I like this song for all its cheeziness, and I'm going to engage in a little interpretation.
I think the difference in the description of the ministers is even more than m_turner lets on. In the English, "99 ministers meet" to "worry worry, super scurry". Then, "This is what we've waited for. This is it, boys, this is war." So how do we describe these ministers? Well, clearly they're very much put upon. But they're also enthusiastic to play the big boys' game. Which is a nasty fault, but one so stereotypical of politicians that you can almost forgive it.
So how do things go in the German? We're introduced to the "99 Kriegsminister", and immediately it's "Streichholz und Benzinkanister" -- matches and gascans. The ministers "hielten sich für schlaue Leute", which I would translate as "thought they were so clever". The German allows for an ironic interpretation of "they mistook themselves for clever people" and I think that's the sense that belongs. The ministers "witterten schon fette Beute" -- already smelled the fat (or rich, or greasy) loot, the spoils of war. And yes, Beute is a distant relative to "booty". The last statement about the ministers: "Riefen 'Krieg!' und wollten Macht" -- they shouted "war!" and they wanted power. So, these are real warmongers then.
I think on the whole the German is more effective, then -- besides the fact that it just sounds better, which is worth something, it has much more effectively negative portrayal of the war ministers, and the description of the aftermath -- arguably more poetic in the English -- is more direct in the German. And for a condemnation of war, I think that's just right.