| Hitler Remark Rankles White House
> > .c The Associated Press > > WASHINGTON (AP) - As tensions rise between the United States and Germany >over differences on Iraq policy, the White House on Thursday called a >German government minister's comparison of President Bush to Adolf Hitler >``outrageous and inexplicable.'' > > Justice Minister Herta Daeubler-Gmelin told a small group of labor union >members on Wednesday that Bush was going after Iraq to divert attention >from domestic problems. ``That's a popular method. Even Hitler did that,'' >the German newspaper, Schwaebisches Tagblatt, quoted her as saying. > > The minister called the report misleading but did not deny the remarks. > > ``I would regret it very much if this matter were to cast the slightest >shadow on my respect for the president of the United States,'' she said. > > Opposition conservatives vying to defeat Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's >Social Democrats in Sunday's parliamentary elections called for her >resignation. > > ``This shows what Schroeder and his Social Democrats really think of our >American allies,'' said Thomas Goppel, an aide to conservative challenger >Edmund Stoiber. > > A German government spokesman said Schroeder could not imagine >Daeubler-Gmelin had meant to liken Bush to Hitler. > > ``If anyone were to compare the American president with a criminal, they >would have no place in the government,'' Schroeder said on German >television network ZDF. > > With the balloting approaching, Schroeder has offered repeated and >outspoken opposition to Bush's drive for action against Iraq's Saddam >Hussein, creating discord between the two allies. > > Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer sought to downplay the impact on the >relationship between the countries, but reacted strongly to the minister's >remarks. > > ``The United States and Germany have a very long and valuable >relationship, and relations between the people of the United States and >Germany are very important to Americans,'' Fleischer said. ``But this >statement by the justice minister is outrageous and inexplicable.'' > > In Thursday's editions of The New York Times columnist William Safire >quoted former German Defense Minister Rudolf Scharping as telling a meeting >in Hamburg last month that Bush wanted to overthrow Saddam to please ``a >powerful - perhaps overly powerful - Jewish lobby.'' > > A spokesman for Scharping, Thorben Albrecht, said the ex-minister spoke at >the closed-door event but never made the remark. > > Meanwhile, Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., warned that ``America bashing'' by >Schroeder is damaging U.S.-German relations. > > He said that if Schroeder wins re-election and does not show a more >constructive attitude toward dealing with Iraq, ``then the U.S. Congress >must seriously consider moving U.S. forces out of Germany and stationing >them on the territory of other NATO allies who do support the United States. > > '' > > Helms, a former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is not >seeking re-election this fall. > > >
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