NYTimes
German Demonstrators Oppose War, Not U.S.
By RICHARD BERNSTEIN
UNICH, Feb. 8 Christine Bauer stood in a snowfall near the stately Odeonsplatz around noon today, and while a local band pounded out American-style rock 'n' roll, she worried that German opposition to a war in Iraq had been misinterpreted in the United States.
"For us, it's very important that being here doesn't mean that we don't like America," she said, near the end of one of several antiwar demonstrations in Munich timed to coincide with Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld's appearance at the Munich Security Conference, which was being held in a nearby hotel.
"We know what America did for us," Ms. Bauer said. "But in a democratic world, people should be able to give their opinions."
Around her, people wearing blue buttons saying "No to War in Iraq" and displaying placards like "War is Terror," "Stop Bush," and "Donald Dr. Strangelove" listened to the noisy rock band. Nearby there was a small group of young men with Mohawk haircuts and a large amount of body piercing.
Despite the snow and icy streets, several thousand demonstrators turned out in Munich today, watched over by a security force of 3,500 police officers. While the number of demonstrators in Odeonsplatz had fallen to a few hundred by late afternoon, there was no question about the strength of antiwar sentiment in Munich, as elsewhere in Germany.
"Peace, not war, Mr. Rumsfeld," was the large English headline in the local evening newspaper, the Mchen Abendzeitung, on Friday, when the secretary of defense arrived. The newspaper then listed all of the antiwar activities in the city, including a midnight vigil at a Protestant church Friday night and a concert this evening.
On the street, among the people bundled up in the snow, mingling with the antiwar sentiment was concern that German relations with the United States not be spoiled.
"We aren't anti-American," Munich's mayor, Christian Ude, said in a speech welcoming the delegates to the security conference Friday night. "We are against the war."
Mr. Ude's well-known opposition to the war prompted the American ambassador to Berlin, Daniel R. Coates, to call on American participants not to attend the reception where the mayor made his welcoming speech. But most of the Americans, including Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, the Connecticut Democrat who has already announced his intention to run for president next year, did attend.
In general, the mood outside the conference center mirrored many viewpoints expressed inside, most notably by the German foreign minister, Joschka Fischer. In a vehement if rambling speech seemingly directed at Mr. Rumsfeld, Mr. Fischer practically shouted, in English at one point, "Excuse me, I'm not convinced."
Many people here were saying that the prospect of war against Iraq had brought out something different and bigger than the usual antiglobalization demonstrators who had turned up in recent years at similar international gatherings.
"This time it's a lot of ordinary people, not just the pacifists," said Christian Stbs, an engineer. "It's the first time in my lifetime that I see the Germans are really worried about a war."
The Iraq question comes along at a time when many Germans are worried about other thing most notably an 11 percent unemployment rate that has led to a plunge in the popularity of Germany's chancellor, Gerhard Schrder, who won national elections last fall in part because of his antiwar theme.
"Nobody knows how to handle it," said Michael Krger, the director of a Munich publishing company, speaking of the pessimism in Germany. "It's like bad weather.
"And then, in the middle of this situation, along comes Rumsfeld who says that we don't want to fight for our freedom, we only want to stay in our nice warm beds. And people are very offended.
"There must be a very good reason to go to war," he continued. "And up to now, I don't think a very good reason has been given."
Demonstrators in the snow today, asked what should be done about Iraq and Saddam Hussein, generally said more time should be given to the United Nations inspections, to diplomacy, and only then, after several months, military force might be justified.
But even then, there was skepticism about at least one of the reasons given by the Bush administration for attacking Iraq, that it has links to Al Qaeda.
"A war will not solve this problem," Ms. Bauer said, speaking of suicide terrorism. "Because anybody can wrap a bomb around themselves and blow themselves up to kill people. It's like Joschka Fischer said, you won't have wars like in the 19th century anymore, wars of armies against armies. That time is gone."
"We haven't forgotten September 11," she said, "I feel really threatened by the situation in the world, and if the Americans think we are not with them, that's very bad."