Denmark´s prime minister Anders Fogh-Rasmussen is reported to be the new NATO Secretary General.
Fogh Rasmussen was one of George W Bush´s most reliable allies in Europe, he strongly supported the invasion of Iraq, lied about weapons of mass destruction - and doesn´t regret anything.
He has also headed one of the most islam-critical government in Europe.
1)Iraq and lies about weapons of mass destruction
In a comment to the media Anders Fogh Rasmussen stated as one of the reasons to support a military intervention: "Iraq has WMDs. It is not something we think, it is something we know. Iraq has itself admitted that it has had mustard gas, nerve gas, anthrax, but Saddam won't disclose. He won't tell us where and how these weapons have been destroyed. We know this from the UN inspectors, so there is no doubt in my mind."
The Danish Defence Intelligence Service (FE) had produced a classified report stating that it had no absolute proof of WMDs in Iraq. Rasmussen had access to this report and used it in other parts of his decision making. This was leaked to the press.
A former FE analyst, Major Frank Grevil, was sentenced to four months in prison for leaking the information. Grevil argues that Rasmussen has either lied about or misunderstood the content of the secret reports in his presentations.
Here an anti-war activist has thrown red paint at him:
During Rasmussen's administrations, Denmark has also deployed troops to Afghanistan, Bosnia and Kosovo.
2)Handing over POWs to the US, by whom they were later tortured.
A danish documentary told the story about this happening in Iraq. Fogh Rasmussen did his uttermost to discredit these journalists. (See video furtherdown: Why AFR is dangerous for Nato)
3) Bush Buddy
Because of his support for the Iraq war, Fogh Rasmussen became one of Bush´s closest allies in Europe. Bush visited Denmark once during his time, and Fogh Rasmussen was later invited to Bush´s ranch in Texas, something rare for a PM for such a small country as Denmark.
Fogh Rasmussen claims he has no regret for the invasion of Iraq and he still expresses great admiration for the Bush/Cheney foreign policy.
4) His party and government.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen has been in politics all his adult life. In 1992 Rasmussen resigned from his post as Minister for Economy and Taxation after a court of inquiry had decided that he had deliberately provided the Folketing with inaccurate and incomplete information.
He is currently the the leader of the party Venstre, and the Prime Minister in a coalition government.
Venstre (Left) is the largest political party in Denmark. Founded with a basis on free market liberalism, it is now a right of centre party. It currently governs in coalition with the Conservative People's Party, with support from the Danish People's Party.
The Danish People's Party's officially regards itself as center-right, but has been accused of being right-wing, populist, or xenophobic by those who oppose it.
Fogh Rasmussen has been a quite divisive figure in Danish/Scandinavian politics, that is normally more than in the USA based on bipartisanship and consensus.
Here is a video that now is presented on youtube to warn against Fogh Rasmussen, but contains an interview that originally was made to warn against re-electing him in Denmark (only part one is relevant):
- The Mohammed caricature and relationship to muslims.
In order to support the present right wing Fogh Rasmussen government the Danish People's Party has insisted on a very strict policy towards immigrants and refugees.
Here is a video addressed to Obama on the Danish People´s Party:
Also some of Fogh Rasmussen´s own party members and ministers have expressed very strong criticism of islam and muslims in Denmark (as well as representatives from left-wing parties).
Fogh Rasmussen has hardly been in the lead of this criticism, but he hasn´t very much reached out to the muslim community in Denmark either, or done much to calm the anti-islam sentiments in his country(The Danish Queen has tried this).
With the Mohammed caricature the criticism of islam in Denmark turned into an international crisis.
Eleven envoys of predominantly Muslim states issued demands that the Danish government condemn the cartoons and requested on October 19, 2005 a meeting with Rasmussen to discuss this. Rasmussen refused this request, saying, "That is not how our democracy works." Subsequently, it has been the subject of an intense debate as to whether Rasmussen made a sound, principled decision or displayed misplaced arrogance when refusing to agree to such a meeting.
As the dispute escalated, Rasmussen was asked to apologise to Muslims on behalf of Denmark. Rasmussen refused this request, saying the government "cannot make apologies on behalf of a Danish newspaper."
While most people will agree with the last statement, many feel Fogh Rasmussen reacted insensitive and little diplomatic to the reactions in the muslim world - which make the same people doubt his ability to deal with international controversies as Nato boss in a wise manner.
But the decision is made, and all we can do is hope for the best. And as we know, in the end, the US decides most everything in Nato anyway.
Sources: Mostly Wikipedia, especially the article about Anders Fogh Rasmussen himself. Other things are common known stuff.
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