Fit for War
PRINCETON (Own report) During a high profile policy speech, the German foreign minister, Joschka Fischer, offered ,,equal"partnership to the US administration for the purpose of, jointly, winning the struggle for a ,,new world order". The ,,new world order"would eliminate international ,,loss of order"and achieve ,,positive globalization."All methods must be employed and belligerent actions are not specifically ruled out. Rather it is meant ,,to strengthen"the ,,military capabilities of Europe". The foreign minister said that for that reason Germany and the EU had to base their policies on an expanded ,,concept of security". European armament must be granted quantitative as well as qualitative priority. The introduction of belligerent options pervades the whole policy speech.
In the address, which followed several meetings with the US administration, the German foreign minister used the concept ,,human rights"four times, the concept of ,,security"eight times, and the concept of ,,armed force"or ,,military"twelve times. Central phrases revolve around military content. Among other things it is said that Europe suffers from ,,military debility", is full of ,,weakness in its military capabilities"and is in need of ,,certain modernized and strengthened military capabilities."Already now the EU provides ,,a considerable military contribution world wide"and is committed to ,,political determination and military competence". The foreign minister announced that in the future the ,,military capabilities"would be improved by ,,creation of a European armaments agency."Armaments would have to be centralized, because it would ,,not be efficient" ,,if each one of the 15, soon to be 25 (EU-)member states were to have at their disposal all service branches". With that Fischer prompted the smaller EU members once again to dispose of their national defense arsenals and to rely on the division of labor in the production of arms components under the direction of the armaments industries of the European core states. 2)
In the same boat
The German foreign minister's speech in the US ended with the call for commitment to ,,common values."Accordingly, the USA and EU are in the ,,same boat"from where they practice ,,globalization of fundamental values". The German foreign minister counts among those ,,solid fundamental values"which ,,we share"the ,,free market economy"as well as ,,the rule of law". The ,,solid fundamental values"( ,,freedom", ,,democracy") are part of an enduring ,,European revolution (...) of a middle class"cut.
Cosmetic appearances
Joschka Fischer's speech, outlined by Berlin, prepares the international public for a frankly German participation in forceful actions against Iraq. Corresponding measures had been touched on during an earlier press interview by foreign minister of the EU, Javier Solana, on November 14. After a discussion with Chancellor Schroeder, Solana stated: ,,At the moment Germany refuses to dispatch soldiers to Iraq - but not on principle."According to Solana, a NATO deployment against Baghdad, which would require participation of contingents of the German federal army, could take place. The purpose of the German foreign minister's appearance in Washington was to discuss giving an international human rights appearance to such a belligerent operation.