Germany Sends Military Logistics Experts to Iraq

Germany’s Defense Minister Peter Struck has sent three military personnel to Baghdad to provide support if it becomes necessary to evacuate its embassy in Iraq. Speaking in a ZDF television interview on Wednesday, Struck said, "They will have a logistical and not a military role." Struck added that the deployment of the soldiers, who will be in civilian dress, is "normal" practice. "I hope the situation will stabilize in Baghdad so that we can bring them back soon." Struck reiterated that Germany, which strongly opposed the U.S.-led war on Iraq, had no plans to send troops to Iraq. "We have offered, and continue to do so, to train Iraqi soldiers and a new Iraqi army in Germany or in a neighboring country, and Iraqi police officers, but that is all," he said.