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Police Braced for Munich Protest Against Rumsfeld
From Roger Boyes in Berlin
Friday 07 February 2003
Four thousand policemen have been drafted into the centre of Munich as
protesters from across Germany and Switzerland gathered for the arrival of
Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary.
Demonstrators are threatening to set fire to his effigy in the snow-covered
square outside the hotel where he is staying for an international security
conference. He caused outrage after he told the House Armed Services
Committee that the Germans, like Libya and Cuba, had indicated that they
"did not want to help in any way'' in the efforts to tackle Iraq.
The US State Department warned Americans yesterday to avoid visiting Munich
over the next few days. But the Social Democratic mayor, Christian Ude,
dismissed the warning as ridiculous. "No American citizen has to worry about
his or her safety here. There will merely be criticism of the US
Government,'' he said.
Even so, the fact that Munich now counts as unsafe for Americans along with
Iraq, Iran, Libya and Yemen has taken the Germans aback. Suddenly, they see
themselves being edged towards pariah status.
Hence the public irritation about Mr Rumsfeld's comments to the House Armed
Services Committee.
Mr Rumsfeld, who is rapidly emerging as the hate figure of the European
peace movement, will be the first to address the conference tomorrow
morning. He will be followed by Joschka Fischer, the German Foreign
Minister. Gerhard Schr�der, the Chancellor, has refused to attend.
Shortly after being nominated as US Defence Secretary, Mr Rumsfeld used the
annual security conference to plead for a national missile defence system.
His argument, which referred to the system as a "moral imperative'',
disturbed many Europeans, who interpreted it as meaning that Washington
would not seek international consensus.
Last year the conference, held in the wake of the September 11 attacks, saw
a broad consensus, including Russia and China, on the need to uproot
terrorism. This time there is likely to be an all-out transatlantic row. By
most accounts, it will be the toughest confrontation since the 1980s, when
many Germans were resisting the stationing of US missiles on their soil.
Mr Rumsfeld has already set out his reservations about "old Europe'', led by
France and Germany, and his enthusiasm for the "new'' Europeans, including
Britain, Spain and Poland. The Germans interpret this as an attempt by the
US to splinter any endeavour to forge a common European foreign policy on
Iraq. Herr Fischer and Peter Struck, the Defence Minister, ostentatiously
snubbed by Mr Rumsfeld on two earlier occasions in the past six months, will
be batting for their government. At least some of the 30 foreign and defence
ministers attending the conference are expected to side with Germany.
Mr Rumsfeld can count on support from the many US senators accompanying him,
including John McCain and Joseph Lieberman.
The German dismay about Mr Rumsfeld is partly influenced by the fact that he
is the one senior member of the Bush Administration with German roots. In
1972 the Chicago-born politician was appointed Nato Ambassador to Brussels,
and during his posting undertook some research into his European roots. He
discovered that his great-grandfather emigrated to America from the north
German village of Sudwehye.
Mr Rumsfeld visited his family and struck up friendly relations. This time,
the family is not so sure. "He is just a defence minister for us now,''
Margarete Rumsfeld, 85, a cousin, said. "He should make damn sure not to
start a war.''
Gunter Beckstein, the Bavarian Interior Minister, said that police would be
Frontier police have already started picking up potential protesters at the
railway station and stopping cars on the approach to Munich. Many of the
protesters see Munich as a pit-stop between the antiglobalisation protests
in Davos and the planned anti-war rally in Berlin on February 15.