Attacks Buoy U.S.-German Ties

No longer united by the Cold War’s threat nor divided by disputes over perceived American unilateralism, Germany and the United States have rediscovered the importance of the transatlantic relationship in the anti-terrorism struggle.

In back-to-back addresses, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and U.S. Ambassador Daniel R. Coats have spotlighted Germany’s new obligations to enhance security in a united Europe.

Although this strategically central power is the largest and most populous country on the continent, Germans were taught after World War II to embrace pacifism. So unlike in Britain, where government and the citizenry have long accepted a front-line role in fighting democracy’s foes, Germans have defined a backfield role for themselves.

German troops first shed their postwar shackles to take part in the allied assault on Yugoslavia in 1999. But not until the evolving campaign against terrorism have the people of this nation been called upon to pull their own weight--or shown such readiness to do so.

In his first major speech here, Coats on Friday hailed the “unqualified cooperation, commitment and solidarity of the German government.” He told politicians and business leaders that the profound changes imposed on U.S.-European relations since Sept. 11 have put a stop to the petty squabbling among the allies so common in the past decade.

“Perhaps Airbus financing or GMO [genetically modified organisms] are subjects for another moment,” said the envoy, who took up his post here only four days before the terrorist attacks. He was referring to disputes over government trade subsidies and biotech fears that, like missile defense and environmental protection, have been divisive subjects.

“There is no greater demonstration of our common resolve than committing our soldiers to a perilous task,” Coats said, applauding Schroeder’s promise that Germany will provide whatever troops, hardware, logistics or funding is needed for the war against terrorism.

In an address to Parliament on Thursday, Schroeder declared that the days when Germany contributed only monetarily to fights against global threats are “irrevocably over.”

During the Persian Gulf War a decade ago, Germany still clung to allied restrictions on its sovereignty and foreign policy, even though those constraints had been lifted during the negotiations leading up to the country’s 1990 reunification.

Germany’s armed forces moved out of the Cold War shadows with participation in Balkan peacekeeping missions in the mid-1990s and more forcefully with the part they played in bombing Yugoslav targets to halt Slobodan Milosevic’s crackdown on ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. Last month, another precedent was set when Germany was put in charge of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s mission to disarm ethnic rivals in Macedonia.

Schroeder has pledged “unlimited solidarity” with the United States and other allies in the battle against terrorism, but he has yet to be called upon to deliver actual soldiers, ships or planes that could be exposed to danger.

In his latest address, he appeared to be impressing on a wary electorate the likelihood of that eventuality, as well as Germany’s responsibility to shoulder a share of the security load commensurate with its position in Europe.

Germany has deployed five radar surveillance aircraft to the United States to enhance security in North America and presumably to free up U.S. units for the ongoing assaults in Afghanistan. The U.S. is targeting terrorist bases there, as well as the ruling Taliban militia that has given haven to Osama bin Laden, the key suspect in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Deployment of military personnel to an area of armed conflict will require parliamentary endorsement, which Schroeder has been promised by all political parties except for the small faction of former Communists.

Polls taken three weeks ago indicated that only a minority of Germans was prepared to commit troops to the campaign against terrorism. But a survey this week by the Forsa institute for the weekly newspaper Die Woche indicated that 59% now support the government’s pledge to provide whatever help is needed.

Germans have expressed deep sympathy for and solidarity with the United States since the terrorist attacks while acknowledging fears about taking part in military retaliation. Those hesitations are still strong, as evidenced by forecasts that an anti-war demonstration to be held here today will draw at least 50,000 people.

Germans have also been rattled by apparent hoaxes suggesting that anthrax spores have been released in public places. Envelopes containing powdery substances and warnings suggesting biological agents have been discovered at a Berlin furniture store and at several locations in Hesse state, prompting quarantines and preventive treatment for dozens of people who came in contact with the packets.

One packet has already been dismissed as harmless, but a newly created biological threat center here is continuing to investigate the others. However, authorities said they are fairly certain no anthrax was involved.

Schroeder made clear in his latest pledge of U.S. support that he expects Germans to back him as he embraces a more influential role for his country.

“We find ourselves in a determined and likely protracted battle against international terrorism,” he said in his speech, which was televised nationally. “We did not want this conflict, but we will join in it and we will win.”