Thursday, March 02, 2006
Gerhard, a Bag of Hot Air, Like I Said
Berlin File Says Germany's Spies Aided U.S. in Iraq - New York Times: "The German government was a vocal critic of the Bush administration's decision to use military force to topple Saddam Hussein and has long insisted that it provided only limited help to the United States-led coalition. But in recent months, news reports of greater German involvement prompted the parliamentary review, which indicates that German-American cooperation during the war was continuing, systematic and regular.
A public version of the parliamentary committee's report was released but much was left out, including the existence of a German officer in General Franks's office. A copy of the secret version of the parliamentary report was made available for viewing by a journalist in Germany to a New York Times reporter who read the text into a tape recorder so it could be transcribed and translated. The cover page had the seal of the German Parliament.
The report found that the operation was closed down when the American invasion came to an end, at which point all three of the German intelligence officials the two in Baghdad and the liaison officer with General Franks in Qatar were given the American Meritorious Service Medals recognizing the 'critical information to United States Central Command to support combat operations in Iraq.' "
Every time I even suggested that the Germans were helping, people would rant that they were not a country that believed in war and would never support this "illegal war". Uh...
Admittedly not a few thousand troops, but more than a country who had a deeply held conviction barring it from pre-emptive wars. Gerhard was saying what he thought he had to and doing as he pleased.
A public version of the parliamentary committee's report was released but much was left out, including the existence of a German officer in General Franks's office. A copy of the secret version of the parliamentary report was made available for viewing by a journalist in Germany to a New York Times reporter who read the text into a tape recorder so it could be transcribed and translated. The cover page had the seal of the German Parliament.
The report found that the operation was closed down when the American invasion came to an end, at which point all three of the German intelligence officials the two in Baghdad and the liaison officer with General Franks in Qatar were given the American Meritorious Service Medals recognizing the 'critical information to United States Central Command to support combat operations in Iraq.' "
Every time I even suggested that the Germans were helping, people would rant that they were not a country that believed in war and would never support this "illegal war". Uh...
Admittedly not a few thousand troops, but more than a country who had a deeply held conviction barring it from pre-emptive wars. Gerhard was saying what he thought he had to and doing as he pleased.
