Filed under "Well, that didn't take long"
Guido Westerwelle, the head of German opposition Free Democrats, on Thursday urged the German government to oppose the US missile defence system to be built in neightbouring Poland and the Czech Republic.
I hadn't realized Vlad had co-opted the Free Democrats ...
Washington signed an agreement with Warsaw on Wednesday to deploy 10 interceptor missiles in Poland as part of its shield to defend against a missile attack from countries such as Iran.

Westerwelle told the Thursday edition of the Stuttgarter Nachrichten that Berlin shouldn't let the controversial project be "waved through" due to its regional ramifications for security policy. "German foreign policy should lead a new disarmament initiative, if only because we have fundamental interest in it geographically," he said.
I'm sure "we" do. Whoever "we" is, that is. Time to start checking bank accounts and money transfers.
Many German politicians fear the US missile shield in eastern Europe could spark a new arms race between the West and Russia, which vehemently opposes the project.
Sounds like a recapitulation of the old Pershing missile debate. Doesn't anyone over there ever learn?
But German government spokesman Thomas Steg said on Tuesday the missiles in Poland and a radar facility in the Czech Republic are not directed at Russia. "For us the missile defence shield is not pointed at Russia but... can be seen as a European defence system against threats from other regions" such as Iran, Steg said.
Posted by:mrp

#9  Just pull the troops out of Germany. Germany is useless.
Posted by: newc   2008-08-21 23:09  

#8  He must be from the old WEST Germany; those from EAST Germany have lived under the Russian system and know better.

The above can be a stark reality check for some.
Posted by: Slats Glans2659   2008-08-21 20:46  

#7  I'm still tickled by a German named Guido
Posted by: Frank G   2008-08-21 19:03  

#6  Exactly, bigjim. There's gotta be more to this story than we're getting. But if we'd just bomb the hell out of Iran, would the whole issue be moot? Hmmmm.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305   2008-08-21 15:00  

#5  Awful worried about 10 non-nuclear, defensive use only missiles, arent they?
Really worried, I think we should dig a little deeper.
Posted by: bigjim-ky   2008-08-21 14:14  

#4  Too bad Guido Westerwelle wasn't around in 1948 to advise Truman on the confrontation with the Russians over Berlin. Think of all the ramifications we could have avoided. Think of all the resources and lives* we could have saved by just backing off Europe then and there.

*Yes, Virginia, even during the Cold War Americans military died by the dozens/hundreds every year in training and traffic accidents in the defense of Western Europe.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2008-08-21 13:20  

#3  Free dems are one of the less predictable elements in the German polity, IIUC. In cold war days they were "centrist" between CDs and SDs -generally pro-market, pro-US, more secular upper class then the CD's. But included (i read somewhere) some folks with really unsavory backgrounds. Maybe theyve tried to follow the UK lib dems into a libertarian pacifist path, I dont know. Or it could be something more petty, coalition politics, or even money.

Im more interested in the apparent split in the SD's, and what the Greens (the Fischer Greens, not the Commie allie Greens) are saying.

Posted by: liberalhawk   2008-08-21 13:01  

#2  Works for me Tu3031. We'll just move our troops from Germany into Poland and the Czech Republic to avoid more "ramifications" too.
Posted by: DarthVader   2008-08-21 12:43  

#1  Don't worry, Guido. If the inbounds are heading for Berlin we'll wave them right on through. To avoid them "ramifications".
Posted by: tu3031   2008-08-21 12:38  

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