An update of a previous Salon entry which
contradicts earlier entry reporting that Germany would consider sending troops if circumstances changed. I hope the Kerry Campaign has heard about this. I would hate to see him screw up on this tonight on the odd chance it comes up.
From Salon
[Update 8:25 a.m. PDT: Interesting development on this story. Soon after we posted this, we got an e-mail from a Spiegel staffer alerting us to comments Schröder made today that essentially "stuck the fork in," as the staffer put it, Struck's comments. This comes from a Spiegel reporter:
"German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder took pains Wednesday to correct a statement made by his defense minister, who implied Germany may be backpedaling on its Iraq position. Peter Struck told Britain's Financial Times that sending troops to Iraq was impossible 'at present,' but that 'there is no one who can predict developments in Iraq in such a way to make a binding statement.' But that's exactly what Schroder gave to his cabinet on Wednesday: 'No one in the federal government, including the defense minister, is considering a change to the Iraq position.' To avoid in similar semantic mishaps, Schroder told his cabinet the policy, 'endures today ... and will in the future.' Later, Schröder spokesman Thomas Steg told reporters in Berlin: 'There won't be any soldiers in Iraq.'"
"Also, Struck added some qualifiers to his comments at a NATO meeting in Rumania today, saying he 'rules out the possibility' of troops right now. In years, once things have changed in Iraq, 'Germany could reconsider his position,' he said."]