Georgia Crisis Sparks Anti-American Sentiment in Germany

I know George W. Bush is unpopular in Germany (as he is in the US) but I was unprepared for some of the pro-Putin opinions that have been expressed in the German media and especially in the German blogosphere.  There was considerable Schadenfreude on many German fronts that Russia's invasion of Georgian territory was a blow to the foreign policy of the US, and the conflict in Georgia is viewed by some as a proxy war between Russia and the US, with jubilation that Putin has been victorious on all fronts. But the origins of the conflict itself have been pinned on the US:

Die fremde Intervention und militärische Präsenz der USA auf dem europäischen Kontinent durch ein expansionistisches Militärbündnis an der Grenze Russlands bringt Unruhe und sät Konflikte, die Europa destabilisieren. Polen und die baltischen Staaten müssen an die Leine genommen werden, damit sich ihre Russophobie nicht weiter schädigend auf die EU auswirken kann. (The foreign intervention and military presence of the US on the European continent with an expansionist military alliance on the border of Russia has caused unrest and breeds conflicts that destabilize Europe.  Poland and the Baltic States must be brought back into line, so that the Russo-phobes cannot inflict damage on the EU.)

Then Der Spiegel asserted that Washington implicitly gave the green light for Georgia to undertake military operations in South Ossetia:

Die USA unternahmen einiges, um Georgien ihre Unterstützung zuzusichern: Sie schickten Militärberater in den Kaukasus, nahmen mit tausend Mann an einem Manöver teil, betrieben mit Nachdruck die Aufnahme Georgiens in die Nato - und taten laut kund, dass sie die territoriale Einheit des Verbündeten in der Auseinandersetzung um die separatistischen Enklaven Abchasien und Südossetien unterstützten, ohne freilich ihre Bereitschaft zu zeigen, selbst militärisch einzugreifen. (The US did several things to assure Georgia of its support: it sent military advisors into the Caucasus, participated in military maneuvers with 1,00 troops, insisted on Georgia's inclusion in NATO, and proclaimed loudly that it supported the territorial integrity of its partner with respect to the conflicts in South Ossetia and Abchasia, even though it didn't expressly signal it was ready to intervene militarily.)

So blogs like Duckhome loudly proclaimed that the US wants war with Russia; that was the plan all along:

Tatsächlich wollte Bush diesen Krieg und er wird ihn ausbauen. Dieser Krieg ist gut für Bush. Er schafft Arbeitsplätze in der Waffenindustrie, bringt Europa in neue Abhängigkeiten und vor allem verschleiert er die Probleme die Bush der USA und der Weltwirtschaft bereitet hat. (Bush in fact welcomed this war and he will expand it.  This war is good for Bush.  It creates jobs in the armaments industry, forces Europe into a position of dependency and above all obscures the problems that Bush has created for the US and the world economy.)

And a commenter agrees that, comparing Russia and the US,  "the Americans are the worse epidemic"("die Ami's (sind) die schlimmere Epidemie").

In his blog NachDenkSeiten Albrecht Mueller expresses his fear that the leadership of the German Social Democrats is in the pocket of the US.  The party is missing a huge chance by not rejecting the US "policy of confrontation":

Der Krieg zwischen Georgien und Russland hat nämlich gezeigt, dass wir uns unter Anleitung der USA und einiger Nachbarn Russlands in neue Gefahren begeben. Es geht darum, uns davor zu bewahren, in eine neue Konfrontation mit den „Russen“ und ins Kriegsrisiko gezogen zu werden. (The war between Georgia and Russia has shown that the US and a few neighboring countries to Russian have put us in new danger. We must do everything not to be drawn into a new confrontation with the Russians and the new risks of war.)

In fact, notwithstanding the bellicose noises coming from the neocons and the McCain campaign, the response of the US has been rather measured; military options have been vocally rejected by the Secretary of Defense and others in the Bush administration. Perhaps this is one of the few benefits of having our military capabilities bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It will be interesting to see if the pro-Russia, pro-Putin and anti-American opinion in Germany persists as Russian troops expand their occupation of Georgia and news of Russian atrocities against the population of Georgia leaks out.

UDATE: DerSpiegelfechter: US progressive media "incredibly naive" ( herzergreifend naiv) for not celebrating Putin's invasion of Georgia.

 

Comments

[antonymous]

Georgia is a good example of Anglo-Fascism in action. Single-party "democracy", coloured shirt revolution, a drug-addled "president" making offensive war and ethnic cleansing.

You have some nerve to complain about "anti-americanism", really. Such wars are planned long ahead. The fascists even broke the Olympic peace, your country should have been kicked out in Beijing.

[Dickie]

I´m so relieved that Russia is not a good example of "(...) Fascism in action. Single-party "democracy", coloured shirt revolution, a drug-addled "president" making offensive war and ethnic cleansing."

How about a nice cup of plutonium tea to celebrate the new Berlin-Moscow Axis?

[Wintermute]

I have to admit, that I was annoyed by the media's tendency to support either side straight ahead. So far I feel like I miss the most important facts to even decide what happened: Both sides state that the other side committed crimes against humanity. I can't state whether either side is lying or saying the truth. Likewise, I don't know if the Georgians really knew about an impending Russian invasion or whether they decided to risk an all-out war with Russia without properly informing their western allies...

Without such information I just feel incapable of clearly chosing one side over the other. And I'm somewhat shocked how easily some parts of the media seemed to be able to discern right from wrong, truth from lie and fact from fiction in this conflict (either fully supporting Russia or fully supporting Georgia).

I still feel that our world is not as bi-polar as its made out to be by some analysts of this conflict.