Germany Reacts Cautiously To Iraq Resolution

German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and U.S. President George W. Bush met face to face on Wednesday for the first time in nearly a year and a half since their countries split in a bitter debate over the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

"We have put aside our past differences," Schröder told reporters after the 40-minute meeting in New York. Bush nodded in agreement, "We’ve had our differences and they’re over, and we’re going to work together and I believe if Germany and America work together we can achieve a lot."

Although neither leader apologized for the souring of German-American relations in the past 16 months, they did try to smooth over some of the stumbling blocks by pledging to look forward and cooperate in rebuilding Iraq. Schröder, who had antagonized the Bush administration by aligning with France as a vocal opponent to the U.S.-led military intervention and Washington’s policy of preventive action, said Germany was committed to helping restore peace in Iraq.

"Both President Bush and I agree it’s time to look ahead. Germany has a vested interest in a democratic and stable Iraq, and to that effect, it's not just important to Iraq itself but the whole region," the chancellor said. He repeated his offer of training Iraqi police and military in German colleges. "We have the capacities, and we want to use them in the interest of increased security," Schröder said, but he ruled out sending German peacekeeping troops to the war-torn country.

Schröder says only U.N. can help Iraq

Later in the afternoon Schröder reiterated Germany’s commitment to securing peace in Iraq when he addressed the United Nations General Assembly. He emphasized the importance of giving the world body a greater role in rebuilding Iraq. "Only the United Nations can guarantee the legitimacy necessary to enable the Iraqi people to rapidly rebuild their country under an independent, representative government," he said. Germany, like France and Russia, has argued for a multilateral approach to Iraq, saying that the United States alone does not have the authority to establish a democratic government in the country.

Earlier in the day Schröder had met with French President Jacques Chirac and Russian President Vladimir Putin to reaffirm their common goals for Iraq. The three are at odds with the U.S. over a new U.N. resolution proposed by the Bush administration which would give Washington a broader international mandate for restoring security in occupied Iraq and rebuilding its infrastructure. All three Security Council members -- France and Russia are permanent members, Germany has a rotating seat -- want political power transferred to Iraqi civilian authorities much quicker than the United States foresees.

A new French-German-Russian axis?

The conservative opposition in Germany warned Schröder of joining forces against the Bush administration, lest it jeopardize the fragile improvement in German-American relations. The Christian Democrats criticized the chancellor for turning to France and Russia immediately after his meeting with Bush. For many CDU politicians, the meeting between the three war opponents on the sidelines bore strong resemblance to the time before the Iraq crisis.

"It was high time" Schröder met with Bush, CDU chairwoman Angela Merkel told the Bild newspaper and added the lack of communication between the two leaders was "entirely unacceptable." Germany will only have a positive future if it works together with Europe and the United States, she stressed.

Guido Westerwelle, leader of the neo-liberal Free Democrats, also derided the meeting between Chirac, Putin and Schröder as counterproductive to the cooperative spirit generated in New York and said it ran the risk of "building a new axis" before the Security Council votes on the new Iraq resolution.

German support for Iraq resolution uncertain

However, Schröder made it clear that Germany’s support for the U.S.-backed resolution was not a given and that Berlin could abstain from a Security Council vote if its conditions are not met. "We see scope for maneuver, and on other points, we’ll hope for maneuver from the other side," the chancellor said late Wednesday in an interview with PBS television.

"What we are talking about here is this: Is there enough common ground to wholeheartedly say 'yes,' and if not, can we possibly end up with an abstention," Schröder explained, referring to Germany’s insistence on a leading role for the United Nations and a shorter timeframe for handing over control to the Iraqi people, two issues Washington is reluctant to cede on.

In the interview, Schröder also criticized Bush’s doctrine of preventive action in the form of military strikes against countries it deems a threat. "When it comes to the question of whether it should be valid to have preemptive military action, then you always have to wonder who on Earth is going to take that decision," he said.

Schröder said Germany’s unique history and the lessons of World War II illustrate the importance of following a course of collective security compared to unilateral action. "That is why the United Nations was created, and I find it very important that we don’t violate that," he added.