Not Your Sweetie

Rumsfeld Comment Sparks Angry

Responses


Thursday January 23, 2003 4:00 PM

BERLIN (AP) - German and French officials fired back angrily Thursday at
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's dismissal of their governments as
the ``old Europe,'' and said the comments underscored America's arrogance
as it prepares for possible war with Iraq.

Rumsfeld also said that German and French positions had proved to be a
``problem'' that had not been created by ``vast numbers of other countries
in
Europe. They're not with France and Germany on this. They're with the
United States,'' Rumsfeld said at a briefing Wednesday.

``We should try to treat each other sensibly,'' said German Foreign Minister
Joschka Fischer. ``Our position is not a problem, it is a constructive
contribution,'' he said as he left for a tour of Turkey and the Middle East in
an attempt to cool the crisis.

The spat erupted after the two European powers on Wednesday unveiled a
joint anti-war stance on Iraq, forcing the NATO alliance to delay planning
for a possible support role in an Iraqi invasion.

French Finance Minister Francis Mer said he was ``profoundly vexed'' by
the remarks.