German Politician: Bush Should Be "Shot"

A German conservative politician on Thursday drew calls for his resignation by saying US President George W. Bush should be "shot" for his handling of Hurricane

Katrina. Andreas Renner, the state minister for social affairs in Baden-Wuerttemberg state, told reporters on Wednesday: "He deserves to be shot," according to a local newspaper published Thursday. It sparked outrage in Germany, where several politicians campaigning for national elections on September 18 have criticized Washington's response to the catastrophe, but none have gone so far. The state chapter of Social Democrats called for Renner's resignation while his own Christian Democrats, who are expected to win the election, also criticized his remarks. Renner said Thursday that he had meant Bush should be "shot down in the political sense. I withdraw what I said with regret." It is not the first time that a politician has landed in hot water over a remark against Bush in the throes of a national election campaign. In 2002, the Social Democrats' federal justice minister Herta Daeubler-Gmelin was forced to quit after she compared the US pesident to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. Schröder sacked her days before the election.