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| Europe |
| US has failed in Iraq, says Fischer |
| 2003-09-10 |
| German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer asserted Wednesday that US policy in Iraq had failed while calling for German-American ties to be redefined on the basis of equal partners. He’s still digging. "The American domino theory under which a liberated Iraq was supposed to stabilise the Middle East and democratise one country after another has not proven right," said Fischer in an interview with the news magazine Stern. We’re just getting started. He added: "The decisive question now is whether a strategy which has not worked will be replaced by one that can." And your plan is? Fischer said Germany wanted a swift handover of sovereignty in Baghdad to Iraqi nationals and the United Nations. We are giving more and more authority to Iraqis every day. As for the U.N., forget it. Moderate Arab and Islamic states must also be involved in stabilising Iraq, he said. What moderate Islamic state???? European states would hammer out a new plan for Iraq within the coming two months, Fischer said without giving any further details. We have European states helping us in Iraq, Herr Fisher, just not any weasel states. While insisting transatlantic ties remained important, Fischer said in a separate speech to parliament that things would have to change between Berlin and Washington. "This means we must approach one another as partners," said Fischer, adding that Germany needed to hold a fundamental debate about the future of transatlantic ties. We held that debate, you lost. Berlin would insist on a new multilateralism in global politics, said the minister. Insist all you like, we’ll turn out the lights and leave the keys to the bases under the doormat. Goodbye, it used to be great. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #22 There actually was a young West Point lieutenant who knocked out a Fräulein and arrested her as a "werewolf". She had tried to give him a BJ, a technique this young fine man had never heard of. And misinterpreted wrongly. Very wrongly. :-) |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2003-9-10 11:04:01 PM |
| #21 .com my point was--and is they LIED about the "werewolf" thing in Germany--yet it gets repeated as a fact by the gibbering Faux News people and some rantbourgeois. |
| Posted by: Not Mike Moore 2003-9-10 10:57:08 PM |
| #20 NMM - There you go again. You obviously have the hots for Condi - else you'd get a grip and let your IndyMedia tag lines go. As for Rummy, mebbe you're his bitch. As for the occupation, the flypaper situation has made Iraq obviously unlike Germany postbellum. Arabs, in their uniquely asinine way, have made Iraq unique. The Germans are civilized and intelligent and rational, and the Arabs are, well, fucking Arabs. It will take what it will take - and if we have any sense as a nation, we will persevere and win the peace. Those who are foaming at the mouth for quagmires and new Vietnams and failure are truly sick, cowardly, deranged, and fucked-up individuals in need of massive doses of soma. They must've rubbed up against an Arab at one of those pre-march rallies, though previously I wouldn't have guessed self-destructive dementia was quite so contagious. |
| Posted by: .com (a.k.a. Abu This!) 2003-9-10 9:28:31 PM |
| #19 Campaign to stop the war failed. Campaign to show the war was killing thousands of Iraqis failed. Campaign to portray the humanitarian disaster after the war failed. Campaign to show how Iraqis hated the occupation force failed. Of course Herr Ficher is campaigning to denigrate the peace. He can't quit now. |
| Posted by: john 2003-9-10 9:08:54 PM |
| #18 NMM, please no more comparisons. The idea about werewolves has become something of an urban legend (I guess some movies had to do with it). I don't blame the 2 for telling a lie, they just might not be too familiar with that part of German history. Or might just have seen too many bad movies. That's all. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2003-9-10 7:27:13 PM |
| #17 NMM, you sure you're not working for Schroeder's government? (the Hitler thing's been used already, sorry) |
| Posted by: Rafael 2003-9-10 6:50:58 PM |
| #16 Oh-- Condi |
| Posted by: Not Mike Moore 2003-9-10 5:52:37 PM |
| #15 Yank, the "werewolves" were never a problem for the US army. The only significant "achievement" was the murder of the Aachen mayor (who gave the city to the Americans without a fight) by orders of Himmler. That was before the war had ended. The "werewolves" never killed a single US soldier and were probably a hoax like the dreaded "Alpenfestung". The term of "werewolves" was largely used by the Russian occupants to send thousands of young Germans to death and labor camps. Most of their activities consisted in graffitis and the like. Unfortunately I have to say that Condi and Rummy need a history lesson on that one. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2003-9-10 3:35:59 PM |
| #14 In a surprise move the US decalres that while the occupation of Japan was, in the end, sucessful, the occupation of Germany has been a miserable failure. Time to cut our losses and do our skiing in Scandanavia. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-9-10 2:22:14 PM |
| #13 They're just pissed because they just found out that they still have to negotiate with the US over any involvement in Iraq, ie. contracts etc, even with a UN resolution. They probably thought the US can be pushed aside. In addition, those lost contracts in Iraq must've really hurt if they're still kicking and screaming about it now. |
| Posted by: Rafael 2003-9-10 2:09:01 PM |
| #12 America should just use our magic stick and transform the middle east. Why is it we never use the magic stick? The real challenge is to see if we can reform Iraq quicker than we reformed Germany and finally put down the Werewolves. I'm not truly sure how long that took but I think it must have been longer than 4 months. Perhaps True German Ally has the answer? |
| Posted by: Yank 2003-9-10 2:05:07 PM |
| #11 Fischer is a degenerate subhuman. His biggest accomplishment in life, was beating up German Police! Hey Joschka, how is that economic depression working out for you? 10.4% unemployment and negative GDP!!! LOL!!! |
| Posted by: Greg 2003-9-10 1:44:36 PM |
| #10 Sigh... |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2003-9-10 1:36:16 PM |
| #9 This should have been filed under Short Attention Span Theater. Fischer seems to think that the US effort at straightening out Iraq is capable of being done quickly, and is a failure if that doesn't happen. Such thinking is a failure to appreciate the full scope of the endeavor. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-9-10 12:44:06 PM |
| #8 "The American domino theory under which a liberated Iraq was supposed to stabilise the Middle East and democratise one country after another has not proven right," said Fischer in an interview with the news magazine Stern. Hey, Joschka -- at least give us as much time as it took to get Germany straightened out in the 40s... |
| Posted by: snellenr 2003-9-10 12:25:32 PM |
| #7 Compare and contrast: Germany / Denmark. It's the squeaky wheel thing again, isn't it? If only we could ignore the irrelevance that is Fischer. "Equal partners". Fisher's government has proved itself impotent and morally bankrupt. Equal only to... France? |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2003-9-10 12:21:42 PM |
| #6 These assholes are blowing their load before the hooker even gets in the car, pardon my FRENCH. You mean in four months you have failed to convert the entire middle east into a prosperous, peaceful democracy ? Shame on you America. Oh, and blow it out your ass Fischer. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-9-10 12:02:32 PM |
| #5 Fischer (et al) needs to read "Winning Friends And Influencing People" -- fast. Too many more mistatements, such as this jewel, and he'll need "Do It Yourself Oral Surgery - How to Remove Feet." Fischer, Shroeder, Chirac, De Villepin, Kofi, (et al) spend so much time within their little bubbles of influence surrounded by yes-men and sycophants, that they step on their dicks when they venture out and forget to turn off the babble tape. Do you suppose that Fischer has clue one how his interview plays outside of his bubble - in Washington, for instance? What if the US representative just laughed aloud and walked out the next time any of these self-absorbed bit-players steps up to the microphones and begins to pontificate about blah, blah, blah? What if we just locked the UN doors and told everyone arriving some sunny Monday morning they had 48 hours to surrender their UN Credentials to US Immigration Officials - at their chosen Port of Exit? |
| Posted by: .com (a.k.a. Abu This!) 2003-9-10 11:58:44 AM |
| #4 Anyone for a Thunder Run to Berlin? |
| Posted by: Mr. Davis 2003-9-10 11:44:04 AM |
| #3 "much like the stabilization and democratization of Europe." Europe is stable? |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-9-10 11:40:21 AM |
| #2 Is this a partnership where we do all the work and provide all the capital? Are we invited to the meeting where teh terms of the new relationship are set forth or will France and Germany let us know the new terms through a press release? I hear the sound of the statute of limitation on friendship expiring. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-9-10 11:37:55 AM |
| #1 "The American domino theory under which a liberated Iraq was supposed to stabilise the Middle East and democratise one country after another has not proven right." That seems ridiculously premature. I know nobody who felt this would happen in a matter of months. I certainly assumed that such a transformation would be difficult and would quite possibly take decades to complete -- much like the stabilization and democratization of Europe. |
| Posted by: Patrick Phillips 2003-9-10 11:32:41 AM |