Dialog International

Westerwelle:„aber es ist Deutschland hier."

In his first press conference following the historic victory of his Free Democrats party (FDP) Guido Westerwelle raised some eyebrows in this exchange with a journalist from the BBC:

Woher dieser Kleinmut kommt, ist leicht ausgemacht. Westerwelle gehört zu den deutschen Politikern, die immer noch am Koordinatenkreuz der alten Bundesrepublik tragen: Du warst entweder für 1968, oder dagegen. Mit 1968 assoziiert der FDP-Vorsitzende eine devote, schuldbewusste Haltung gegenüber dem Ausland. Westerwelle war von frühesten „Juli“-Tagen an gegen 1968. Eine Ampel mit den Grünen ist ihm schon deshalb physisch unmöglich, weil er einen echten Hass auf Leute wie Fischer oder Trittin hegt, einen irrationalen Hass, der seiner Partei so manche Möglichkeiten verbaut. (The origins of this pettiness is easy to ascertain. Westerwell is one of those German politicians who has the rigid mentality of the old West Germany. Either you were for 1968 or against it. THe chairman of the FDP associates 1968 with a guilt-ridden approach to the outside world.  Westerwelle was vehemently against 1968 early on.  Any coalition with the Green Pary is physically impossible for him because he harbors an irrational hatred against people like Fischer or Trittin; this mentality has deprived his party of many opportunities.) 

Hopefully Westerwelle can grow into the role.  Otherwise Germany is in for a long and rocky four years on the international stage. 

Anschluss Redux?

After the United Nations rejected a Libyan motion to dismember Switzerland, which Gaddafi had called "a world mafia and not a state", blogger Robert Farley muses on which other nations should be abolished:

"Discuss: What countries should be abolished? I say Austria; it's just like another little Germany all tucked away down there, and really, does the world need two Germanys?"

I personally am not in favor of an Anschluss.  If I had to pick a country to abolish I would probably choose Belgium.  However, Farley has powerful allies in Austria's two greatest postwar writers: Thomas Bernhard and Elfriede Jelinek. 

Jelinek's extreme contempt for her native country is well-known.  For her, Jörg Haider and Josef Fritzl epitomize Austria. “The beauty of Austria – under which the corpses of the Nazi period are buried – has covered up much of its history,” says Jelinek.

But Jelinek's diatribes against Austria pale in comparison to those of Thomas Bernhard, the greatest Austria-hater of all time.  Here is Bernhard on his native city of Salzburg:

Salzburg is a deceitful facade, a monument to the world's mendacity, behind which creativity and the creative artist are doomed to atrophy, disintegration and death. The city of my fathers is in reality a terminal disease that its inhabitants contract through heredity or contamination, and if they do not escape at the decisive moment they sooner or later under all these dreadful circumstances either kill themselves suddenly or they perish slowly and wretchedly directly or indirectly,on this at bottom thoroughly and murderously misanthropic architectonic-archdiocesal-feebleminded-nationalsocialist-catholic soil. For anyone who knows the city and its dwellers Salzburg is superficially beautiful, but beneath the surface it is in fact a loathesome cemetery of dreams and desires.

Angela Merkel on President Obama's Germany Visit

In recent weeks there has been a great deal of ink spilled about a supposed "rift" between the Obama administration and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The blog Atlantic Review has several posts about this, and The New York Times had a hand-wringing article last week:

A rift has quietly opened up between Germany and the United States, marked by official statements of harmony and private grumbling. It is not an outright crisis in relations, but there are underlying tensions and disagreements on matters ranging from the global economic crisis to the future of inmates held at Guantánamo Bay.

But on the eve of President Obama's historic visit to Dresden and Buchenwald Chancellor Merkel published an op/ed piece in the Sächsische Zeitung which put these rumors of a rift in the proper context.  The piece was not picked up by the international press, but I translated it for Watching America.

Es bleibt unvergessen, welche Opfer erbracht wurden, damit Deutschland und weite Teile Europas vom Nationalsozialismus befreit werden konnten. Und Deutschland hätte auch seine Einheit in Frieden und Freiheit nicht wiedererlangt, hätten die Amerikaner in den Zeiten von Mauer und Stacheldraht nicht entschlossen auf der Seite der Freiheit gestanden. (We can never forget the sacrifices made so that Germany and most of Europe could be liberated from national socialism. And Germany never would have been peacefully reunited in freedom, if Americans hadn’t stood on the side of freedom during the long period of the wall and barbed wire.)

Read my translation of the entire piece by the Chancellor at Watching America.

Germany to Accept Guantanamo Detainees

In a goodwill gesture to the incoming Obama administration, the German government is considering taking in a number of the detainees held at the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba:

Germany is considering taking some detainees and will have “intensive discussions” about what to do with prisoners considered innocent who cannot return to their home countries, German government spokesman Thomas Steg said today.

The announcement by Germany, coming two weeks after Portugal said it “will be available” to take some Guantanamo detainees, may make it easier for Obama to fulfill his campaign pledge to shut the prison, which has been the object of international condemnation and allegations of prisoner abuse.

“There will be prisoners who will neither want to remain in the U.S. nor will be able to return home,” Steg told reporters in Berlin. He said the considerations were humanitarian, as a way to ease the closure of the six-year-old prison should the issue of repatriation become a legal barrier.

Portugal’s Dec. 10 offer came in a letter from Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado that urged members of the European Union to help resettle Guantanamo detainees who cannot be returned to their homelands.

This move, if approved, would be a good gesture by Germany and could signal a new beginning for transatlantic relations. Guantanamo is an abomination and a symbol forthe lawlessness of the Bush era. President-elect Obama has vowed to shut the facility as one of his first actions as president, so it is imperative that he follow through on this. This support by Germany will help him to close one of the darkest chapters of recent American history.  But the move can also be seen as an atonement for Germany's complicity in the prisoner abuse at the camp.  From 2002 until 2006 the Turkish-German Murat Kurnaz was held in Guantanamo. Early on, US intelligence officials realized Kurnaz's innocence, but the German authorities refused his repatriation. In fact, as Kurnaz points out in his book, Five Years of My Life, the German government sent over special interrogaters who beat him, instead of securiing his release.

Leading the initiative to take in the Guantanamo detaines is German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.  There is a certain logic to this, since it was Steinmeier who blocked Kurtnaz's early release back to his German homeland.  As Bernhard Docke, the German attorney for Murat Kurnaz,  told Der Spiegel today:"Aber der Himmel freut sich über einen reuigen Sünder mehr als über 99 Gerechte." (Heavan rejoices more for one repentent sinner than for 99 righteous ones.)

Germany's Troop Surge

Germany's defense minister Franz Josef Jung announced his intention to deploy an additional 1,000 troops to Afghanistan by early October, bowing to NATO pressure. This would increase German troop levels to 4,500 at a time when 3/4 of all Germans oppose German military presence in that troubled country, according to recent polls. The surge us unlikely to appease the United States, since the additional forces will remain in the relatively peaceful north of Afghanistan, while the US and Canada are facing a growing threat from the Taliban in the south. It was up to German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier to make the case for the surge in front of the Bundestag. Addressing parliament, Steinmeier said there had been "significant strides" in Afghanistan's development since the Taliban were driven out in 2001 "which one can be a wee bit proud of."  Steinmeier's problem is that there are not many people in Germany or elsewhere that believe that there have been "significant strides". 

The reaction in the German press to the announced surge has been rather muted, more like resigned disappointment that Germany is being dragged into a quagmire. Typical was this editorial by  Martin Rücker in the Wiesbadener Kurier with the subtitle  "Aufstockung der Bundeswehr-Truppe in Afghanistan ändert wenig an der schlechten Lage" ("A surge of German troops in Afghanistan will do little to change the bad situation there."):

Der Afghanistan-Experte (Conrad Schetter) am Zentrum für Entwicklungsforschung der Universität Bonn erklärte: "Für die Handlungsfähigkeit der Bundeswehr ist die Aufstockung wichtig. Aber der Schwund an Sicherheit in den vergangenen Jahren war dramatisch - da sind 1000 Soldaten mehr nur ein Tropfen auf den heißen Stein." Bei Feldforschungen habe Schetters Institut eine zunehmend feindselige Stimmung in der afghanischen Bevölkerung auch gegenüber den Deutschen festgestellt: "Ausländer werden verstärkt als Besatzer und nicht mehr als Befreier wahrgenommen." (Conrad Schetter, the Afghanistan expert at the Center for Development Studies at the University of Bonn said: "The surge is important for enhancing the capabilities of the army.  But the denigration of security in the last few years has been dramatic - 1,000 more troops are just a drop in the bucket."  Surveys on the ground conducted by Schetter's institute show that there is growing hostility towards the German troops by the Afghan population. "Increasingly, foreigners are seen as occupiers and no longer as liberators.")

Many military analysts believe that it would take over 350,000 troops to achieve real security in Afghanistan, and there is zero will among the NATO partners to commit to anywhere near that level, and the US remains stuck in Iraq.

The big winner here will be the Left Party (Die LINKE), which has been consistent in calling for German troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. This was recognized by Green Party leader Claudia Roth, who said in an interview that the surge was "grist for the populists' mill", where "populist" is code for the hated Left Party.

 

A Nation of Tax Cheats

A huge tax scandal is unfolding in Germany, and it is having political consequences.  It seems that rich Germans would rather put their money in secret bank accounts in Liechtenstein than pay the taxes they owe under German tax laws.  The scandal is affecting some of Germany's best-known managers:

It began last week with the arrest of a leading German executive on suspicion of tax evasion. Now Germany is enthralled by a tale of unbridled greed that offers as much drama as any Hollywood thriller could — but with possibly far greater political consequences. Prosecutors have said that further probes are under way into the tax affairs of hundreds of individuals suspected of funneling millions of euros into anonymous bank accounts in Liechtenstein under the radar of German tax authorities. The targets are  thought to include some of Germany's wealthiest and most prominent citizens.

Everyone is outraged: this is further evidence of the sad state of affairs in the Banana Republic of Germany. Now it appears that even representatives in the Bundestag may be involved in tax evasion; the general outrage is helping the politcal fortunes of the LEFT party.  A climate of class warfare and general animosity towards the wealthy now pervades Germany.

On the other hand, cheating on taxes is an equal opportunity activity in Germany: everybody does it:

"So wird es von drei Vierteln aller Deutschen praktiziert und empfunden. Die meisten haben ja einen offiziellen Job und arbeiten dann eben nach Feierabend oder am Wochenende schwarz. Weil sie in ihrem offiziellen Job Steuern zahlen, haben sie kein Unrechtsbewusstsein. Wenn dann noch so prominente Fälle wie Zumwinkel bekannt werden, denken sie sich: Jetzt erst recht, wenn nicht mal der Steuern zahlt."

Schwarzarbeiten - or working of the books- loses more revenue for the German government than the secret accounts of the wealthy.

Why this refusal to pay taxes in Germany? And what can be done about it?  The SPD and its allies on the left are calling for harsher punishment - with stiff prison sentences for tax evaders.  Others say the tax rates are too high and tax reform is desperately needed.  Does the widespread dishonesty reflect a legitimation crises for the German government?

Or is tax avoidance simply wired into human behavior?  It is estimated that the United States loses approx. $300 billion each year in revenues because its citizens don't pay what they owe in taxes. The Bush administration has bankrupted the nation by granting generous tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans, so that the US now has the most regressive tax system among the wealthiest nations.  But this generosity towards rich Americans is evidently not enough: wealthy Americans have also been hiding their assets in Liechtenstein banks.

Combat Troops to Afghanistan? Nein, Danke!

Earlier in the week US secretary of defense Robert Gates sent a "stern" letter to his German counterpart requesting more German troops for the NATO mission in Afghanistan.  Berlin gave its answer yesterday:

BERLIN, Feb. 1 -- Germany on Friday rejected a formal request from the United States to send forces to war zones in southern Afghanistan, the latest setback to the NATO alliance as it tries to scrape together enough troops to battle resurgent Taliban forces and stabilize the country.

Defense Minister Franz-Josef Jung said his country's contingent of 3,200 soldiers would stay put in the northern provinces, where they patrol some of the most secure areas of Afghanistan. "That will have to continue to be our focus," Jung said to reporters.

NATO commanders have said they need to add 7,500 troops to the 40,000-member force that NATO oversees in Afghanistan. But there have been few countries willing to comply. Meanwhile, NATO has been struggling to persuade some members not to worsen matters by pulling out.

Joerg over at the Atlantic Review is alarmed, and sees this as a crisis for NATO's future. I'm not so sure. The NATO mission in Afghanistan is extremely unpopular in Germany.  The polls I've seen indicate that only 29% of Germans support the mission.  Why would they want to double it at this time, when Afghanistan is increasingly seen as a failed state? Even the US Afghan Study Group, in its new report (pdf)  admits the entire strategy in Afghanistan was flawed. Unfortunately, the Study Group recommends basically doubling down ("increasing the footprint") in Afghanistan - i.e. continuing the flawed strategy with more resources - as the way forward.

In its final days, the Bush administration is peddling furiously to salvage its "legacy" and pin its failures on others.  NATO is convenient scapegoat for the failure in Afghanistan. Jung did the right thing in telling Secretary Gates to f**k off that Germany would not agree to his request.

Forget America

Check out this video (accessed only from the Web site of Die Zeit) of journalist Jens Jessen exhorting viewers to Forget America (Vergesst Amerika!).

For non-German speakers, Jessen explains that the United States is in a weakened state thanks to broad array of problems - including the Iraq War fiasco - and so can no longer be considered as a model for Germany.  But America's woes have a silver lining for Germans, since now they can address problems in a way that makes sense within a European, or specifically German context without constantly glancing across the Atlantic at Big Brother.  Long Live Old Europe/ Es lebe das Alte Europa!

What is disconcerting about this video, however, is the painting of Vladimir Nicolai Lenin in the background (visible above to the right of Jessen).  What is Jessen trying to say with this image? 

Losing Heart in Afghanistan

Over at the Atlantic Review blog Joerg has started an interesting debate about Germany's  - and NATO's - mission in Afghanistan. There is a growing sentiment among the NATO participants that the peace-keeping and nation-building task is now undermined by the heavy-handed tactics of the US military, which have caused scores of civilian deaths in the country.  Things in Germany came to a head over the weekend when a suicide bomber killed three German soldiers.  Now the Afghanistan mission is exposing a rift in the governing CDU/SPD coalition in Berlin:

"The German soldiers are being identified with the way the US led the war," Annen said in an interview. "In my opinion, the mandate for Operation Enduring Freedom should not be extended."Trittin, whose Greens were in office with the Social Democrats when they made the decision in 2001 to send German troops to the American mission, said that the actions of US special forces were leading to the deaths of civilians and that German participation should be ended.Germany has the third-largest force serving in Afghanistan, after the United States and Britain

The opposition Left Party has gone even further, calling for the immediate withdrawal of all German troops from Afghanistan.  The Left Party has been derided as reckless and extremist, but it is simply giving voice to what the overwhelming majority of Germans think:

BERLIN, May 23 (Reuters) - Nearly two thirds of Germans want their troops to withdraw from Afghanistan after three German peacekeeping soldiers were killed over the weekend, a poll published on Wednesday showed. Carried out on Monday by the Forsa polling agency for weekly Stern magazine, the poll showed 63 percent of respondents believe Germany's Bundeswehr armed forces should withdraw from Afghanistan compared to 35 percent in favour of remaining.

The situation in Germany is similar in some respects to the rejection of the Iraq War in the United States.  Every poll shows that the overwhelming majority of Americans want US troops to be withdrawn sooner rather than later, even as the Bush adminisitration with the backing of the  Republican Party escalates the war with a surge of additional tens of thousands of troops. The difference is, Germans have come to the desire to withdraw from Afghanistan after losing only 21 troops, while it took the deaths of nearly 3,500 troops for Americans to wake to the folly of the Iraq misadventure. 

Putinizing Democracy

"What is pure democracy?" asked Vladimir Putin at the joint press conference with Chancellor Angela Merkel in Russia yesterday. "It is a question of ... whether you want to see the glass half full or half empty." Putin was lashing back at Merkel's criticism of Putin's crackdown on protesters in his country:

"Early on Friday, leaders of the Other Russia coalition of opposition - Garry Kasparov and Eduard Limonov - and right advocate Lev Ponomarev were prevented from leaving Moscow for Samara to join the Dissenters March, which is timed to the summit of Russia and Europe there. According to some sources, the opposition chiefs weren’t allowed to set aboard of plane, as police doubted validity of their tickets."

The other day I wrote about the efforts of the German police to disrupt the protests planned at the G-8 Summit in Heiligendamm.  I ended the post with this: "I can only laugh when Washington or Berlin express outrage at how Vladimir Putin has stifled dissent in Moscow." Well now it is Putin himself who is laughing at Merkel by pointing out how protesters in Germany are being are being taken into "preventive custody".

More about this in Telepolis:

Bundeskanzlerin Merkel kam durch den Gegenangriff Putins auf Estland, aber auch auf die Praxis in Deutschland, offensichtlich ein wenig aus dem Tritt und konnte nicht recht erläutern, was der Unterschied zwischen der Haltung gegenüber Demonstranten in Deutschland und Russland ist.

Putin will be watching with great satisfaction at the Summit how the protesters will be blocked from getting within 2 Kilometers of Heiligendam, how they will be shepherded into makeship prison camps for the duration of the Summit. Then he can listen to his good friend President Bush talk about "enhanced interrogation techniques" at the prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the massive illegal surveillance progam on American citizens.

Dear Vladimir, you are wrong.  The glass of democracy is neither half-full nor half-empty. It has been completely empty for a long time.