Merkel Has Had It With Iran; Faces Chronic Cognitive Dissonance

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has decided that a sanctions regime against Iran would be a waste of time and damaging to the German economy. This is probably the nail in the coffin for multi-state diplomatic efforts with the mullah-run rogue state.

Germany's new stance has made it even more likely that Iran will face aggressive (read: military) efforts to keep it from continuing its nuclear development. Irritatingly, that may be okay with Germany.

[A]ccording to diplomats from other countries, [the Germans] gave the distinct impression that they would privately welcome, while publicly protesting, an American bombing campaign against Iran's nuclear facilities.

One can hardly blame Germany for hoping the U.S. will take care of Iran; it doesn't have a force projection capability to speak of. The shameful thing is that Germany may condemn a bombing campaign that it wanted.

Europe is caught in a trap of its own making. It really doesn't like the U.S., but it knows that there are some things that simply cannot be done without our help. It's even harder for prideful European leaders who ran on platforms opposing America to be seen working with the U.S. on international problems like Iran.

Fortunately, Merkel doesn't have that problem. She's worked hard to repair the damage done to German-U.S. relations caused by her rabid anti-American predecessor, Gerhard Schröder. The question now will be whether she has the courage to publicly support her convictions.

UPDATE: I see that Ace got to this story before me. Confine your comments to the issue of European love-hate for the U.S. Ace has thoughts on war with Iran.

posted by Gabriel Malor at 12:57 PM

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