Reuters North American News Service, October 26th, 2007
HAMBURG, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Former German Chancellor Gerhard
Schroeder, who clashed with George W. Bush over the Iraq war,
accused the U.S. president on Friday of "careless ranting" about
a possible World War Three.
In a speech to his Social Democratic party, Schroeder
praised SPD Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier for his
efforts to resolve a dispute over Iran's nuclear programme by
keeping all sides involved, then took an indirect swipe at Bush.
"(Steinmeier) is keeping all the parties involved and that
will help ensure there's no World War Three, about which there
has once again been some careless ranting," Schroeder said to
applause from the party congress. Now a business executive, he
has no formal role in the party but is still influential.
On Oct. 17, Bush warned that a nuclear-armed Iran could lead
to World War Three as he tried to shore up international
opposition to Tehran amid Russian scepticism over its nuclear
ambitions.
A day earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has
resisted Western pressure to toughen his stance over Iran's
nuclear programme, made clear on a visit to Tehran that Russia
would not accept any military action against Iran.
"We've got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants
to destroy Israel," Bush said. "So I've told people that, if
you're interested in avoiding World War Three, it seems like you
ought to be interested in preventing them from having the
knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
Schroeder, 63, was re-elected in 2002 after thanks to his
opposition to war in Iraq and urged his party, now a partner to
Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats in Berlin's
"grand coalition", to stand up for German interests.
