Schroeder, whose father was killed in the war when he was an infant, heads a country that learned different lessons from Hitler's genocidal expansionism. After decades on the international sidelines, Germany in recent years gradually has become more active. German troops serve in NATO units in Bosnia and the Luftwaffe is flying over Yugoslavia, its first combat role since the war. Still, Germans are virtually unanimous against sending infantrymen into battle. From the pacifist Green Party, Schroeder's coalition partner, to the right-wing Conservative Democratic Union, every political party opposes a ground war.
Ground forces are just too up close and personal.
Elections for the European Parliament on June 13 could further complicate Schroeder's situation. The Greens, his coalition partners, are badly split over the war and could suffer damaging losses if members of the party's pacifist wing defect. In a worst case, the Greens could pull down the government over the war, though that is still regarded as unlikely. It has held together despite the pressures. Blair and Schroeder are often regarded as political kindred spirits.