German Papers Failure in Fallujah
The US offensive in Fallujah leads in Germany's major papers on Monday. But few seem to find agreement on the status of the operation. "Offensive in Fallujah 'Practically Finished'" reads the headline in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. "Rebels in Fallujah Not Giving Up," writes the Financial Times Deutschland, "Resistance in Fallujah Broken," says the Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
Over the weekend, the US Army said it had officially captured Fallujah. Unfortunately, as many papers point out, terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the man responsible for the recent wave of kidnappings and beheadings of foreigners, escaped. Now he will likely continue his reign of terror elsewhere in the country. Nor is there agreement on whether the clearing of Fallujah, which came at a heavy human cost -- 38 US troops were killed, 275 wounded, up to 1,200 resistance fighters dead and there are still no estimates of civilian casualties, just the smell of rotting corpses in the streets -- will have the desired effect of stabilizing the country in the run-up to elections.
"No one would dare claim that the offensive would win the hearts and minds of the Iraqis," writes the left-of-center Sueddeutsche. "But even the official reason for the assault, pacifying Iraq for elections in January, sounds more tenuous by the day. For the insurgency is coming to life elsewhere just as the fighting in Fallujah dies down." The paper casts doubt on the military success of the mission, adding that "political failure is almost certain."
In an analysis piece in the conservative Die Welt, journalist Michael Stuermer calls the US recapture of Sunni-dominated Fallujah a "failure," at least by contemporary standards. Militarily, the asymmetric war has been effective, but in the end everything will fall back to its condition before the invasion because of the "decisive lack of stabilizing forces, police and civilian reconstruction teams to provide water and electricity." If these aren't provided, Stuermer concludes, "in the end, all victories will be defeats."
In its leader, the right-of-center Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung notes that the invasion had been "stylized as the deciding factor for the future of Iraq." Problem is, it may just change the location of the battle. "The entire situation gives the impression that, once again, the theaters of war have simply moved and that guerrilla warfare will continue even after the fall of Fallujah," the paper writes. "In this country, where there is no official order and no tradition of resolving conflicts peacefully, the bloody fighting will continue for a long time," it concludes.
Predictably, the left-leaning Tageszeitung notes that weapons won't solve the problems in the Persian Gulf. But diplomacy may, it argues. "In the view of the USA and the Iraqi government, the offensive was the final resort after the failure of negotiations," the paper opines. It reminds readers that terrorists aren't the only ones unwilling to negotiate right now -- the Sunnis are also staying out of the picture, possibly out of fear. "A political-diplomatic initiative is necessary that also includes Iraq's neighboring countries," the paper argues. "As long as Iran and Syria have to fear becoming next on the US list for regime changes in the region, they won't desire a US success in Iraq. The unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict is also firing up the holy warriors. Life in Iraq with security, reforms and free elections is necessary. But you can't achieve that with bombs."
Domestically, the compromise reached on health care reform between the opposition Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, dominates coverage. Under the deal -- which most papers conclude is unlikely to ever see the legislative light of day -- a flat rate would be imposed on state health insurance. Individuals would pay 109 and their employers would contribute an additional 60. More significant than the plan itself is the embarrassment the long battle over it has caused the sister parties, who are supposed to be different only in name.
"(CDU leader Angela) Merkel and (CSU leader Edmund) Stoiber have created a bureaucratic monster," writers the business daily Handelsblatt. "What remains is the sad spectacle of two estranged sister parties who don't trust each other one bit," it concludes. The mass-circulation Bild doesn't let them off the hook either. "This compromise is the lowest common denominator," it writes. And it will "never become law in its current form." Meanwhile, the Berliner Zeitung says it is a sign of failure of both the current government and opposition to bring about serious reforms. "No matter who is in government, there will not be a simple tax system or a fundamental reform of the welfare system," it sighs.
