US: The German Foreign Minister, Mr Joschka Fischer, arrives in Washington this morning in a bid to repair trans-Atlantic relations and for once it is the Americans who are hoping the Germans don't mention the war, writes Derek Scally Berlin
With President Bush under pressure over the justification for the Iraq war and its consequences, the White House hopes that Mr Fischer, one of the war's most outspoken opponents, will not be drawn into the domestic dispute during his four-day visit.
Instead, they hope to make progress on the possibility of sending German troops to Iraq despite Berlin's claims that its troops are too thinly spread as it is in Afghanistan and the Balkans.
"They won't confront Fischer directly with demands," said Mr Bob Livingston, of the Institute for Contemporary German Studies in Washington, on German television. "The Germans would be overstretched and they know that in the Pentagon."
Mr Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, last week called for more countries, including Germany, to help in Iraq by sending troops.
The US Senate has called on the White House to seek NATO help in policing Iraq where 31 US soldiers have been killed since the end of the war.
German relations with Washington reached rock bottom last year after Chancellor Gerhard Schröder won the September election by refusing to participate in the war without a UN mandate.
Mr Fischer is the fifth German minister to visit Washington since the falling out.
Mr Fischer has a meeting planned with the US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, and Security Adviser Ms Condoleezza Rice. But it is his scheduled meeting with Mr Dick Cheney, the US Vice-President, which could make or break the trip.
Unnamed sources told a German Sunday newspaper Berlin might be able to station troops in Iraq if it reduced its troop commitment in the Balkans. According to the newspaper, Berlin and Washington, and even France, are seeking a "face-saving solution".
It remains to be seen whether Mr Fischer will repeat his loud appeals for a more central UN role in post-war Iraq in exchange for Germany's assistance.
The German Foreign Minister has a tight diplomatic line to walk and must keep his own Green Party members happy.
Mr Reinhard Bütikofer, the party's co-leader, says it is in Germany's interest to "strengthen the practical co-operation with the USA".
However, Mr Christian Ströbele, a maverick from the party's anti-war faction, has called for a more up-front approach. "If everything about the war emerges to have been made up, then Joschka should address the matter."
Unless Mr Fischer is able to strike a compromise on German troops in Iraq his goodwill mission could turn into what one magazine has called "mission impossible".