Davids Medienkritik

Atomstreit: Deutsche Politiker fordern neue Verhandlungen mit den Mullahs

(By Paul13)

SPIEGEL online

Angesichts der drohenden Uno-Sanktionen gegen Iran fordern mehrere deutsche Außenpolitiker weitere Verhandlungen mit dem Mullah-Staat.

Na, das war ja nur eine Frage der Zeit. Wäre ja auch äußerst seltsam gewesen, wenn sich da niemand bemüßigt gefühlt hätte, seinen Senf dazuzugeben.

[…] Außenminister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD) sagte gestern Abend in den ARD-"Tagesthemen", er gehe er davon aus, dass der Druck auf die Führung in Teheran steigen werde. Allerdings rechne er nicht mit militärischen Schritten gegen Iran. In den vergangenen Monaten sei diese Möglichkeit nicht erwogen worden. Mehrere deutsche Außenpolitiker sprachen sich für neue Verhandlungen aus, nachdem Iran gestern das Ultimatum des Sicherheitsrats verstreichen ließ.

Äh, 'tschuldigung Leute, aber Ihr habt da glaub' ich was nicht ganz verstanden: Der Sinn eines Ultimatums ist nicht, es einfach verstreichen zu lassen und dann weiterzuverhandeln, sondern es dient dazu, nach einem Scheitern von Verhandlungen Konsequenzen folgen zu lassen. D.h. wenn man eh bereit ist, auch nach dem Stichtag einfach so, als ob nichts geschehen wäre, weiterzuverhandeln, dann braucht man erst gar kein Ultimatum zu stellen. Zumal man, wenn man das dann nicht auch durchsetzt, bei weiteren Ultimaten nicht mehr ernst genommen wird. Obwohl - wurden die Europäer vom Iran ja auch vorher nicht. So gesehen macht's natürlich keinen Unterschied. Also gut, weitermachen, ist eh egal...

"Die Diplomatie hat noch Spielraum", sagte der verteidigungspolitische Sprecher der SPD-Bundestagsfraktion, Gert Weisskirchen, der "Berliner Zeitung". Ähnlich äußerte sich auch der Vorsitzende des Auswärtigen Ausschusses im Europaparlament, Elmar Brok (CDU). Sanktionen dürften die immer noch möglichen Verhandlungen mit Iran nicht behindern, müssten aber zugleich zeigen, dass die Provokationen Teherans nicht hingenommen würden. Wenn sich die EU-Außenminister bei ihrem Treffen heute in Finnland auf eine gemeinsame Strategie einigten, dann gebe es eine Chance, das auch in den USA durchzusetzen. Die Außenminister der 25 EU-Staaten kommen in Lappeenranta zu zweitägigen informellen Beratungen über die Nahostpolitik der Union zusammen.

Wenn es noch irgendeiner Begründung für die amerikanische Skepsis gegenüber den europäischen Verhandlungsbemühungen (und mehr als Bemühungen waren das nicht, verhandeln ist was anderes) bedurft hätte, in diesem Absatz findet sie sich. Selten hat sich eine potentielle Großmacht so blamiert wie die EU bei einer auch für ihre eigene Sicherheit so existentiellen Frage wie den Atomgesprächen mit dem Iran. Die hier angesprochene Äußerung Elmar Broks ist der Offenbarungseid der europäischen Außenpolitik. In den USA durchsetzen wird dieses Europa gewiß nichts mehr. Die US-Regierung wird pro forma vielleicht noch zustimmen, damit man ihr hinterher nicht vorwerfen kann, eine Verhandlungslösung torpediert zu haben, aber wenn es drauf ankommt, wird der amerikanische Präsident damit das richtige tun, nämlich sie ignorieren.

Massive Kritik an der US-Regierung übte Grünen-Fraktionsvize Trittin. Es sei falsch, wenn immer nur über Sanktionen geredet werde. Das bediene nur die "Bombenfantasien" des US-Verteidigungsministers Donald Rumsfeld. Es sei wichtiger, endlich mit Iran zu reden. Rumsfeld hatte zuletzt erklärt, die USA hätten das militärische Potenzial für ein Vorgehen gegen Iran.

Klar, wenn es um die Bewerbung für das Gruselkabinett deutscher Außenpolitik geht, darf ein Jürgen Trittin natürlich nicht fehlen. Und er wird seiner Favoritenrolle unter den Nominierten der Kategorie "Der Feind meines Freundes ist mein Freund" wie erwartet absolut gerecht. Milosevic in der Hölle, Saddam in Knast und Kim Jong Il im Bonker, da ist der Quartalsirre aus Teheran natürlich das perfekte Liebesobjekt, welches vor diesem kriegslüsternen Rumsfeld geschützt werden muß. So ist es denn auch kein Wunder, wenn es ein Grüner von altem Schrot und Korn ablehnt, ein antisemitisches, frauenfeindliches, schwulenhassendes, reaktionäres und grausames Terrorregime mit gewaltfreien Mitteln wie Wirtschaftssanktionen daran zu hindern, an Nuklearenergie, Plutoniumkreislauf und Atomraketen zu kommen. Als Grüner im Jahre 2006 kämpft man eben für und nicht mehr gegen den Atomtod. So ändern sich die Zeiten.

Für den FDP-Außenexperten Wolfgang Gerhardt liegen derzeit "in Teheran die selbstverschuldeten Trümmer amerikanischer Außenpolitik". Die Isolationspolitik gegenüber dem Regime in Iran sei misslungen. Wegen der unilateralen Vorgehensweise, verbunden mit "einem Irak-Desaster", sei auch die Abstimmung mit Russland und China nicht überzeugend. "Das alles kommt jetzt zusammen. Trotzdem: Es gilt immer wieder, neu miteinander zu reden", sagte Gerhardt.

Wie, Gerhard? Tom Gerhard? Ach, Wolfgang Gerhard! Ist das nicht der, der auf dem letzten FDP-Parteitag diesen tollen Plan vorgelegt hat, wie man den Iran durch Aufhebung seiner selbstgewählten Isolation davon überzeugen kann, daß es nicht nett ist, Atombomben auf fremde Städte zu werfen, und daß Achmadinedschad die Juden wieder ganz doll lieb hat? Oder der damals mit jener genialen Idee kam, nach der Saddam Hussein freiwillig zurückgetreten wäre, um die Macht an eine frei gewählte Regierung zu übergeben, was nur durch den vorzeitigen Einmarsch dieser unfähigen Amerikaner verhindert wurde? Jener Gerhardt, der all die Jahre als seriöse Alternative zu einem kaum vermittelbaren Außenminister Westerwelle gehandelt wurde? Das ist der "Außenexperte" der FDP? Also dann kann's auch der Guido machen. Oder noch besser, grabt einfach Mölli wieder aus, schlimmer ist selbst der nicht. Nicht mal in seinem derzeitigen Zustand.

Bis jetzt gibt es keinerlei Hinweise, dass Teheran in letzter Minute doch noch der Forderung nachgekommen ist, seine umstrittene Urananreicherung einzustellen. Der iranische Präsident Mahmud Ahmadinedschad hatte sich unmittelbar vor Ablauf des Ultimatums weiter unbeugsam gezeigt. Iran werde sich keinem Druck beugen, sagte er in einer vom Fernsehen übertragenen Rede.

Da wäre er auch schön blöd. Denn es macht wenig Sinn sich einem Druck zu beugen, den es gar nicht gibt. Solange auf der Gegenseite überwiegend Volltrottel und Dilettanten sitzen, die selbst bei Möchtergernendlösern wie Adolfimdschihad lieber auf Kooperation statt Konfrontation zu setzen, kann man fast verstehen, daß er einen auf dicke Hose macht. Allerdings nur fast. Denn zum Glück haben es Profis wie Bush und Rumsfeld nicht nötig, auf unbedarfte Amateure wie Trittin und Gerhard zu hören. Da sollte der gute Mahmud also trotzdem aufpassen, daß ihn Rummy's Bombenfantasien im Rahmen von Bush's Außenpolitik nicht plötzlich unter den Trümmern seines Präsidentenpalasts begraben.

Jeff Gedmin: Perverse German Reactions to Katrina

One of the most troubling aspects of Germany's reaction to the Katrina tragedy is just how widespread the outbursts of Schadenfreude and the ridiculous blame diatribes have been. It seemed to begin with Germany's lunatic-fringe Environmental Minister Juergen Trittin, who blamed disasters like Katrina on America's George W. Bush's environmental policy and rejection of Kyoto. Shortly thereafter, "Stern" magazine, "Die Zeit" and Chancellor Schroeder chimed in and blamed America's lack of big-state Socialism for the extent of the disaster. Yet others were simply happy to see America take a hit.

Thankfully, there was someone sane in the midst of all the finger-pointing and conspiracy-spinning to record it all. That someone is Jeffrey Gedmin, and his article on the perverse German reactions to Katrina is undoubtedly the most comprehensive and informative piece written on the subject. Mr. Gedmin has kindly granted Davids Medienkritik permission to print his work in the English original.

"Save Your Comments

By Jeffrey Gedmin

A friend of mine, born and raised in the south, a supporter of George W. Bush, has told me several times how disturbed she is by New Orleans. She finds it shocking that the U.S. government responded so slowly, and above all, left the most vulnerable, mostly poor African-Americans, to fend for themselves. Follow the U.S. commentary and you'll know that America is at the beginning of an agonizing debate, likely to last longer than the time it will take to rebuild New Orleans.

You can learn a bit about this in the German commentary about Hurricane Katrina. But that's not all. What an orgy it has been! It started with environment minister Jürgen Trittin's low blow about "climate polluter headquarters" USA. Things like Katrina will not happen, opined Professor Trittin, if only Americans would protect the environment. The Chancellor quickly joined the pack, of course. He says if only the Americans had a bigger state they could have been spared their misery. Henryk Broder found a gem, an American-hating lady from Chemnitz, who wrote to a large daily about Katrina. Her view: "A religious person could get the impresson that this is the wrath of God." My favorite, though, is the one from a fellow from Berlin-Zehlendorf, who wrote to the Berliner Morgenpost about the "war criminals" in the US government who "could care less about the deaths of blacks or foreigners." For a more sophisticated formulation of this thesis, see the front page editorial this week from Stephan-Andreas Casdorff in the Tagesspiegel who did his readers the favour of inserting himself into the brain of the U.S. President. What did Mr. Casdorff discover? That the heartless George Walker Bush would rather attend a business dinner in San Diego or play guitar on his ranch than care for fellow Americans in their hour of need.

Still, the "Armin Meiwes prize for Katrina commentary." names in honor of the "Cannibal of Rotenburg," goes to the salivating fellow from the taz who admits to feelings of "joy" over all the death and destruction. Philipp Mausshardt says he is happy that Katrina hit the United States.

A few quick points to all of this. First, I am pretty sure God did not order Katrina to punish the United States. Second, I am certain the United States needs a more serious debate about global warming. So does Germany. According to the United Nations, since the 1940s "the peak strength of the strongest hurricanes has not changed, and the mean maximum intensity of all hurricanes has decreased." Scientists are also divided, incidentally, on the cause of recent violent hurricanes. Third, a note to the outgoing Chancellor. Yes, we all love Vater Staat, but if bigger government were the answer to natural distasters, then how come your buddies in Paris did not fare better in preventing the deaths of 15.000 during the heat wave that hit France a couple years ago? Fourth, the next time the storm of a century ravages an area half the size of Germany within 24 hours, and this by the way after repeated false alarms, I have no doubt that the editors of the Tagesspiegel will roll out their master plan for a faster, more effecient, more comprehensive and more humane response than the monster Bush.

Finally, we Americans are indeed shocked and embarrassed by what has happened. There will be investigations, commissions, conferences, documentaries and books examining what should have been done differently by local, state and federal authorities. A new debate about race and poverty in America has also begun. Among the recriminations, there is introspection. Does anyone else want to get a kick in while we are on the ground?"

Indeed. But let us be clear on another point: Not all Germans share the sentiments described above. We would like to believe that most Germans do not and that those with perverse reactions are a minority. But we can also not ignore the fact that most Germans have been less than enthusiastic about helping Americans in their time of need. We would like to report the very opposite. After all, both David and I are German citizens, (David is a full German and I am dual US-German), and we would like to report that Germany has generously supported the hurricane victims. But the opposite is true. Most Germans simply assume that America is rich and doesn't need the help and yet others obviously view America with disdain and have simply chosen not to help.

The German government has sent some aid, and President Bush has thanked Chancellor Schroeder for the assistance, but apparently there is a customs issue with a portion of it that the German media is blaming on the US. This is curious indeed considering the fact that German private industry has absolutely no problem exporting things into the United States. So why the holdup?

Anyway, Jeff's article is necessary to raise awareness on the ugly side of German society, politics and media. And in that we are fully on his side. Keep up the good work Jeff!

Fire Trittin!

We have two more pieces on German environmental minister Trittin's remarks. The first is a commentary in Germany's largest daily BILD, the second is an e-mail we received from Andreas, a German who wants to stress his solidarity with the U.S.

BILD:

Fire Trittin!

The dead in New Orleans are still uncounted, thousands of people are fighting for survival.

But instead of standing by the Americans as they cope with this terrible hurricane catastrophe, our environmental minister Jürgen Trittin shows the world the grimace of the ugly German.

With ice cold arrogance he shouts to the poor people, who are swimming for their lives: “It your own fault!”. Translation: With climate protection á la Trittin it never would have happened.

Not a word of regret, no sympathy, no ... nothing! Instead, hold the German election on the American victims' backs.

If Jürgen Trittin still has a spark of decency left, he’ll shamefacedly tender his resignation without a fuss.

But you can’t expect that from the man. So the Chancellor will have to act and fire the Minister of Heartlessness.

(Translation of BILD quote from Richard Bartholomew.) This is the e-mail from Andreas:

Germany's Greens: Lecturing the American "Friends" While They Drown

Germany's Greens Pour It On

Green party boss Reinhard Buetikofer has joined colleague Juergen Trittin in his criticism of the Bush administration in the tragic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Mr. Buetikofer attacked President Bush as an "ecological reactionary" who "conducts an energy policy in the interests of the oil and atomic power lobbies."

So why are Green leaders so determined to politicize a horrific natural disaster? Don't forget: It's election time in Germany and the eco-freaks are behind badly in the polls. It looks like they won't last in office more than another three weeks and party members are rapidly growing desperate. That's why they can't resist this golden opportunity to engage in some good-old fashioned America-baiting to fire-up the radical base right before the election. And who knows, they might gain half a percentage point in the polls, and that's what really counts right now...

Meanwhile, in the midst of Trittin and Buetikofer's comments, another prominent member of the Green party, Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, called US Secretary of State Rice to offer "German help" and to express solidarity with "the American friends in such difficult times." Of course Rice was entirely gracious in her reply, but one can't help but wonder what she must have really been thinking:

"Gee Joscka, thanks for the offer but we certainly wouldn't want to distract you and your Green environmentalist-wacko pals from exploiting the death and misery of thousands of Americans to score a few cheap votes at the expense of President Bush. We'll be just fine without you, thank you very much."

Schroeder's SPD: "Empathy Before Criticism"

In related news, Karsten Voigt, the SPD's "Coordinator for German-American Cooperation" said in an article published in the Frankfurter Rundschau that he basically agrees with Mr. Trittin's comments but that it would be more appropriate to show the American "friends" how much Germany really cares right now. In other words, Germans should go back to lecturing America only after the dead have been scraped from the streets and buried. That way Germany will have more real influence with the United States down the road on issues like sacrificing millions of US jobs for pseudo-environmentalist pipe-dreams like Kyoto.

So wake up friends! Can't you ignorant, gun-totting, environment-destroying, blood-sucking Americans understand how much empathy your enlightened Euro-brethren in the Schroeder government feel for you at this very moment? Feel the love! We order you to feel the love!

Now then, was that so difficult? Our Socialist Green government just wants what is really good for you. What a pity it would be if our outstanding Socialist and Green friends were voted out of office on September 18th. How would America ever go on then?

(Italics ours throughout)

Update: Otto Graf Lambsdorff, former Chairman of Germany's Free Democratic Party and economics minister under Kohl, demands Trittin's resignation because of his anti-Bush remarks: "Chancellor Schroeder should fire him immediately."

Update #2: And while Joschka was on the phone telling the Bush administration how terribly bad he felt about the hurricane, his party was continuing to employ Bush-bashing and peace-pandering tactics to get elected. Here are two current Green election campaign posters:

The poster of the left mocks Merkel as "Especially Bush Compatible." The poster on the right depicts members of the German military and exclaims, "Yes! Merkel Leave Us in Peace"

The "peace" poster is particularly cynical considering that the Greens have, as members of the German government for the past seven years, allowed the shipping-out of German soldiers around the world to places like Afghanistan, Bosnia and Kosovo just to name a few... 

Update #3: Trittin suddenly silent? It appears that Environmental Minister Trittin is now refusing to take interviews with SPIEGEL ONLINE. The magazine reports that Mr. Trittin left requests for an interview unanswered and continues to remain silent on the flood victims.

(Article by Ray Drake)

German Minister: Sure, Bush caused Katrina

Germany's environmental minister Jürgen Trittin finally has clarified what he meant when he attacked president Bush in an article in Frankfurter Rundschau over the devastation caused by Katrina.

He wrote what he meant.

German Minister Stands Behind Criticism of Bush

German Environmental Minister Jürgen Trittin remains stolid in his assertion that Hurricane Katrina is linked to global warming and America's refusal to reduce emissions.

Germany's Minister of the Environment, Jürgen Trittin of the Green Party, on Tuesday unleashed a firestorm of criticism in the United States over comments he made in a newspaper column directly linking the natural catastrophe in the American South to global warming. After Hurricane Katrina bashed America's Gulf States and left New Orleans a sunken wasteland, Trittin wrote an editorial lashing out at US President George W. Bush for "closing his eyes" to the dangers of global warming. The polemic began with the line, "Recently in the theaters, now in real life," and went on to compare the scenes of Hurricane Katrina to Roland Emmerich's Hollywood blockbuster "The Day after Tomorrow." (...)

Yet, despite the uproar he has caused, Trittin remains unrepentant. On Wednesday, his spokesman Michael Schroeren even said that he "can't understand ... at all" why Americans are upset. Trittin's comments "are true and he wrote what he meant." (emphasis added)

Carsten Voigt, the German government's coordinator for German-American relations, is unusually blunt in his criticism of Trittin. Well, let's say he is somewhat critical. Or you might say - he is practically fully supportive of Trittin's polemic.

Carsten Voigt, who coordinates German-American relations for the German Foreign Ministry, attempted to smooth over any hard feelings on Wednesday, by stressing Germany's concern for America's Gulf Coast states and suggesting that Trittin's comments -- albeit accurate -- were badly timed and somewhat misplaced, given the scale of the catastrophe.

"I agree with what he said, but of course, the way it was said is another matter," said Voigt. "The main point though is that climate change is an issue that needs to be put on the table. ... I think that at this point, given the circumstances, one should be a bit more diplomatic than Mr. Trittin was, but there is general consensus in Germany that climate change is a major issue. It has nothing to do with who is in power (German Chancellor Gerhard) Schröder or Bush. It is not about Kyoto. The most important thing is that we do something."

He also said that though he does not see Bush or American policy as to blame for Katrina, he does believe that the hurricane "was stronger because of climate change." Global warming, he said, is a "long-term question" but it is "certainly true that when a land is so highly developed as the US, it has a responsibility to work against climate change. When the US has a better plan (than Kyoto or anything else currently being suggested), then please, we'd like to hear it, he said. (emphasis added)

In other words: Apologies, dear American dumbasses friends, if Mr. Trittin was "a bit" undiplomatic about your idiotic president's climate policy. We certainly think his remarks were somewhat displaced (albeit accurate). In any case (Voigt):

"It is about solidarity with our American partners. And we certainly feel that."

Thanks for nothing.

Malzahn: Minister Trittin's Comments "Bullshit"

Claus Christian Malzahn must stick out like a sore thumb at SPIEGEL ONLINE. Along with Henryk Broder, he is perhaps the only America-friendly voice on the magazine's entire staff. You could say he and Broder are the publication's two token pro-Americans. And make no mistake: They are both highly intelligent, eloquent representatives of a viewpoint rarely heard or voiced in Germany.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Another Peculiar Translation Omission

Today, Mr. Malzahn published an outstanding editorial on the controversial reaction of Germany's Environmental Minister Juergen Trittin to Hurricane "Katrina". In the original German version Mr. Malzahn clearly writes in the first paragraph of his work that the ruling German government or "amtierende Regierung" is to blame for the "shameful low point" or "beschämenden Tiefpunkt" in Transatlantic relations brought on by Environmental Minister Juergen Trittin's comments that the US has itself to blame for natural catastrophes like "Katrina." Interestingly enough, the English version offered up by SPIEGEL ONLINE's translators has a slightly different translation of the first paragraph. It merely mentions "a German minister" and not the "ruling government", which is completely omitted.

Furthermore, SPIEGEL ONLINE's translation totally omits the word "shameful" and simply mentions "low point." Finally, the English version's first paragraph then ends with "How pathetic." which does not appear in the original German at all. And these mistakes are all just in the first paragraph...Coincidence? Oversight? An unusually loose translation? Hard to tell, but the English translations offered up on SPIEGEL's English Site are frequently inaccurate and loose.

Anyway, here is a sampling of Malzahn's work, which is still impressive despite the mediocre SPON translation:

"Hurricane Katrina has cost the lives of hundreds and devastated the US Gulf Coast. But instead of aid donations and sympathy, the Americans have heard little more than a haughty "I told you so" from Germany. It's another low point for trans-Atlantic relations -- and set off by a German minister. How pathetic. (...)

Cold and malicious

Apparently the Americans had it coming: "The American president has closed his eyes to the economic and human damage that natural catastrophes such as Katrina -- in other words, disasters caused by a lack of climate protection measures -- can visit on his country." Who wrote this? None other than Jürgen Trittin, Germany's minister of the environment.

DDP German Minister of the Environment Jürgen Trittin.

At a moment when the dead on the Gulf Coast are still being counted, the German minister of the environment could think of nothing better to do than -- in an essay published Tuesday in the center-left daily Frankfurter Rundschau -- to blame the US itself for the catastrophe. The piece is 493 words long, and not a single one of them is wasted to express any sort of sympathy for the victims of the storm. The worst of it is that Trittin isn't alone with his cold, malicious tenor. The coverage from much of the German media tends in the same direction: If Bush had only listened to Uncle Trittin and signed the Kyoto Protocol, then this never would have happened.

Bullshit. Trittin's article is a slap in the face to all the victims. Let's just assume that the environment minister is right, that there is a direct relationship between greenhouse gases and Hurricane Katrina. Even still this would hardly be the time for yet another round of America bashing and finger pointing. Three years ago, just before the US election, former Minister of Justice Hertha Däubler Gmelin compared US President George W. Bush to Adolf Hitler. This time, with German elections looming, the environment minister is using a natural catastrophe as an excuse to once again campaign with subtle anti-Americanism and to unabashedly pat himself on the back. A "Kyoto Two" is "desperately needed" screamed the headline over his insensitive attack.

There are scientists and Nobel Prize winners who see the problem of global warming totally different than Trittin. Many consider the fight against AIDS, hunger and malaria as higher priorities than a reduction of carbon dioxide output. Last year, some of these experts jointly published the "Copenhagen Consensus," in which they outlined the greatest problems facing the world. Global warming figured low on the list. And believe it or not, the scientists are not on the payroll of the Texas oil industry. But that's hardly the point at the moment. Right now, the situation calls for empathy with the people in the American south who are suffering the after effects of the massive storm.

It's not the American people's fault that the storm hit and they couldn't have stopped it. The Germans, on the other hand, could have done a lot to prevent World War II. And yet, care packages still rained down from US troops. Trittin's know-it-all stance is therefore not only tasteless, it is also historically blind."

Malzahn is exactly right. This is a dried-up (soon to be unemployed) political hack returning to his core instincts, just as he and his ilk did back in 2002. Human life and suffering are of little consequence to them when their grip on power and the moral high ground is at stake. So, as is so often the case, they blame the victim. They blame the one nation on earth that is a greater force for good in the world than any other.

But don't worry too much about Mr. Trittin while he is busily discrediting himself: He's already a frustrated lame duck. On September 18 German voters will throw his entire party out of office on their ears for at least the next four years. Good riddance!

UPDATE: Here is an outstanding comment posted on SPIEGEL ONLINE in an article consisting entirely of Americans' reactions to Mr. Trittin's statements:

"Hello, I'm an anti-Bush liberal (yes, we exist) who is more and more concerned about a kind of orthodox anti-American bigotry that is so frequently spewed out of Europe. While Europeans have consistently decried the 'ignorance' of Americans about the wider world, I find that Europeans (the media anyway) have a stunningly warped conception of America and its many cultures. Articles and commentaries often seem to be written by 2nd year University students who think they have a grand-unified-theory on the sociology of the United States and its ultimately evil nature (expressed in a manner similar to G. Bush, ironically). When Germany is flooded with a diet of negative American stereotypes to the exclusion of the wide and vibrant array of opinion, culture and political dissent here, it's no wonder that I find the kind of blanket-statement U.S. bashing that I do.

I have very few complaints about the broader European view of American foreign policy. It's the steady, toxic, cultural bigotry that pops up in the European media (I'm most familiar with the British, French and German mainstream press) whenever any sort of reference to America is involved.

Everything here is not McDonalds and murder and fundamentalist philistines.

Sorry to be so nebulous about my compaint, but this comes after reading European media for about 15 years. The echo-chamber nature of journalism is just as dangerous in Europe as in the U.S.. If the European press corps want to claim a great regard for toleration, reason, and respect for other people and cultures, an exception can't be made for Americans, just because you hate G.W. (and whatever else you want to hate about us).

All Arabs aren't terrorists, all Americans are not ugly.

- Tobin Manley"

That's exactly what we've been saying about German media culture for the past two years here at Davids Medienkritik Tobin. And yet we are smeared by publications like SPIEGEL ONLINE and big-shot journalists like Malte Lehming over at Tagesspiegel as dangerous, hard-core conservative Krawallos. Far from it. We simply see the obvious for what it is! 

German Minister: Bush Responsible for Katrina

You won't believe this: In an article in Frankfurter Rundschau, a leading left-wing daily, Germany's environmental minister Jürgen Trittin holds U.S. president George Bush responsible for hurricane Katrina.

Yes, that's right. The hurricane Katrina that killed dozens of people, that destroyed countless homes, flooded parts of Louisiana and Mississippi, that left millions without electricity - it's all Bush's fault, according to a leading member of the German Green party, who happens to be Environmental Minister in Chancellor Schroeder's cabinet. Never mind that statistics don't show a particularly increase in the frequency of hurricanes in the U.S. in the last decades. Germany's general elections are scheduled for September 18, and the German left is in dire need of a neocon scapegoat for every disaster that befalls the world. And George W. Bush is the default villain in German politics and in the German media...

Excerpts of Trittin's article:

By neglecting environmental protection, America’s president shuts his eyes to the economic and human damage that natural catastrophes like Katrina inflict on his country and the world’s economy. ...many Americans have long been unwilling to follow the president’s errant environmental policy. Indications are multiplying that Bush has more than Katrina’s headwind blowing in his face... . When reason finally pays a visit to climate-polluter headquarters, the international community has to be prepared to hand America a worked out proposal for the future of international climate protection. The German Government stands ready. (Translation of quote by Richard Bartholomew)

(Here are more reactions in the German media to Katrina)

Consider this a job application on the part of Mr. Trittin. He will be kicked out of office as a result of the German election on September 18 and desperately looks for a new employer.

I just wonder if the U.S. government wouldn't want to muster the services of this very capable political talent in order to shape up America's environmental policies. Admittedly, the U.S. would lose several million jobs as a result of Trittin's suicidal environmental policies, without any noticeable effects on air quality or hurricane frequency.

But France, Russia, China and Japan - all of which do not seriously consider adopting Trittin's costly environmental demands - will be jubilant. And that's something the U.S. would certainly be proud of...

(Just in case you're interested in Trittin's career, here are some highlights, as presented in his official biography. As is the case for other leading Green party politicians, Trittin is rather mum about his activities before 1982. I have this strange suspicion this is owed to the fact that in the seventies he was an active member of a German communist splinter group...)

Update: EU ROTA has a very thorough analysis of the global warming hysteria of Jürgen Trittin. And Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit quotes a NYT article rejecting the "global warming caused Katrina" thesis. His conclusion: "It's sad to see such lame political opportunism at a time like this." Well, what can I say - this is German politics...

Appeasement 2005

Here's how Germany's green party spells "appeasement":

Ströbele: Ending the Iraq War would do more than flight restrictions. Köln (AFP) – The Green Party’s parliamentary faction chairman leader Christian Ströbele considers flight restrictions prohibiting aircraft movements across specified areas to be an inappropriate means for preventing terrorist attacks.  The Greens’ politician told the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger that even 24/7 coverage wouldn’t catch low flying aircraft.  According to him, an effective means would be ending the Iraq War.  “It can hardly be denied that the Iraq War is a breeding ground [sic] for more and more terrorist attacks,” he said.  “The more clearly we distance ourselves [from supporting the war], the lower [our risk from] the dangers emanating from it.”

Bin Ladin to Germany: "Say 'uncle'".

Germany: "Uncle".

Bin Ladin: "Nice. But not enough. Say 'uncle' again."

Germany: "Uncle. Uncle. Uncle."

Bin Ladin: "You're a good boy.You deserve a break. I'll be back tomorrow."

(Translation of quote: Hartmut Lau)

Jeff Gedmin: Screwball Politicians and Vacation Tips for America

Here is Jeff Gedmin's most recent article in English. He points out a few episodes of Germany political lunacy that we have also posted on and closes with some excellent vacation tips:

According to a recent poll by the PEW Trust group, anti-Americanism in Europe may run rather deep. It apparently has much less to do with Mr. Bush and Iraq than many previously had wished to believe. I blame screw ball politicians. 

The Bundestag's Vice President, Antje Vollmer, suggested this spring that the U.S. made Poland a key player in Iraq in order to punish Pope John Paul (The late Pope had opposed removing Saddam Hussein from power). There is also screwball television. This summer ARD aired a "Tatort" episode about a woman, who maintained that the September 11th attacks were instigated by the Bush family. There is a murder mystery, of course-a fellow rubbed out by CIA or FBI assassins-and detectives who ultimately accept the woman's allegation is credible, as the show's heroine eludes U.S. government hit men for refuge in a safe Arab country.

Fact can be sillier than fiction. Bret Stephens of the Wall Street Journal dined recently with a German diplomat in New York, only to learn from this distinguished fellow, according to Stephens's account, that the Soviet Gulag was better than Guantanomo, that civil rights in America are on par with those of North Korea, that only "poodles" have any regard for U.S. foreign policy and that "the Wall Street Journal takes its orders from the U.S. government."   

I accept it. Anti-Americanism seems here to stay. To lighten things up, though, here are my own summer tips, for anti-anti-Americans who ponder a U.S trip and think about an East Coast stay.

Start in Washington. Don't stay in a chain hotel! Stay at the Tabard Inn, a lovely and reasonably-priced town house hotel, filled with antiques, character and charm (15 minute walk to the White House). In the Tabard restaurant try a glass of chardonnay and smoked salmon and trout salad on a hot and humid summer day. Don't go to the Smithsonian museum! Europe has its museums. Go to the Library of Congress, though. Stay clear of the tour groups, explore different reading rooms. Bring a book, your walkman Listen to "Adagio" by the American composer Samuel Barber. Don't go to Georgetown, with its touristy shops and cafes! Drive an hour to Middleburg Virginia. Enjoy the countryside. Horse back ride. Back in Washington, take a train 45 minutes to Baltimore.

In Baltimore ignore the fast food! Go to Captain James's Crab House. Chat with the Greek owner Nick, sit outside by the water, feast on spiced, steamed crabs. Skip the aquarium! Go to a baseball game. Visit Fort McHenry, a key site in America's 1812 war with Britain. Watch the film "Crash," a fascinating and serious movie--nothing Michael Moorish at all--about racism and race relations in the U.S.

Finish in New York. Don't go to Times Square! Stroll the Upper East Side (Try Madision avenue above 60th street). Stop at the elegant bar in the Carlyle Hotel for a glass of champagne. Woody Allen plays jazz here once in a while. Don't go to the Empire State Building! Go to the East Village and try a sandwich at Abe Lebewohl's "Second Avenue Deli." Or walk to Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Mexican, Greek, Ukrainian, or Polish cuisine. Don't go to Broadway in the evening! Try a small off Broadway theatre, there are dozens to sample. Or maybe jazz at "Blue Smoke." Not all Americans are hell bent on mindless shopping, world domination, and the perfect Big Mac. But then, anti-anti-Americans already knew that, I suppose. Bon Voyage.

Well, the only thing I can disagree with is the Library of Congress for which I would substitute the National Archives and the Air and Space Museum. You really don't find many museums in Europe like the Air and Space. Otherwise, another flawless article from one of those rare individuals who has found the courage to go out into the public arena and challenge the negative groupthink mentality that prevails in German media and politics when it comes to America. And Jeff has been an inspiration to us for years now. Keep up the good work!

Update: After reviewing the recording of the "Berlin Mitte" episode in which Ms. Vollmer made her comments about the Pope, President Bush and Poland, it was striking to notice that the audience actually applauded her comments. For those interested in viewing it, the segment in question is about 14 minutes into the show.

More examples: Here is another glaring example of German screwball politicians attempting to profit from crude anti-Americanism to bolster Jeff's case. In this instance, it is Germany's largest trade-union IG Metall. And let's also not forget last week's shameful destruction of the Checkpoint Charlie monument...

Green Party Sides With Davids Medienkritik

Who would have thought this? The chairman of Germany's green party sides with our blog in the critique of the tv movie "Scheherazade", aired by PBS channel ARD.

Washington Times: (BTW, my suspicion is that the Washington Times actually based this article on our posting. Seriously.)

TV show depicts 9/11 as Bush plot (emphasis added)

A fictional crime drama based on the premise that the Bush administration ordered the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Washington aired this week on German state television, prompting the Green Party chairman to call for an investigation.

    "I think absolutely nothing of the conspiracy theory that has been hawked in this series. I hope this particular TV movie will be discussed very critically at the next supervisory board meeting of ARD [state television]," said Green Party Chairman Reinhard Buetikofer, who acknowledged that he had not seen the show.

According to the plot, which was seen by approximately 7 million Germans, the dead man had been trained to be one of the September 11 pilots but was left behind, only to be tracked down and killed by CIA or FBI assassins.
    The woman, who says in the program that the September 11 attacks were instigated by the Bush family for oil and power, then is targeted, presumably to silence her. The drama concludes with the German detectives accepting the truth of her story as she eludes the U.S. government hit men and escapes to safety in an unnamed Arab country.
    As ludicrous as it may sound to most Americans, the tale has resonance in Germany, where fantastic conspiracy theories often are taken as fact.
    Many Germans think, for example, that the 1969 moon landing was faked, and a poll published in the weekly Die Zeit showed that 31 percent of Germans younger than 30 "think that there is a certain possibility that the U.S. government ordered the attacks of 9/11."
    In fact, three of the hijackers who seized control of commercial airlines on September 11, 2001, including

Top Green Politician: Dumb and Dumber

Hard to beat the idiocy of this wacko conspiracy theory: A top member of the German Green party - Antje Vollmer, the highest ranking woman in Germany's parliament (and a real beauty by any definition) - accuses the U.S. government of an underhanded campaign against pedophile Catholic priests aimed at punishing Pope John Paul II for his opposition to the Iraq war.

Liberated Woman: Ms. Vollmer Exhibited Her Utmost Compassion for the Plight of Oppressed Muslim Women on an Official State Visit to Saudi Arabia Last Month.

Ms. Vollmer's theory is so far out in lunatic land that even SPIEGEL ONLINE is criticizing her:

"Germany's highest ranking female member of parliament has a new theory: the US government set the Catholic pedophilia scandal in motion because it wanted to weaken an already frail pope. That's also why it made Poland its chief partner in the Iraq war: to make the Vatican look bad. Yeah right.

She may not be the country's most powerful politician, but as the vice-president of the Bundestag, Germany's parliament, Antje Vollmer of the Green Party is one of its highest-ranking women in political office. When she talks, people listen. But last week we were a little baffled when we saw her shameless contribution to the growing canon of anti-American conspiracy theories and baseless analogies circulating in Germany.

First, in Sept. 2002, then-Justice Minister Herta Däubler-Gmelin compared George W. Bush to Adolf Hitler. Then came Andreas von Buelow, the former federal education and research minister whose 2003 conspiracy theory alleging the CIA and Israeli intelligence were responsible for the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington made for a best-selling book. Now Vollmer comes along, implying that the US government chose to draw attention to the Catholic pedophilia scandal not because of the crimes in and of themselves, but because Washington wanted to weaken the pope. (...)

Her theory? It seems the U.S. had to do something to weaken the influence of the pope, who was an outspoken opponent of the war in Iraq. Vollmer finds it all very suspicious that after the war, "Poland was made a top occupying power in Iraq, naturally to weaken the pope's hinterland. Or how then, of all times, the campaign against the Catholic Church and the pedophilia was started, which was, of course, totally justified, but at this point in time was definitely a tit-for-tat response." Vollmer found it somehow strange that the US presidents traveled to the Vatican despite the "tough power struggles."

Like a good conspiracy theorist, she doesn't point fingers directly, but lets her comments hang in the air so that others can piece together the message. In essence, with her bizarre ramblings she was saying that the US tried to undercut John Paul II's political influence in Poland by giving his countrymen an important role in occupying Iraq and instigating a pedophile scandal against the church as a sort of smear campaign against the Catholic leader.

In an editorial, DER SPIEGEL's Henryk M. Broder remarks: "Statements like this aren't even commented on these days, just like the popular opinions that terrorism is the result of poverty and SUVs are responsible for climate change. None of the guests (on the show) attempted to contradict these statements in any way." He points out that, in truth, "the Poles didn't need to be forced to send troops to Iraq, because they trust Washington more than Brussels, Paris or Berlin. The Catholic Church has a recurring history of pedophile scandals in the US as in Europe -- even before the Iraq war. "But all this is meaningless compared to the rage of a Green politician trying to impose her conspiratorial views on a complex reality until everything fits together seamlessly. Whatever the deceased pope had longed for and meant: He does not deserve Antje Vollmer as the executor of his will." 

Poland's participation in the Iraq war an attempt to weaken the Pope's "hinterland"? An anti-pedophile campaign as a veiled attempt to attack the pope's position against the Iraq war?

Oh, those evil neocons...never shy about hatching dark conspiracies. This probably means they are behind the Michael Jackson pedophile accusations as well...probably to discredit him for being such a macro-pacifist. This all just makes one wonder: How long will it be before the US government hauls in Michael Moore on child molestation charges and ships him off to Gitmo? Who will be the next victim of this vast conspiracy? Have the neo-cons no shame? If they are willing to take the pope down, they could be willing to take anyone down...

Eminem: War Opponent - And Child Abuser?
No One is Safe from the Neo-Con Conspiracy...

Ah yes...it all fits in so nicely to the "World Scapegoat USA" way of thinking that has swept Germany's left.

I just wonder, Antje, if you could kindly stick to the topic of child abuse for a while... How about discussing the pedophile experiences of another top Green politician: Daniel Cohn-Bendit, back in the seventies, when he ran a kindergarten in Frankfurt am Main?

The prominent pro-European and leader of the Greens in the European Parliament, Daniel Cohn-Bendit has recently defended his publication in 1976 of an article in which he wrote of his sexual experiences with children in a Kindergarten he used to run in Frankfurt in the 1970s. Responding to the republication of sexually explicit passages of the article in The Observer, Cohn-Bendit has said that his article was part of the sexual revolution which, together with the political revolution, he was then fomenting - although he claims that the experiences recounted in the article were in fact fantasies. There is, needless to say, no suggestion of this in the article itself. {Handelsblatt, 1/2/01} (source)

I guess this is another anti-pedophile campaign sponsored by U.S. neocons ... after all, Cohn-Bendit criticized the Iraq war. Need I say more?

Update: Here is the original quote from Cohn-Bendit's book "Der grosse Basar" (The Grand Bazaar), Munich 1975:

(After describing sexual conflicts between kindergarten kids and their parents:)

From the chapter "Little Big Men" pages 139 to 147: "My constant flirt with all children soon took on erotic characteristics. I could really feel how the little girls of five years had already learned to turn me on. It is hardly believable. Most of the time I was pretty disarmed. (…)

It happened to me several times that some of the children opened the flap of my pants and started to pet me. I reacted differently based on the circumstances, but their wish caused a dilemma for me. I asked them: “Why don’t you play with each other, why have you chosen me and not the other children?” But when they insisted I petted them nonetheless."

Just for the record: Kindergarten kids in Germany are 2 to 5 years old.

You may throw up now...

Headscarves for the Greens

Our comment sections are a treasure trove of insightful and interesting comments.

Such as this one by Doughnut Boy Andy (web site) about the Greens and their fattening godfather Joschka Fischer (here is his role model):

I found this more of a bad one by the Greens.

Gerhard (Schroeder, German chancellor) is out in Saudi Arabia trying to promote Germany and secure oil (no blood for oil my ass!) and there is a picture of Antje Vollmer from the Greens wearing a headscarf. I just found this interesting on two fronts:
Firstly on the same day the BZ Berlin paper is also talking about the

Germany's Greens: Bush's Re-Election and the "Hegemonial Power USA"

(By Ray Drake)

The Aftermath: The Greens Ponder Bush's Victory

What a difference an election makes: Only a few months ago the German Green party was openly calling on all Europeans to support "doing whatever it takes to get Bush voted out" and campaigning for representation in the European Parliament with anti-Bush posters and slogans.

On November 4, immediately following the re-election of President George W. Bush, the talk on the German Green's official website was of a "rapprochement between the USA and Europe." A day earlier on the afternoon of November 3, (when, according to the Greens, the outcome of the election was still unclear,) Joschka Fischer was emphasizing that his government "works very well with whatever government" and stated that the USA was "Germany's most important partner outside Europe."

Well folks, it appears that the day-after reactions and kind words were simply the result of shock and dismay. Slowly...but surely the Greens are finding back to their old anti-American roots. Granted, some of the most extreme among them didn't hesitate to show their true colors. Within 48 hours of the election, Green MP Hans-Christian Ströbele of Berlin, who recently called for an official Muslim holiday in Germany, described Bush's re-election as a "black day for peace." But in the immediate aftermath of the election, Ströbele remained the exception. Only now, a few weeks out, is the party's "mainstream" getting back to the important political business of bashing America. 

"Discussing Symbols": America as Hegemonial Power

In its first article published on the party's website on the US, Bush and the election following the initial shock, Green party boss Reinhard Bütikofer sat down for an interview with the Frankfurter Rundschau to discuss "certain symbols of Republican identity" and to speak of the "reasons and consequences of the election victory of President Bush."

When asked whether there was a lesson to be learned from the re-election of Bush for Germany's governing Socialist-Green coalition Bütikofer replied:

"The left would be well-advised to study exactly how the hegemony of the conservatives was strengthened with populist cultural agitation."

When asked how where Bush "would concretely become a problem" for Greens and the left, Bütikofer responded:

"Certainly in foreign policy, economically in light of the US debt perhaps as well - but above all in terms of social and community policy. Bush will centrally attack societal liberalism. And he will continue on the path on which the social responsibility of the state is only just very small. That will lead to radical privatization strategies - and until now it was often so that certain political fashions from the USA have been carried over to us."

Indeed. That is what the Greens truly fear. They see themselves as the leaders of a cultural war against conservatives, Republicans and the United States. The conflict is an old and familiar one: It revolves around what role government should play in people's lives. The Greens want a paternal, cradle-to-grave welfare state. They want big government to play a central role and they are not ashamed to say so. They desperately fear privatization and market-based competition of any kind. And yes, they see the success of the United States and the Republicans as a threat to everything they stand for. That is why they earlier called upon all Europeans to do "whatever it takes to get Bush voted out."

The Greens also see themselves as the leaders of a movement to confront what they label the "American hegemonial power" on an international front. Bütikofer revealed that his reservations against the United States go well beyond Bush when asked if he seriously thought that the US President would ratify the Kyoto Treaty:

"Never. But John Kerry wouldn't have done so either. We have, however, managed, against the blockade of the hegemonial power USA, to realize Kyoto and to push through environmental policy internationally. That is a breakthrough. With Kyoto the climate catastrophe is still a long way from being averted. The international climate policy is growing ever more important - we must begin work on a second climate protection treaty and include the USA, and incidentally China and India as well. If we don't include the USA, multilateralism is only halfway."

A remarkable concession!  Europe needs to include the "hegemonial power USA" to be truly "multilateral." And all this time we thought you only needed France, Russia and China's approval to be truly "multilateral."

Maybe things are changing within the Green party. Bütikofer concludes the interview by begrudgingly admitting:

"But the Americans have re-elected Bush and his democratic legitimation is larger this time than four years ago. One can't dream that away."

No, one can't dream that away. And one also can't dream away the fundamentally anti-American, anti-conservative foundations and roots of the Green party. 

The Green Paradox: Kosovo vs. Iraq

(By Ray Drake)

We at Medienkritik recently received the following comment from one of our distinguished readers from Yale University in the form of an email:

“Your website continues to inform and, unfortunately, alarm me. I say "alarm" because the level of loathing of the US revealed in the German sources you cite has come as something of a shock to me. The recent extract from the Greens' position paper on Iraq struck me as especially disingenuous in the way it simultaneously condemned the use of force without UN approval in Iraq while defending it in Kosovo on the grounds that "genocide" was taking place or threatened in the latter.  Genocide?  Milosevic, while undoubtedly a brutal ruler by European standards, never perpetrated mass murder on the scale of Hussein.  Moreover, expelling Kosovar Albanians, terrible as that was, comes nowhere near the crimes committed by Hussein against ethnic and regional minorities in Iraq.  My own reading of the situation is not that there is any principled difference that can justify the German government's positions on Iraq and Kosovo, but simply that Germany found it advantageous to have the US assist in solving the Kosovo crisis (and ultimately ousting Milosevic).”

Unfortunately, the loathing for the US has a long history on the German left which predates George W. Bush. In a feature article on the Kosovo conflict entitled, “Division is in the Air,” SPIEGEL described the Green party’s internal divisions over the decision to support NATO-led military intervention against a sovereign state:

“The more the war over Kosovo escalates, the more the Greens will have to fundamentally think about their roots and future. If they have largely already swallowed that idealist pacifism doesn’t float in real politics, then they still have a number of painful realizations which lie ahead. (…) The realization for the Greens is bitter: If they want to live with this reality and remain in the government, they have to depart from their traditional resentment: anti-Americanism. (emphasis added)

That was 1999. Bill Clinton was President. Indeed, after much arm-twisting by Joschka Fischer, the Greens momentarily overcame their anti-American tendencies and supported NATO intervention in Kosovo. This all took place without United Nations approval.

Fast forward to one month ago. The Greens published an article condemning the US war in Iraq with the following words:

“That weapons of mass destruction have not been found up to now in Iraq shows above all one thing: the USA wanted this war. The claim that Iraq was a threat was untrue. Its goal was recognizable for more than a year – regime change. This goal is not allowable under international law as long as there is no immediate threat to the nation’s neighbors or to its own population through something of the dimension of genocide, as was, for example, the case in Kosovo in 1999.” (emphasis added)

If one examines the numbers on the ground however, this sort of logic amounts to nothing short of startling cynicism. In Kosovo, an estimated 5,000 to 12,000 people were killed in the Milosovich regime’s ethnic cleansing campaign.  In Iraq, even by cautious estimates from SPIEGEL “experts”:

“Alone in Hilla there are supposed to be up to 15,000 bodies buried. The workers of the human rights organization “Human Rights Watch” estimate that around 200,000 people were murdered under the rule of the Baaths and buried.”

So even if we take the highest estimate for Kosovo, 12,000, and the lowest for Iraq, 200,000, we come to the conclusion that at least fifteen times as many people fell victim to systematic genocide in Saddam’s Iraq.

Yet the Greens continue to insist that military intervention to stop genocide in Kosovo was entirely legitimate while condemning US intervention in Iraq as a violation of international law. A truly remarkable example of hypocrisy and “Doppelmoral.”

In a speech he made to convince Green colleagues that intervention in Kosovo was right, Joschka Fischer eloquently stated:

“Peace requires, that people are not murdered, that people are not driven off (made refugees), that women are not raped. That is what peace requires!”

We couldn’t agree more Joschka, and that is why Saddam had to go! 

Germany’s Greens Admit They Were Wrong on Iraq…Sort Of

(By Ray Drake)

In a recent article on Iraq, the Green party admitted that many of their fears about the war were exaggerated:

“Fortunately not all fears came true during the attack of the USA and Great Britain in Iraq that were associated with it: the damages are limited, the number of dead and injured among the population are not as high as presumed. The number of refugees has remained well below the worst-case scenarios.”

Graphic Above: Number of Iraqis Seeking Asylum in Germany 2003-2004: A Clear Trend
More Interesting Stats Here. (Source: German Federal Office for the Recognition of Foreign Refugees)

Let’s take another look back at some of those fears as expressed by members of Germany's left-wing Socialist-Green coalition before the war:

Heidi Wieczorek-Zeul (SPD), Minister of Development Aid: She expected "hundreds of thousands of innocent people, civilians, children, women" to become war victims, and she expected two to three million refugees.

Jürgen Trittin (The Greens), Minister for the Environment: "The Ministry of the Environment has several studies, among them UN documents. According to these 40.000 to 200.000 victims of military actions can be expected. (...) We are afraid, that up to 200.000 more people might die from the consequences of a war."

Christian Ströbele, MP (The Greens): "Tens of thousands of deaths..."

Wolfgang Thierse, President of the German Parliament (SPD): "I think of the millions of people in Baghdad, who will be victims of bombs and rockets."

It’s clear that the Greens, along with the SPD and PDS, fully exploited many German’s pacifist fears on Iraq and anti-American leanings to win votes over the past two years, particularly in the run-up to the 2002 national election. But no one is screaming about how they lied to us before the war and manipulated the facts with false predictions for political gain. It seems that Bush and Blair are the only ones being accused of that by the media.

Shocking New Revelation: Force Was Necessary!

The article continues with a healthy dose of realism uncharacteristic of the Greens: