German justice minister compares Bush to Hitler

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s justice minister was under fire today for comparing President George Bush’s methods to those of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

With only days before a neck-and-neck general election the opposition conservatives demanded that Schroeder sack the minister who is nicknamed Daeubler-Nasty.

Herta Daeubler-Gmelin thought she was off the record when she told trade unionists that Bush’s desire to wage war on Iraq was not due to oil.

“The Americans have enough oil. Bush wants to distract attention from his domestic problems. This is a popular method. Hitler also used it,” she said

Only after some of the unionists questioned her assertion did Daeubler-Gmelin add: “I did not equate Bush with Hitler.”

But the minister then continued her criticism of Bush and the United States. “The US has a lousy legal system,” said Daeubler-Gmelin said.

She said if current American laws aimed at insider trading had been in force in 1980s when the president worked in the oil sector: “Bush would be sitting in prison today.”

Newspaper Schwaebische Tageblatt said Daeubler-Gmelin had not known a reporter was at the meeting and she later phoned the paper to stress she had not compared Bush to Hitler.

In a statement, the German Justice Ministry described the story as “absurd” and the product of a small-town “local reporter.

Daeubler-Gmelin is known for her sharp tongue and has been nicknamed Daeubler-Nasty in parliament.

Opposition conservatives demanded that Schroeder sack the minister for the comments.

“Those who compare Bush with Hitler and then say he’s a criminal do great damage to Germany,” said Micael Glos, parliamentary leader of the opposition Christian Social Union.

Glos said Daeubler-Gmelin’s comments were the new high point of Schroeder’s anti-American campaign aimed at this Sunday’s German general election.

Schroeder has made opposition to the United States over an Iraq war a central plank of his re-election bid.

Schroeder, who had been trailing, now has a narrow lead over his conservative challenger, Edmund Stoiber, according to four out of Germany’s top five opinion polls.