Germany Calls for Greater UN Role in Iraq

One German newsmagazine has referred to Fischer's trip -- his first visit to the U.S. since the outbreak of the war in Iraq -- as "mission impossible."

Although Germany was among the staunchest opponents of the U.S.-led war, it is now taking on a stronger political role in the reshaping of the Middle Eastern country. Fischer's trip to Washington serves to underscore the country's increasing profile in the debate over how to restore stability in the post-Saddam Hussein Iraq and to rebuild an infrastructure that deteriorated dramatically following two wars and a decade of embargoes.

Fischer told the U.S. public television broadcaster PBS on Wednesday that Germany considers it "very important that progress be made toward creating an Iraqi government."

Fischer described the Governing Council in Iraq that the U.S. established last Sunday as "a step in the right direction" for building a government there. Yet once again, Fischer demanded a central role for the United Nations in Iraq.

The 25-person Iraqi Governing Council, which has limited authority, was appointed under U.S. chief Iraq administrator Paul Bremer, and had its first session on Sunday. According to the U.S. plan, this is the first step in the creation of a transitional Iraqi government, which will pave the way for a constitution and elections -- hopefully sometime within the next year.

The U.S. has recently made it clear that it wants help in rebuilding Iraq, especially from its NATO allies. American casualties in Iraq continue to mount amid guerrilla fighting, and civil unrest is growing as Iraqis grow increasingly frustrated that many basic services have not yet been restored.

Military stretched to capacity

Nonetheless, expectations are low that the United States will pressure Germany to send troops to Iraq during Fischer's planned meetings Wednesday with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice.

Fischer stressed in the PBS interview that Germany's peacekeeping activities in Afghanistan, the Balkans, Africa and elsewhere have already stretched its military to full capacity.

In the past, Germany had named the existence of an Iraqi transitional government and a new U.N. mandate as conditions for a debate over whether it would send its own soldiers to support U.S. und British troops in stabilizing Iraq. More recently, however, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has made it clear that the United States cannot count on Germany sending troops.

Seeking Iraqi stability

In an interview with German public television, top Fischer aid Karsten Voigt (photo) denied that the fence-mending trip represents any major change in relations between the two countries.

"There was always contact between Fischer and Powell, before the war, during the war, and after the war," he said. "But now it is naturally a question of showing the Americans that Germans, although they were and are opposed to this war, are nonetheless interested in making Iraq into a stable place, where human rights and democracy can get a foothold."

Poor policy

Voigt addressed U.S. expectations of Germany and other NATO members to come forward to help stabilize Iraq in particularly blunt language.

"I can't imagine that a country that didn't want to go to war, didn't win the war, and that is therefore not an occupying force, can or should operate under conditions set by the operating force in Iraq. If at all, it should only be under U.N.-established conditions. I don't know whether the Americans are ready for that," he said.

Even if the German troops weren't already stretched too thin, Voigt added, "I don't think it is a meaningful German policy to jump from deployment to deployment without doing any serious long-term planning. ... That means you don't jump from flower to flower and try to suck the nectar out, and then believe that you gain influence that way. You only gain influence if by solving problems."