|
Interview: Karsten Voigt Discusses Germany's Position On A War In Iraq
All Things Considered: January 22, 2003
Germany
ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
Karsten Voigt is at the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Berlin. He's coordinator of German-American cooperation there.
Karsten Voigt, French President Chirac says the UN weapons inspectors need several months more. Chancellor Schroeder says if they need more time, they should have it. Does this mean that Germany flatly opposes a US-British attack on Iraq next month?
Mr. KARSTEN VOIGT (German Ministry of Foreign Affairs): I think it's very clear that we will not endorse any attack now, and it's very clear that we are in favor of more time for the inspectors.
SIEGEL: You're in a different position from the French in that there are so many US bases and so much US military equipment in Germany. Would the German government take the step of opposing the use of any air bases for operations in Iraq, say?
Mr. VOIGT: No, I don't think so. One thing is to say that we differ from the US position insofar as the method how to deal with Saddam Hussein is concerned. We don't disagree with the goal of disarming Saddam Hussein. Another thing is to block our ally, our main ally, across the Atlantic, and that we won't do.
SIEGEL: Of course, there is one analysis of events of the past year that if the United States had not threatened unilateral force without any regard to the UN, then France and Germany wouldn't even be saying the things they are saying about Iraq today.
Mr. VOIGT: This I think is a big nonsense because not only what I hear from German politicians, but also when I listen to German voters, the Iraqi position has always been very unpopular in Germany. There never was emotional support for Saddam Hussein. I think most Germans and most German politicians would, indeed, be in favor of regime change, only that we think there's no legitimate right to enforce it by the use of force by outside nations.
SIEGEL: Mm-hmm. Do German officials there find something special about this American administration and the way it reacts to European complaints or the ideas of its allies in Europe, or is this a fairly typical relationship between, now, Berlin and Washington?
Mr. VOIGT: We should never forget that in most issues in the world, the Americans and Germans agree. And we worked closely together in the Balkans and Afghanistan and many other places of the world. But having said that, there is always, as I'm saying, a basic difference between Germans and Americans after World War II insofar as the use of military force is concerned. There is--while we agree very often that some other nations or political leaders are following the wrong line, that we might dissuade them or have to enforce that they follow a different line, there is not the same conviction in Germany that we are representing the good. And I sometimes have the feeling that some people in the US administration--not everybody, but some people in the US administration do not only think that Saddam Hussein is bad, where I agree, but that they think that they themselves represent the last resort of freedom and the last resort of the good in this world, and that they, therefore--sometimes there's a tendency to see the objections by other nations not as a different type of argument, but that other nations are not so clear on who is good and who is bad. So as a moral point--and there I have sometimes difficulty to swallow that.
SIEGEL: You're describing a moral arrogance, is what you're describing, it sounds like.
Mr. VOIGT: I would not say `moral arrogance,' but to see American views, American interests automatically, more or less, they really believe it as being identical with the good in the world. And that--which I, by the way, do not always believe, but I could swallow that if they would not have the tendency at the same time to see people who object to them as being flawed on the issue of good and bad.
SIEGEL: Karsten Voigt, thanks very much for talking with us once again.
Mr. VOIGT: Thank you.
SIEGEL: Karsten Voigt, who is the coordinator of German-American cooperation at the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Berlin.
Copyright ©2003 National Public Radio®. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to National Public Radio. This transcript may not be reproduced in whole or in part without prior written permission. For further information, please contact NPR's Permissions Coordinator at (202) 513-2000.
This transcript was created by a contractor for NPR, and NPR has not verified its accuracy. For all NPR programs, the broadcast audio should be considered the authoritative
version.
|
