HOW VENEZUELAN:

Glos calls for overthrow of Schroeder (Der Spiegel, 11 February 2003)

"I feel they have to go, no matter what the price, as long as it's done democratically," said Michael Glos, who heads the CSU delegation in Germany's Bundestag. The cleanest way to do this, said Glos, was an early election. Volker Kauder, the parliamentary deputy whip for the CDU, said that no federal government had ever been in such a catastrophic foreign-policy position.

Volker Ruhe, a CDU politician with foreign-policy expertise, warned that NATO might break apart. This was a real risk, RŸhe told tabloid newspaper Bildzeitung. "When an alliance partner such as Turkey feels threatened but planning for protective measures is prevented within NATO, the very core of a military alliance is called into question," said Ruhe, who heads the external relations committee of the Bundestag; RŸhe served as Germany's defense minister in the previous CDU administration under chancellor Helmut Kohl.

What's the German phrase for "banana republic"? Posted by Orrin Judd at February 11, 2003 10:30 AM