Welcome Mr. Rumsfeld...

["Johannes Schneider" <Johannes.Schneider@xxxxxxx>]

It is not Playa Giron here, but we will do our best do give him the welcome
he asked for:
http://no-nato.de/cms1/front_content.php

Johannes, Munich

>From the BBC:

Rumsfeld flies in to Europe tensions

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is visiting Europe to try to build
support for a possible US-led war against Iraq. [...]
In a sign of growing frustration with Germany, Mr Rumsfeld drew comparisons
between the European state and Libya and Cuba over the three countries'
attitudes.[...]
Mr Rumsfeld is scheduled to meet European leaders before speaking at a
security conference in Munich, Germany, on Saturday.
A large security operation is under way in Munich, where large protests
against military action are expected. [...]

Full:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2735273.stm

The next one is the kind of scare story the conservative press likes to run.
The square in front of the hotel mentioned in the article is in the Red Zone
anyway. So very little chance to burn someone in effigy there.

>From The Times:

Police braced for Munich protest against Rumsfeld
>From Roger Boyes in Berlin

FOUR thousand policemen have been drafted into the centre of Munich as
protesters from across Germany and Switzerland gathered for the arrival of
Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary.
Demonstrators are threatening to set fire to his effigy in the snow-covered
square outside the hotel where he is staying for an international security
conference. [...]
The US State Department warned Americans yesterday to avoid visiting Munich
over the next few days. But the Social Democratic mayor, Christian Ude,
dismissed the warning as ridiculous. "No American citizen has to worry about
his or her safety here. There will merely be criticism of the US
 Government," he said.
Even so, the fact that Munich now counts as unsafe for Americans along with
Iraq, Iran, Libya and Yemen has taken the Germans aback. Suddenly, they see
themselves being edged towards pariah status. [...]
The German dismay about Mr Rumsfeld is partly influenced by the fact that he
is the one senior member of the Bush Administration with German roots.
[ This is really bizarre. It looks as if British journalists think we are
obsessed with blood and soil here, js]
 In 1972 the Chicago-born politician was appointed Nato Ambassador to
Brussels, and during his posting undertook some research into his European
roots. He discovered that his great-grandfather emigrated to America from
the north German village of Sudwehye.
Mr Rumsfeld visited his family and struck up friendly relations. This time,
the family is not so sure. "He is just a defence minister for us now,"
Margarete Rumsfeld, 85, a cousin, said. "He should make damn sure not to
start a war."
Gunter Beckstein, the Bavarian Interior Minister, said that police would be
on the lookout for troublemakers at the demonstration. "We will not wait
until someone breaks a window. We will move in fast and hard," he said.
Frontier police have already started picking up potential protesters at the
railway station and stopping cars on the approach to Munich. Many of the
protesters see Munich as a pit-stop between the antiglobalisation protests
in Davos and the planned anti-war rally in Berlin on February 15.

Full:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-568792,00.html







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