I’m no fan of the SPD, but to be fair, we Americans won’t even repeal the Jones Act, a law meant to protect a moribund, almost nonexistent, merchant marine, to wean ourselves off Russian oil. And the Germans are much more dependent on Russian energy imports. Because letting Filipino, Panamanian, and Greek ships transport petroleum between American ports is going to destroy our economy? It is truly ridiculous.
The German Chancellor's hesitant stance on the issue of supplying so-called heavy weapons had good reasons. After all, it is not only questions of the country's energy supply that are at stake. Rather, it is fundamentally a question of the dangers associated with any prolongation of the war. What is currently at stake is nothing less than the need to prevent a nuclear war in Europe. NATO's strategic planning games have been calculating and playing with the use of such weapons for a long time.
The Ostpolitik pursued by Willy Brandt, which culminated in the ratification of the Warsaw and Moscow Treaties, made possible a peaceful unification of the two post-war German states. There is no question that the relationship of the Federal Republic of Germany to the signatory powers of the 2+4 Agreement includes bilateral consequences also vis-à-vis the successor state of the USSR. The West German post-war state FRG had every reason to be grateful to the USA for its help in the economic and moral reconstruction of the country. The specific relationship of the GDR to the Soviet Union need not be discussed here. But it goes without saying that the reunified Germany endeavoured to promote partnership relations not only in the West but also in the East. This also explains the reticence of German governments since 1990 on the question of enlarging NATO to include the countries of the Eastern military alliance. In view of its history, Germany really has every reason to show a high degree of self-commitment towards Russia. That Germany should wage war against Russia again is, if one has not fallen prey to historical oblivion, a truly unbearable idea. The delivery of tanks and cannons, and the training of Ukrainian soldiers on this equipment in Germany, makes Germany, nolens volens, a party to the war. That the German Social Democracy has meanwhile taken such a path is unforgivable. Nor can their approval of the parliamentary resolution that then followed be excused by the fact that only it could have saved the Scholz government from a motion of no confidence. At the moment, it seems, the parliamentary majority in the German Bundestag is divided into drivers and driven. The drivers want a change of government. Behind closed doors, the coalition leaders of the bellicose parties are already haggling over the distribution of offices and posts in a future CDU government.
They will quickly agree on where the journey should go. Because they know who the enemy is and where he stands. The spectacle is already in full swing. It is obviously an updated version of "Die letzten Tage der Menschheit". This play by Karl Kraus tells us that there is no greater human shame than waging war. Those who verbally fuel the build-up to war, and in the process brush aside emerging moral concerns with pusillanimous arguments, have every reason to be ashamed of themselves.
And the US has long had a Saudi Arabian problem. The need for oil and gas corrupts and threatens the planet.
I’m no fan of the SPD, but to be fair, we Americans won’t even repeal the Jones Act, a law meant to protect a moribund, almost nonexistent, merchant marine, to wean ourselves off Russian oil. And the Germans are much more dependent on Russian energy imports. Because letting Filipino, Panamanian, and Greek ships transport petroleum between American ports is going to destroy our economy? It is truly ridiculous.
The German Chancellor's hesitant stance on the issue of supplying so-called heavy weapons had good reasons. After all, it is not only questions of the country's energy supply that are at stake. Rather, it is fundamentally a question of the dangers associated with any prolongation of the war. What is currently at stake is nothing less than the need to prevent a nuclear war in Europe. NATO's strategic planning games have been calculating and playing with the use of such weapons for a long time.
The Ostpolitik pursued by Willy Brandt, which culminated in the ratification of the Warsaw and Moscow Treaties, made possible a peaceful unification of the two post-war German states. There is no question that the relationship of the Federal Republic of Germany to the signatory powers of the 2+4 Agreement includes bilateral consequences also vis-à-vis the successor state of the USSR. The West German post-war state FRG had every reason to be grateful to the USA for its help in the economic and moral reconstruction of the country. The specific relationship of the GDR to the Soviet Union need not be discussed here. But it goes without saying that the reunified Germany endeavoured to promote partnership relations not only in the West but also in the East. This also explains the reticence of German governments since 1990 on the question of enlarging NATO to include the countries of the Eastern military alliance. In view of its history, Germany really has every reason to show a high degree of self-commitment towards Russia. That Germany should wage war against Russia again is, if one has not fallen prey to historical oblivion, a truly unbearable idea. The delivery of tanks and cannons, and the training of Ukrainian soldiers on this equipment in Germany, makes Germany, nolens volens, a party to the war. That the German Social Democracy has meanwhile taken such a path is unforgivable. Nor can their approval of the parliamentary resolution that then followed be excused by the fact that only it could have saved the Scholz government from a motion of no confidence. At the moment, it seems, the parliamentary majority in the German Bundestag is divided into drivers and driven. The drivers want a change of government. Behind closed doors, the coalition leaders of the bellicose parties are already haggling over the distribution of offices and posts in a future CDU government.
They will quickly agree on where the journey should go. Because they know who the enemy is and where he stands. The spectacle is already in full swing. It is obviously an updated version of "Die letzten Tage der Menschheit". This play by Karl Kraus tells us that there is no greater human shame than waging war. Those who verbally fuel the build-up to war, and in the process brush aside emerging moral concerns with pusillanimous arguments, have every reason to be ashamed of themselves.