| Submit your comments on this article | ||
| Europe | ||
| German defence minister "axed trip to US owing to Rumsfeld snub" | ||
| 2005-06-19 | ||
| BERLIN - German Defence Minister Peter Struck cancelled a trip to the United States, originally planned for next week, after being "snubbed" by Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, according to a German report on Saturday. The cancellation came on Thursday after Struck was informed that Rumsfeld had penciled in only 45 minutes for a meeting with him, and that other senior Pentagon and White House officials had signalled no interest at all in meeting with the German cabinet minister, said the report in Der Spiegel news magazine.
Informed of Rumsfeld's schedule, Struck reportedly told an aide, "I generally allow three hours for a meeting with another defence minister." He ordered Berlin's ambassador to Washington Wolfgang Ischinger to appeal to Rumsfeld for a longer meeting, saying, "If that cannot be arranged, then we'll turn around on the runway and head back for home," Der Spiegel quoted Struck as having said. Adding insult to injury, Struck was also informed that a planned meeting in New York with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan would also have to be cancelled.
| ||
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #18 LOL, #9 TGA. I don't drink beer, but I understand that it's not too hard to "bring the better beer" if the other party is American. ;-p The only time I ever regreted that I don't like beer is when I lived in Germany. (But I did take advantage of the wines. :-D) |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2005-06-19 20:30 |
| #17 Germany hosts two major airbases and, even after troop drawdowns, provides an important staging site for military equipment and troops. Whatever you think about this minister - who distinctly underwhelms me personally - or about future alternatives, for now the value of those bases to us should not be underestimated. |
| Posted by: rkb 2005-06-19 19:59 |
| #16 The german defense minister....? How many divisions does he have? |
| Posted by: Mark E. 2005-06-19 19:51 |
| #15 While Schroeder has been a weasel, we must not forget the slightly less than 50% of Germans who are not anti-American. I hope that the relationship can be rebuilt. Phrance on the other hand... I wish to say thank you to TGA for his reasoned discourse and support for America. |
| Posted by: SR-71 2005-06-19 16:06 |
| #14 rkb, it will, but come September, with good will on both sides, we'll succeed. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2005-06-19 14:47 |
| #13 TGA, I think you and I both are committed to renewing our alliance and understand that it will take some effort. |
| Posted by: rkb 2005-06-19 14:35 |
| #12 Tom Dooley, German manned AWACS aircraft patrolled US airspace in 2001/2002 during Operation Enduring Freedom. Thanks for not shooting at them. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2005-06-19 14:25 |
| #11 I do. There are allies among some of the German populace, including longtime Army officers. |
| Posted by: rkb 2005-06-19 14:17 |
| #10 Who gives a flyin' fuck what the germans think? They're still our enemies....we just quit shootin' at 'em in 1945.... Fuck 'em all. |
| Posted by: Tom Dooley 2005-06-19 14:02 |
| #9 Well maybe don't be too hard on him. He has just announced to send more German troops to Afghanistan, bringing the number up to 3000. But of course, in September we'll have a new defense minister, probabably Michael Glos, a ranking CSU guy (boss of the CSU in the Bundestag). I know him personally and I guess he'll get along very well with Rummy (and brings the better beer). |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2005-06-19 13:02 |
| #8 And the US (including Rumsfeld) are supposed to be worried about this because....? Take your ball and stay home, ya' little brat. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2005-06-19 12:41 |
| #7 Struck is pushing hard at NATO meetings for removing US nuclear weapons from Ramstein and for a separate EU-level military org in addition to NATO. |
| Posted by: too true 2005-06-19 11:01 |
| #6 If Rummy promised to make him wait in the lobby for an additional 2 hrs and 15 minutes, would that be acceptable? Y'know, so Rummy could have important meetings with the defense guys from Argentina, Nauru and Swaziland? |
| Posted by: Desert Blondie 2005-06-19 09:41 |
| #5 what did he hope to gain by announcing to the world that both Kofi and Rumsfeld snubbed him, when he is, in fact, a lame duck? What's the old saying, never hand someone a whip to beat you with...or something like that.. |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-06-19 01:14 |
| #4 I'd say that 45 minutes with the SecDef of a country seriously fighting the WoT, running jihadi flypaper campaigns in 2 countries, supporting those 2 countries while they take their first steps under a new form of government, and redesigning the global force structure of the US is fairly generous. Given this is someone from a Govt with Shroeder's record and who's on his way out - what's there to talk about? Struck should've been less huffy and full of himself and gone shopping to burn some of those Euros while they're still so overvalued. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-06-19 01:11 |
| #3 He ordered Berlin’s ambassador to Washington Wolfgang Ischinger to appeal to Rumsfeld for a longer meeting... Oh, yeah, 'cause Ischinger's our favorite German. |
| Posted by: Angie Schultz 2005-06-19 01:04 |
| #2 wienerschnitzel and good German beer on the house! BTW Struck You F*ck |
| Posted by: Don Rumsfeld 2005-06-19 00:31 |
| #1 That's our Rummy... No time for ducks, lame ducks, Peking ducks or any other waterfowl either... |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-06-19 00:19 |