Chancellor Merkel has said that there will be no shake-up in the ruling coalition even as the CDU/FDP suffered at the voting booth as the German electors have grown tired of the vacillating vixen of Berlin. The German chancellor has wavered on EU BAILOUTS, NUCLEAR ENERGY and even deserted her allies in its ill-conceieved intervention in Libya. So a leader who has not stood fast nor firm is telling Germany that after the election defeat she will stand firm. Now we all ought to be nervous. I hope that Germany will be firmer in honoring its committments to the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) than Merkel has been to adhering to some form of political principles.
Also, it was interesting that President Obama declared victory in the Libyan campaign and handed over control of the operations to NATO. Is France a member of NATO this week? The U.S. and its allies have entered a dangerous period in its intervention in LIBYA. As I wrote just after the Egyptian rebellion, the real game changer will be Syria. The Assad Regime has severely suppressed the incipient demonstrations as expected. Secretary of State Clinton was asked if the U.S. and its allies would intervene to halt the slaughter of Syrians–as it claimed to be doing in Libya–Madam Secretary stated that Syria was not Libya because Bashar Assad had promised visiting U.S. legislators that he was bent on reform. Therefore, the reform-minded Syrian president is not a candidate for the military reprisals.