The editors of Der Spiegel usually use their platform to attack the United States and praise Vladimir Putin. But Spiegel columnist Sibylle Berg goes out on a limb and praises the United States for taking part in the search and rescue of the missing 275 schoolgirls in Nigeria.
First she note how little attention the mass abduction received in the Western media:
Während die westliche Welt den Konflikt in der Ukraine im Netz diskutiert, sind die von Idioten entführten Mädchen in Nigeria immer noch entführt. Neue Opfer sind dazugekommen, aber wie alle Aktionen abartiger Dumpfköpfe, die sich gegen Frauen wenden - Zwangsverheiratung von Kindern, Vergewaltigung, Verstümmelung -, ist das kein brennendes Thema. Für keinen.
(While there has been lively discussion on the Web about the crisis in the Ukraine, the girls in Nigeria who were abducted by idiots remain abducted. There are more victims now. But, as with all such actions carried out by disgusting imbeciles against women - forced marriage of children, rape, mutiliation - nobody really cares.)
But someone did care. And Sibylle Berg knows in advance that she will be raked over hot coals for pointing it out:
Nun hat sich also der von uns überlegeneren Europäern nicht gemochte Barack Obama entschlossen, Hilfe nach Nigeria zu entsenden. Lange genug hat es gedauert, aber auch jetzt bin ich sicher, dass irgendwelchen Spacken ein Grund gegen sein Eingreifen einfallen wird. Gibt es Öl in Nigeria?
(Now Barack Obama, despised by us morally superior Europeans, has decided to send help to Nigeria. It took long enough, but I'm certain that some jerk will come up some reason to criticize his intervention. Is there oil in Nigeria?)
Sure enough, the comments to Frau Berg's column are pretty scathing in their criticism of America. Obama's decision to aid in the search is nothing more than a "publicity stunt". One reader seems to think the whole situation in Nigeria is the fault of the US, since Islam's hierarchical view of religion mirrors America's hierarchical view of the world:
Es ist kein Zufall, dass im 21. Jahrhundert militante Muslime Mädchen entführen. Einerseits rechtfertigt der Islam die Tat (christliche Mädchen werden auch in Ägypten entführt) und andererseits haben westliche Grossmächte immer weggesehen. Weil der konservative Islam eben auch hierarchisch denkt, so wie sich die USA die Welt wünschen. Bitte Frau Berg, dass die USA nun eine Propagandaaktion starten, weil das leidige Thema nicht aus den Medien gehalten werden kann, das nehmen Sie hoffentlich nicht allzu ernst.
But this shouldn't surprise anyone. When the Phillipines was devastated by Typhoon Haiyan late last year the United States was the first country to provide massive aid. This was seen by many observers in Germany as a cover for building up a military presence in the nation. In fact, some believed the CIA caused the typhoon to happen by using microwaves.
When Haiti was devastated by an earthquake and the US was quick to provide aid, Der Spiegel accused the US of "colonizing" the country. Again, the US was accused of intentionally setting off the earthquake.
Ann Coulter parodied Michelle's hangdog expression, but Ann's a slag and got pwned many times over.
Posted by: James | May 18, 2014 at 06:00 AM