le chancelier G. Schröder
cliché : Victor Homola for the New York Times
HANOVER, Germany, Sept. 1 -
Gerhard Schröder, the German chancellor, believes that the Bush
administration is making a terrible mistake in planning a war against Iraq,
and he is not afraid to say so.
A new war in the Middle East, he says bluntly, would put at risk all that
has been gained so far in the unfinished battle against Al Qaeda.
The arguments against a war with Iraq are so strong, he said, that he would
oppose one even if the Security Council approved.
Advertisement
After the Sept. 11 attacks, Germany offered "unconditional solidarity"
and support to the United States as "a self-evident duty, as a friend,"
he said in an interview at his home here. Fighting Iraq, which he regards
as entirely separate from fighting Al Qaeda, could shatter that unity.
"I think it would be a big mistake if this feeling of needing one another
should be destroyed by excessively unilateral actions," he said.
Consultation is important, he said, "but consultation cannot mean that
I get a phone call two hours in advance only to be told, `We're going in.'
"
"Consultation among grown-up nations has to mean not just consultation
about the how and the when, but also about the whether," he said.
Mr. Schröder is in the midst of a fierce election campaign that some
say has influenced his stand, a suggestion he denied. "We will win
in Germany, and then I will have to stick by this decision, and I know what
that means," the chancellor, a Social Democrat, said.
His stand on Iraq is a departure for Germany, traditionally a staunch ally
at moments of crisis. Many Germans feel indebted to the United States for
helping shape modern Germany and are uneasy about charting an independent
course on issues of such gravity.
Mr. Schröder made time in his garden to reflect on the events of Sept.
11, their impact on America's relations with its allies and the talk of
war with Iraq.
Recalling Sept. 11, he praised President Bush and Secretary of State Colin
L. Powell for their skill in quickly rallying an international coalition
against terror. With the terrorist strikes, he said, the world understood
it was facing "a privatized form of war, waged by terrorist organizations,"
that must be fought "using appropriate means, including military means."
Informal, sometimes smoking a cigar, Mr. Schröder emphasized Germany's
close ties to the United States and its people. He and his wife, Doris,
were greatly moved by the Sept. 11 attacks. His wife talks of living in
America again, but Mr. Schröder has his eyes set first on the Sept.
22 election.
His stance on Iraq has appealed to those Germans who oppose war and are
skeptical of Bush administration assertions that Iraq must be overthrown,
not simply contained.
Senior officials in Washington are angry at his presumption that the American
debate over Iraq is finished and his failure to give his closest ally the
benefit of the doubt. They believe he is damaging the alliance for electoral
advantage and is running against America.
But Mr. Schröder believes that his policy is prudent and coherent.
He insists that the goal must be to pressure Saddam Hussein to allow weapons
inspectors unconditional access - not to go to war regardless to overthrow
Mr. Hussein, as Vice President Dick Cheney has suggested.
Mr. Schröder threw up his hands. "How can you exert pressure on
someone by saying to them, `Even if you accede to our demands, we will destroy
you'?" he asked. "I think that was a change of strategy in the
United States - whatever the explanation may be - a change that made things
difficult for others, including ourselves."
Referring to Mr. Cheney, Mr. Schröder said: "The problem is that
he has or seems to have committed himself so strongly that it is hard to
imagine how he can climb down. And that is the real problem, that not only
I have, but that all of us in Europe have."
Mr. Schröder emphasized that he had put his own job on the line when
he pushed his Social Democratic and Green coalition to vote for German deployment
of troops in the war against Al Qaeda, and said it was his duty to do so.
Germany, he noted, has some 10,000 troops serving abroad, second only to
the United States, in Afghanistan, the Middle East and the Balkans - so
"no one can criticize us for lacking international solidarity."
But Iraq is different, he insists, and he said he resented finding out first
from the media about the Cheney speech. Because he was prepared to call
a vote of confidence on Afghanistan, he said, "it is just not good
enough if I learn from the American press about a speech which clearly states,
`We are going to do it, no matter what the world or our allies think.' That
is no way to treat others."
Mr. Schröder said he had seen no new evidence indicating that the military
danger from Iraq had increased, and so questions the administration's urgency.
He says he believes "no one has a really clear idea of the political
order that would follow in the Middle East" or of the effects of a
war on the stability of moderate Arab states, or the cohesion of the antiterror
coalition. There has been little discussion, he says, of the economic consequences,
in particular the price of oil, for the rest of the world.
The war against Osama bin Laden is not finished, he said. "My concern,"
he said, "is that we have not even begun to achieve in Afghanistan
anything that could be called nation-building."
Germany cares what resolutions the United Nations adopts, Mr. Schröder
said. But the harm to the coalition, the lack of a concept for a new Middle
East and the need to succeed in Afghanistan trump everything else for him.
"These arguments," he said, "make me say, `Hands off' "
- especially, he added, since the evidence of an increased threat from Iraq
"appears to be highly dubious."
Sept. 11 made Americans more determined on the issue of terrorism, he said,
but did not change the American democracy or the ability to conduct a strong
debate on issues like Iraq.
Sept. 11 had an enormous impact on the Germans, too, he said. "The
large demonstration in Berlin by 200,000 or 300,000 people was in fact a
spontaneous expression of sympathy and solidarity. And I also experienced
it much closer to home - if I may be permitted to say so - since my wife
had once lived not far away, on the Upper West Side."
New York also has special meaning to the world as a place of refuge for
those forced to leave their own country, Mr. Schröder said, adding:
"New York is thus a symbol of asylum. This was very much the case during
the Nazi period in Germany, and this gives New York a very special importance."
He knows Washington is angry with him, but he thinks officials misunderstand
what real friends he and Germany remain. "What is the duty of a friend
in such a situation?" he asked. "The duty of friends is not just
to agree with everything, but to say, `We disagree on this point.' That
is what I believe to be the duty of friends in relations between individuals,
just as it is in relations between nations, if one happens to disagree.
And on this point" - Iraq - "we disagree, or I disagree."
He says he did what he thought was right when he put his job on the line
to send troops to Afghanistan, "and now I am again doing what I think
to be right," he said. "It is something that has to be done, and
one has to have the strength to do it if one holds this office."
Qui aime bien critique bien : se prévalant de son attachement
personnel pour l'Amérique et de la réaction qui fut la sienne
au lendemain des attentats du 11 septembre 2001, lorsqu'il fut le premier
à reconnaître aux Etats-Unis un droit à la légitime
défense, Jacques Chirac estime pouvoir parler clair aux alliés
américains et traite sans ménagements les plus va-t-en guerre
d'entre eux. Le vice-président Dick Cheney en prend ainsi pour son
grade, pour avoir déclaré récemment que le retour des
inspecteurs en désarmement en Irak ne changerait de toute façon
rien à la détermination américaine d'intervenir. "Dans
ce cas-là, il valait mieux dire tout simplement que M. Cheney
partait faire sa guerre tout seul", lâche le président.
M. Chirac estime que l'heure est suffisamment grave pour qu'on doive
parler clair et dissiper les mauvais procès, comme celui qui lui
prête une complaisance coupable envers Saddam Hussein. Quand le journaliste
lui demande si le monde peut vivre avec un régime comme celui-là,
il répond en substance que la seule question qui doit se poser au
monde est celle de la dangerosité de ce régime. "Parce
que, vous comprenez, Tony Blair me dit la même chose pour Mugabe au
Zimbabwe ; alors, si on commence chacun à dire "on ne peut
pas accepter", bientôt il y aura la moitié des pays du
monde qui se battra contre l'autre moitié." Quant à
la dangerosité du régime irakien, à son réarmement,
"s'il existe des preuves, je ne les ai pas vues", déclare
Jacques Chirac, ce qui est une façon de les réclamer.
(...)
Jacques Chirac est plus précis sur la séquence qui, selon
lui, devrait se jouer à l'ONU. Dans un premier temps, une résolution,
qui pourrait être une initiative franco-britannique, devrait rappeler
l'Irak à ses obligations internationales et lui fixer une échéance.
Celle-ci devrait être assez proche, puisque le président parle
d'une, deux ou trois semaines. Si Bagdad n'obtempère pas, le Conseil
de sécurité devra débattre et formuler une nouvelle
résolution, sur laquelle Jacques Chirac à ce stade ne se prononce
pas.
La France a priori n'exclut rien et c'est ce qui la distingue des dirigeants
allemands, qui rejettent toute participation à une intervention militaire
même mandatée par l'ONU. Le président l'explique à
la fois par le fait que les élections sont imminentes en Allemagne,
où la perspective d'une guerre contre l'Irak est impopulaire, et
par les responsabilités particulières de la France en tant
que membre du Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU.
(...)
retour