Rumsfield Humiliated by Europe
US insults Europeans
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer has directly challenged the United States over the justifications for possible military action against Iraq.
**“I am not convinced… I cannot go to the public and say these are the reasons because I don’t believe in them,” ** he told a European defence conference in Munich.
French and German leaders have reacted angrily to comments by the US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld describing the two countries as “problems” in the crisis over Iraq.
**French Finance Minister Francis Mer said he was “profoundly vexed” by Mr Rumsfeld’s remarks - which branded France and Germany "old Europe - while a former employment minister described the US as arrogant. **
“Germany has been a problem and France has been a problem,” Mr Rumsfeld told Washington’s foreign press corps on Wednesday.
A spokeswoman for Mr Chirac called for calm in the dispute.
“Polemics have no place in this debate,” Catherine Colonna said.
“If you look at the entire Nato Europe today, the centre of gravity is shifting to the east,” Mr Rumsfeld said.
But the conservative former German Defence Minister Volker Ruehe, normally a strong US supporter, said it was unfair to play off Eastern and Western Europe against each other.
“Rumsfeld is not exactly a diplomat and it is not very wise to say something like that,” he said.
The French Environment Minister, Roselyne Bachelot, told one interviewer: “If you knew what I felt like telling Mr Rumsfeld…”
She then stopped herself, saying the word was too offensive.
comment: So now even europeans cannot escape the insults and accusation of the arrogant americans. Whats next from mr diplomacy himself Rumsfield i would’nt be surprised if he’s next dumb comment is france and germany supporting al qaida!
