GEO-NIMBY :

Schroder distances his party from raid on Iraq (Haig Simonian, August 4 2002, Financial Times)

Gerhard Schroder, the German chancellor, will inaugurate his Social Democratic party's main campaign for next month's general election with a speech on Monday distancing his government from a possible US attack on Iraq.

The chancellor, addressing a rally in his home town of Hanover, is expected to underline Germany's solidarity with Washington and its concern about international terrorism. But with the SPD trailing badly in the opinion polls and an attack highly unpopular, Mr Schroder will emphasise that Germany is no longer willing to be a silent partner of the US providing financial backing, as it did in the Gulf war.

This is likely to be the last Germann electoral campaign where someone runs on a platform of not killing Muslims. Posted by Orrin Judd at August 5, 2002 12:23 PM