U.S. Not Expecting German Troops

Berlin opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, which was waged without UN approval, and has been lobbying ever since for the United Nations to return to the fore and be given a central role in rebuilding.

Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has always opposed sending troops to Iraq but has repeatedly reaffirmed that German troops will continue to play a prominent role in the war against terrorism and international peacekeeping missions.

Germany, after the United States, has the greatest number of troops deployed abroad in peacekeeping operations and in the Horn of Africa as part of the international war on terror.

Berlin has also been careful to try to repair the damage done to its relations with Washington when it opposed the U.S.-led war.

"Germany is contributing in many other ways," Powell acknowledged "in Afghanistan and in other parts of the world as well."

He also said that Washington had never declared the United Nations irrelevant and that the organization has to play a "vital role" in Iraq.