Berlin
German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder launched his re-election campaign this week on a platform of opposition to the proposed U.S. war against Iraq. In a forceful speech, the chancellor said Germany should not help fund a new war in Iraq, as it did the Gulf War, and he called on the U.S. to produce “a clear political concept for the entire Middle East.” More than 80 percent of Germans oppose war with Iraq. Schröder’s main rival in the September elections, the conservative leader Edmund Stoiber, accused the chancellor of appealing to pacifism to divert attention from domestic ills such as skyrocketing unemployment. The number of jobless reached 4.1 million in July, the highest level since Schröder took office four years ago.
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