German Defense Minster Extends Hand to Rumsfeld

After being snubbed by U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at a NATO meeting in September, German defense minister Peter Struck flew to America on Friday to meet with his American counterpart.

Hot on the heels of German Foreign Minister Joscka Fischer, who met last week with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, the meeting is being billed as a further attempt by Germany to mend its strained relations with the United States.

Fischer maintained last week that despite current problems the transatlantic alliance between Berlin and Washington remained a cornerstone of German foreign policy.

"Poisoned" relations

Bilateral ties between Germany and the USA have been on the rocks since German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder’s outspoken rejection of a possible attack on Iraq during his election campaign. After Schröder made his comments during the recent German general elections, Struck further soured relations by adding that German war tanks and personnel would be removed from Kuwait if war occurred.

Relations between the two countries nose-dived again after the German Justice Minister at the time, Herta Daeubler-Gmelin, likened U.S. president George W. Bush to Hitler. She was later forced to resign over the comments.

The amount of ‘poison’ – in Washington’s words – in German-U.S. relations was clearly obvious at September’s two-day NATO meeting in Warsaw. In what was regarded as a very public snub, Rumsfeld declined to meet with Struck and refused to call him by name at a press conference referring to the German defense minister simply as "that man."

A fresh start?

Although the meeting between the two defense ministers in Washington on Friday is unlikely to result in any change in Germany’s position on Iraq, there are signs of conciliation by the German government on joint U.S.-German military issues.

Yesterday the German government met to discuss prolonging its mandate for German troops in the U.S.-led anti-terror campaign "Enduring Freedom" for one year rather than the six months it had previously debated. The final vote is expected next week.

Currently, 1,250 Germans are involved in the mission which was launched after Sept. 11 to root out biological and chemical weapons and terrorists. The mandate allows for the deployment of up to 3,900 soldiers.

Struck and Rumsfeld will also focus on the offer made by Germany and the Netherlands to lead the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan starting next year. Germany's participation in this month's NATO summit in Prague, is also expected to be discussed.

Pentagon officials said the two defense ministers would meet for around 40 minutes of talks on Friday. According to a Pentagon spokesman, the meeting had been requested by Struck. A joint press conference is expected for the evening.