Iraq War critics: Gerhard Schröder

German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who is scheduled to meet President Bush this week, had an op-ed piece in the New York Times last week. One line especially caught my attention:

I put my own political future on the line in 2001 when I asked the German Bundestag for a vote of confidence for sending troops to Afghanistan, a military commitment unprecedented for Germany.

This incident says a lot about how the Bush Administration deals with long-standing allies. When Schröder and his Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer decided to commit German troops to Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks, they needed approval from the lower house (Bundestag) of Parliament. Schröder insisted that it be on a "vote of confidence." That meant that if the proposal didn't win a majority in the Budestag with the votes of only the governing coalition parties (Social Democrats and Greens), the government would have fallen. A new coalition would have had to be formed or new elections called.

Normally, when the government of a friendly nation makes that kind of gesture on behalf of an ally (the US), it buys them some major credibility with the ally. Not in this case.

In 2002, when Schröder raised his opposition to the Iraq War in his election campaign, the Bush Administration reacted with public anger. The conservative challengers, the Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Free Democrats (FDP), were actually more critical of Bush's Iraq policy than Schröder. But in irritation at Schröder, Bush seemed to be all-but-overtly favoring the challengers.

To add insult to injury, after Schröder's coalition won the election, Richard Perle, then the chair of the Defense Advisory Board and known to be one of the main architects of the Bush/Rumsfeld foreign policy, said in an interview with a German newspaper that Schröder should resign from office! The Chancellor declined the suggestion. (This incident gives an idea of why Perle's admirers nicknamed him "the Prince of Darkness.")

This whole process was a strong signal not only to Germany but to other allies that when you put your political future on the line to support Bush's foreign policies, you can't expect much gratitude inreturn. Britain's ever-loyal Tony Blair may be wishing he had paid more attention to the lesson about now.

Tags: gerhard schröder, iraq war