Meint das Wall Street Journal (mit grimmiger Genugtuung). Denn die Deutschen werden Obama hängenlassen bei seinem Versuch, die Kriegsanstrengungen von Irak auf Afghanistan umzusteuern:
„During his Presidential campaign, Barack Obama expressed confidence that his penchant for diplomacy would change German minds. Apparently not. Sending more soldiers, or troops who actually fight, remains anathema in Germany. „There is a limit,“ Peter Struck, the parliamentary head of the ruling Social Democrats and former Defense Minister, said this week when asked whether Germany could do more to help defeat the Taliban. Maybe Mr. Obama’s speech before adoring crowds in Berlin last summer was not so effective after all.
When Europeans talk about „multilateralism,“ they typically don’t mean agreeing on a common policy to carry out together. They mean defaulting global security to the United Nations, where Russian and Chinese vetoes curtail effective action. At best, multilateralism à la Paris and Berlin is short for European approval for where and how Americans may intervene around the world.“