Although I am still thinking (now more hope than reason?) that the French and the Germans are just play-acting, I admit that it is looking more and more like their unilateralism is for real. They are making a big mistake, many unpleasant consequences will follow for the U.N., for the EU, and for NATO. Here is the speech that Senator John McCain gave in Munich on Feb 8th (from NRO) that is very much worth reading. In the meantime there are problems in Old Germany. Schroeder is in trouble politically, feuding with his foreign minister, Fischer, over the leaks about the French-German plan. Now there are calls for Schroeder’s resignation. There are many odd complications to the Germans’ problems, not the least of which is that Fischer (a Green) seems to be more hawkish than Schroeder (a Social Democrat). This lengthy piece from The New Republic from 2001 about Fischer and Kosovo may be worth re-reading. The ex-radical (and terrorist?) Fischer might be on his way toward becoming the next Chancellor of Germany as he keeps moving to the right of Schroeder. And Steven Den Beste’s thoughts on why the Germans are acting as they are is worth reading.