The German People Deserve Better, Part VI (hat tip Kolibri)
Angela Merkel, the chairman of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, is yet another reason I am optimistic German-American relations will improve once Schröder is no longer in power. Merkel wrote a column in the Washington Post.
The most important lesson of German politics -- never again should Germany go it alone -- is swept aside with seeming ease by a German federal government that has done precisely this, for the sake of electoral tactics. The Eastern European candidate countries for membership in the European Union are attacked by the French government simply because they have declared their commitment to the transatlantic partnership between Europe and the United States.But there is a more positive side as well. An agreement was reached at the emergency EU summit on Monday: On the basis of U.N. Resolution 1441, participants decided on a coordinated attitude to be adopted by the Europeans in the Iraq conflict. The agreement, which was long overdue, has forced the German federal government to make its first change of course in its policy toward Iraq. As the German parliamentary opposition, we welcome this change and expect the German government's behavior on the U.N. Security Council to be in accord with the EU decision, although we also have reason to doubt it will be.
I wish I could vote for this person. Not only does Merkel see the flaws in the current German government position, Merkel understands how to deal with dictators.
… the history of Germany and Europe in the 20th century in particular certainly teaches us this: that while military force cannot be the normal continuation of politics by other means, it must never be ruled out, or even merely questioned -- as has been done by the German federal government -- as the ultimate means of dealing with dictators. Anyone who rejects military action as a last resort weakens the pressure that needs to be maintained on dictators and consequently makes a war not less but more likely.
Merkel is also optimistic about continuing a friendship with America
For the party that I lead, our close partnership and friendship with the United States is just as much a fundamental element of Germany's national purpose as European integration.
Merkel obviously doesn’t speak for all of Germany anymore than I speak for all of America. But Merkel could quite possibly become the next German president. I hope so.
May Schröder’s reign be short-lived.