The German grasp of the American psyche.

Approaches full-on delusion:

In a report to the Foreign Ministry on Feb. 21, Germany's U.N. Ambassador Gunter Pleuger said that Washington, forced to move against Saddam Hussein alone, would later "remorsefully return to the Council" to seek help on enormous task of rebuilding Iraq, the Frankfurt Allgemeine newspaper said Sunday.

The newspaper said Pleuger's report backed unidentified countries' efforts to block the resolution. Pleuger said "it is better if the Security Council does not let itself be used by the USA," the newspaper reported.

Note that this scenario assumes success on the part of the US troops. If that's to be the case, what possible interest could the US have cutting the UN in on the post-war cleanup? What critical elements does Germany have that we might be induced to beg for under those circumstances? The idea of a victorious US army going cap-in-hand to the countries whose self-interest dictated they sit out--or worse, actively obstruct--the war is ludicrous. And highly unlikely.

Recent reports have said Schroeder's government is quietly considering sending German soldiers to participate in a possible U.N.-led peacekeeping mission in Iraq that would follow any military action against Baghdad.

Government officials have declined to comment on an early release of a report in the Monday edition the Spiegel weekly indicating German would send up to 1,000 troops to support a postwar mission.

Bwaha. Thanks, but no thanks.

Schroeder indicated late Friday that Germany would be willing to participate in a peacekeeping operation sanctioned by the United Nations.

"Of course Germany has always been prepared to fulfill its international obligations, under the United Nations," Schroeder told ARD television late Friday.

Yeah, unless its international obligations include actually enforcing UN resolutions or icky stuff like that. Eew.

[Link via The Corner.]