September 19; 2001: Chancellor Gerhard Schroder ruled...

September 19; 2001: Chancellor Gerhard Schroder ruled out any "adventures", amid reports that America was asking for Germany's participation in a daring mission to free eight Western aid workers imprisoned in Afghanistan.
The respected Frankfurter Allgemeine, citing intelligence sources, reported that America was counting on the shadowy German elite force KSK for a raid on Kabul. The paper said up to 300 KSK men would be part of a multinational force sent in to free the eight Western workers of Shelter Now International.
The aid workers, Americans, Australians and four Germans, were put on trial in August, charged with attempting to convert Muslims to Christianity. The Taliban said they face the death sentence.
Schroder's stark caveat, spelt out at a special parliamentary session in Berlin, indicated growing alarm at some of the military options now being considered in Washington. German pledges of "unlimited support" are being hurriedly toned down.
"What we as Europeans and Germans aim for is unreserved solidarity with the United States in all necessary measures," the Chancellor said. "Germany is ready to take risks, even military ones, but isn't prepared for adventures."
The Chancellor's reservations were a setback to British Prime Minister Tony Blair's attempts to build an international coalition of support for American military action [following the September 11 attacks on the US]. They were expressed as Blair travelled to meet Chancellor Schroder in Berlin. The Prime Minister insisted there was a "real chance" that the coalition against terrorism would grow to include nations in all continents, including Arab nationals, people of all faiths and all democratic political persuasions. He predicted that terrorist groups "will find themselves very isolated indeed".