Soon, even Schröder’s rejection of “active involvement” was withdrawn. The German government pledged that its special reconnaissance tanks in Kuwait, which are equipped to withstand chemical and biological weapons, would not be withdrawn, and that German personnel would remain aboard NATO AWACS reconnaissance planes. This meant that both arms of the German military would be actively involved in war operations. At the same time the German army is providing troops for the protection of U.S. bases in Germany, so as to relieve German-based US troops in the event of war against Iraq.
When the U.N. Security Council passed Resolution 1441 last November, subjecting Iraq to intensive weapons inspections, the German government gave its full support. France has portrayed this resolution as a diplomatic success that supposedly forces the U.S. to once again consult the Security Council before taking any military action. German Foreign Minister Fischer, on the other hand, declared in December that the resolution rendered the question of a further U.N. mandate prior to military action “yesterday’s debate.” He thus tacitly adopted the interpretation of the U.S. government, according to which the resolution gives the U.S. the right to launch a military attack on Iraq, without further sanction from the Security Council, if the Bush administration determines the Iraqi regime to have committed a “material breach” of any of the resolution’s provisions.
When the U.N. Security Council passed Resolution 1441 last November, subjecting Iraq to intensive weapons inspections, the German government gave its full support. France has portrayed this resolution as a diplomatic success that supposedly forces the U.S. to once again consult the Security Council before taking any military action. German Foreign Minister Fischer, on the other hand, declared in December that the resolution rendered the question of a further U.N. mandate prior to military action “yesterday’s debate.” He thus tacitly adopted the interpretation of the U.S. government, according to which the resolution gives the U.S. the right to launch a military attack on Iraq, without further sanction from the Security Council, if the Bush administration determines the Iraqi regime to have committed a “material breach” of any of the resolution’s provisions.