German Politician: Berlin May Vote Against War

The discovery on Thursday of 11 war heads in Iraq capable of carrying chemical weapons has brought new urgency to the debate over a possible war against Saddam Hussein in Europe.

In moves reflecting the discord between European nations over the issue, German cabinet members renewed their pledges not to participate in any military intervention even as the Czech parliament voted to support a war.

On Friday, German Defense Minister Peter Struck came forward as the first member of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's cabinet to say it is unlikely Germany would vote in favor of military action against Iraq in the United Nations Security Council. Struck told the Rheinpfalz newspaper no decision could be made before the issue is presented in the Security Council, but that "he couldn't, in principle, imagine a 'yes' vote at this point." He added that the diplomatic goal should be to prevent a war in Iraq.

Struck described relations between Washington and Berlin as "difficult." At the same time, he added: "At the end of the day, I think they'd prefer that we just say that we're not going to join them rather than just going back and forth."

In an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer on Friday reiterated Germany's position that it would not participate in any war against Iraq -- even under a U.N. mandate. He described the U.S. and German positions on Iraq as "contradictory."

'War is worst solution'

Meanwhile, French President Jacques Chirac, without mentioning the U.S. by name, warned that no unilateral military action should be taken against Iraq. Such an undertaking, he warned, would "not be consistent with international law." Nor would it be supported by France. "War," he said, "would be the worst of all possible solutions."

Chirac said U.N. weapons inspectors should be given more time to complete their probe of Iraq -- a position he reached together with Gerhard Schröder during an informal meeting on Tuesday.

A call for protests

The leaders' statements come at a time when opposition against an Iraq war is growing. This week, the chairman of the Council of Protestant Churches in Germany, Manfred Kock, restated his church's "strict" rejection of any war and called on church members to conduct demonstrations on the scale of protests during the Gulf War 12 years ago.

A poll released this week by German public broadcaster ARD and Infratest-Dimap found that 76 percent of Germans don't believe the country should vote in favor of a war against Iraq at the U.N. Security Council.

The only voices in favor of a war that seem to be coming out of Germany these days are within the conservative opposition. Wolfgang Schäuble, vice chairmen of the Christian Democrat Union's parliamentary group, said on Friday that Germany should support the U.S.-led initiatives in the United Nations.

"If there's no other alternative, Germany should vote 'yes' at the Security Council," Schäuble said. "But as long as there's still a chance to achieve the goal without going to war, I would always prefer that."