Neocon Merkel snatches 2nd term in Germany

Thanks to Bin Laden fake tape?

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday won the center-right majority that eluded her four years ago — nudging Europe's biggest economic power to the right as it claws its way out of a deep recession.

Voters sent the nation's main left-wing party, the Social Democrats of Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, into opposition after 11 years as part of the government. It was the party's worst parliamentary election result since World War II.

"There is no talking around it: this is a bitter defeat," a subdued Steinmeier said, vowing to lead a strong opposition. More

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