Neo-Nazis Plan Large "National Center" for Anti-American Rallies Near Major US Base

US Troops and Families Can Expect Hostile New Nazi Neighbors in Grafenwoehr, Germany

This is unbelievable: The German NPD, a hard right nationalist Neo-Nazi party, has purchased a large indoor tennis hall in Grafenwoehr, Germany, the site of a major US military base, to hold large anti-American rallies, festivals and events.

But it gets worse: According to the NPD, the new hall is to be dedicated as follows:

"On the occasion of the separation of the USA from Great Britain on the 4 of July (so-called Independence Day) we plan on Sunday evening, July 2, 2005 to inaugurate our liberated zone with a large anti-American culture festival.

Motto: "No to slavery, the rule of money and imperialism: Dissolve the USA now!" Further major events are planned."

The frightening part of this all: The slogans of the Neo-Nazis are strikingly similar to those of the hard left in Germany. The last time the two combined politically in this manner, they overthrew the Weimar Republic and destroyed German democracy. Anyone worried yet?

NPD Stickers: (left) "Peace Instead of US Wars" (center) "Germany for us Germans!" (right) Stop the World Arsonist USA and its German Henchman!"

Here, now, is the translation of a major news article from SPIEGEL ONLINE on the NPD's plans:

"NPD Wants to Use Tennis Hall as "National Center"

The NPD has purchased an indoor tennis hall in Bavarian Grafenwoehr and wants to establish a "national center" there for large events. The mayor is appalled and is worried above all about the reaction of the Americans: Next to it lies the largest troop training facility of the US Army (in Germany).

Berlin - Finally - the NPD celebrates in a press release, the party has a "large object" in which it can hold large party rallies, concerts and other events. The hall will also be put at the disposal of other hard right parties such as the DVU and the Republikaner.

Helmut Waechter, the mayor of the 7,000 resident town near Regensburg, was shocked. He confirmed the purchase of the hall to SPIEGEL ONLINE that was unfortunately not preventable. The empty hall was sold by Dresden real estate developer Wolfgang Juergens to the NPD.

It plans an anti-American festival for the dedication on July 2, two days before the American national holiday. That is a particular provocation, because a large US training facility is in Grafenwoehr. The Americans plan the deployment of an entire brigade to the town, there are supposed to be investments in the hundreds of millions already planned. 8,500 soldiers and family members are to move there.

Waechter is worried about the image of his community. The US command still hasn't heard anything, but "you never know how sensitively the Americans will react" he said. He worries that the news of the new neighbors will reach the Pentagon. Neo-Nazis already showed up at the facility to protest against the troop facility a few years ago in Grafenwoehr. "That went by very quickly though" said Waechter.

The center also contains a completely new danger. The Social Democrat, who has been mayor for over 20 years, is confident, that he can still disrupt the NPD's plans. "We will exhaust all legal means" he has declared. For now the city will check the purchase and check if it can't eventually buy the hall itself.

In case that doesn't work, the city will check to see that the hall facility is used according to its intended design. The intended use of the hall is clearly for "sport, recreation and free time." The NPD, according to Waechter, must apply for a change in use and that will be denied - for one reason because of lack of parking. An event center as the NPD would like to have it, needs a certain number of parking spaces, according to regulation. The places belong to the city, according to Waechter."

The only problem is that, to now, the town and mayor Waechter have been unable to stop the NPD and it now appears that the Neo-Nazis will be able to hold rallies unhindered in the purchased hall.

German Anti-Americanism: Chickens Coming Home to Roost

Clearly, part of the blame must be directed at Gerhard Schroeder and Joschka Fischer and their Red-Green government for exploiting anti-American sentiment in Germany for the past three years for political profit. Let's not forget that not so long ago, Gerhard Schroeder's Justice Minister was comparing the methods of George W. Bush to those of Hitler to win an election.

The German left-wing media, above all SPIEGEL, Stern and Sueddeutsche Zeitung and the publishing houses that have released the most outrageous anti-American garbage over the past years, deserve an equal portion of the blame. Just a few months ago SPIEGEL ONLINE ran an article depicting the United States as having become "as scary as Osama Bin Laden." Stern recently ran this ugly gallery of anti-American stereotypes. (Anyone who has followed our website or looked through our archives knows of hundreds of further examples of the German media's attitude towards America.)   

More than anyone else, the German government and media have allowed America-hate to get out of control to this extent. So it is particularly ironic that an SPD mayor is so worried and appalled at what is happening. It is equally ironic that SPIEGEL ONLINE, of all news outlets, is reporting on this matter with such a concerned and worried tone. This all represents nothing more than the chickens coming home to roost...reaping what you sow.

Perhaps these groups will finally realize that they have spread the seeds of anti-Americanism to the point that even Nazis can successfully exploit the sad phenomena. Soon the growing Fascist movement in Germany will be able to intimidate and threaten American families in Grafenwoehr.

And how can the US government and the US military put the wives and children of US soldiers in a community like this? They are planning to move in thousands more Americans and invest hundreds of millions in this area? Are you kidding me?

If someone hasn't contacted the Pentagon, the White House, the State Department and the US Congress about this, we had better start doing so now people! (Here is a link to the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. You are welcome to post copies of your emails and letters in our comments section.)

There can only be one response to this: America needs to pull its troops, families and money out of Germany and keep pulling them out until this stops. There are plenty of other nations in Europe where American troops would be welcomed with open arms and where American financial investments would be greatly appreciated.

The SPD (Schroeder's Social Democrats), the Greens, the PDS (Communist party) and their friends in the media who have ceaselessly exploited anti-Americanism in Germany need to be thrown out of their positions of power and discredited. Germany is drifting towards extremism, irrelevance and economic mediocrity because of them.

When will enough be enough???

NOTE: Mr. Wolfgang Juergens, our "real estate developer" from Dresden, said that it was a pleasure for him to sell the NPD the tennis hall. Mr. Juergens officially sold the tennis hall to the NPD's chairman for Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Uwe Meenen.

The Tennis Hall's New Owner: Neo-Nazi Leader Uwe Meenan of Würzburg, Germany

Uwe Meenan has authored a number of articles including "The Flag of the Fourth Reich" and coauthored an article entitled: "The Fall of the Judeo-American Empire." Here is an excerpt:

"On 11 September 2001, there occurred the overdue general attack of the Islamic Middle Ages upon the Judeo-American Civilization, which is Modenism and thus Barbarism, in its own main depot.  These attacks were executed by the resurrected martyrs of a medieval Mohammedan warrior culture, which offers itself in sacrifice and takes as many as the enemy into death with it as it can. The Holy War and its martyrs are the crown of Islamic culture. Attack upon civilization, resurrection of cultures, and the smashing of the USA,  including its global Jewish influence-apparatus, along with the ending of the Jewish State and the simultaneous construction of a world order based upon the freedom of the various peoples, is the inseparable complete process of the anti-capitalist world revolution, at whose victorious conclusion Western values and their utilization process will be broken and the sovereignty of the nationalities established."

So the NPD people building this "national center" for anti-American Fascist rallies believe that September 11 was an "overdue attack" carried out by the "crown of Islamic culture." If that isn't disconcerting, I don't know what is...

(Article by Ray D., hat tip leo.)

Comments

[little lord]

Their tennis hall putsch will fail just like Hitler's beer hall putsch, LOL.

[Anthony]

Nazis and Commies using the same anti-American slogans. Am I worried?

Not really.

[leo (dissident view from Berlin)]

Uwe Meenen, who bought the tennis hall, co-authored The Fall of the Judeo-American Empire:

On 11 September 2001, there occurred the overdue general attack of the Islamic Middle Ages upon the Judeo-American Civilization, which is Modernism and thus Barbarism, in its own main depot. These attacks were executed by the resurrected martyrs of a medieval Mohammedan warrior culture, which offers itself in sacrifice and takes as many as the enemy into death with it as it can. The Holy War and its martyrs are the crown of Islamic culture. Attack upon civilization, resurrection of cultures, and the smashing of the USA, including its global Jewish influence-apparatus, along with the ending of the Jewish State and the simultaneous construction of a world order based upon the freedom of the various peoples, is the inseparable complete process of the anti-capitalist world revolution, at whose victorious conclusion Western values and their utilization process will be broken and the sovereignty of the nationalities established.

However, he forgot to mention that a resurrected martyr will have seventy raisins waiting.

[Ray D.]

For those who don't know, Uwe Meenen is the local leader of the NPD in a region near where the tennis hall is actually located. Thanks for the great comment leo.

---Ray D.

[Tom P]

I'm not worried. After all the help the USA gave to Germany over the decades (ie. the Marshall Plan, Berlin Airlift, NATO, etc.) these jackbooted jackasses will find themselves besieged by legions of pro-American supporters, right? Right?

Sarcasm aside, I'm not really that worried because of people like you around. Keep up the good work.

[Jim]

Excellent news. This smears the whole anti-American left line. Is this enough to make ordinary people in Germany take notice, if they finally hear about it?

[Peter P. Haase]

The best news yet. It is high time to let our boys come home and let Europeans stew in their own sauce of hatred.

Peter P. Haase
Boca Raton, Florida
USA

[Joe N.]

What arrogance - that any European can believe themselves so much the center of the world as to believe that they can decide if the united states should be dissolved.

I cant remember who, but someone once responded to that world view this way:
"Let that rooster stand upon their hill of dung and crow."

[Lou Minatti]

The NPD needs better propaganda. They use the strong RED and BLACK colors popular with neo-Nazis worldwide, but their posters lack the personal touch necessary to reach the masses.

The NPD needs to pump it up a bit. Get with the times. Modernise. Appeal to the Bavarian hausfrau.

For these propaganda posters, I recommend using a picture of George Bush wearing a cowboy hat, with an evil smirk on his face and blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. Perhaps he could be chewing the arm off a POOR BAVARIAN PEASANT GIRL dressed in traditional Bavarian clothes. (She's also blonde and has large breasts, of course.) In the background, a US flag with little Stars of David and McDonald's logos replacing the traditional stars. In the foreground, a crowd of obese Americans carrying Wal Mart bags and cheering Bush on.

Yes, that should do it.

[Huan]

my response is to ask why americans still maintain a defensive troop presence if pseudo ally Germany?
well past time to redeploy home permanently/

[GC]

I'd like to say that I am outraged, but nothing Germany does anymore surprises me. Where have all the rational people gone? -- perhaps to the the USA?

[Lou Minatti]

Huan, I'm not sure either. I can tell you that many career US military view a post in Germany as preferrable to just about anyplace outside the US. In fact, many of them want to go back after they retire. (I know, I was there.)

Perhaps 50+ years of pleasant memories has something to do with it. There are also a number of critical air bases that will be extremely expensive to move. Sure, we could probably pay a friendlier country to host a replacement for a critical base such as Ramstein, but it would cost billions to rebuild the facilities and move them elsewhere. I don't think we should make a move out of spite against what appear to be (so far) a group of fringe kooks.

Regardless of the cost and goodwill, if enough Germans demand that we leave, we'll leave. Germany's a sovereign nation and we will abide by their wishes.

[Chomskybot]

The frightening part of this all: The slogans of the Neo-Nazis are strikingly similar to those of the hard left in Germany. The last time the two combined politically in this manner, they overthrew the Weimar Republic and destroyed German democracy.

You are just as biased as the media you want to criticize...
German communists were among the first that ended up in the concentration camps. This, of course, doesn't mean that the Weimar Republic communists were helpful for democracy.

Clearly, part of the blame must be directed at Gerhard Schroeder and Joschka Fischer and their Red-Green government for exploiting anti-American sentiment in Germany for the past three years for political profit.

They decided not to participate in one particular war. Before Iraq, Schroeder connected his political future to the Green Party's approval of the Afghanistan mission.
Herta Däubler-Gmelin kicked herself out with her silly Bush-Hitler comparison. I don't even want to know what Republican politicians say about France and Germany when they feel unobserved by the press.
Stop crying and get over it.
I don't see any sense in referring to three year old stories again and again...

The German left-wing media, above all SPIEGEL, Stern and Sueddeutsche Zeitung and the publishing houses that have released the most outrageous anti-American garbage over the past years, deserve an equal portion of the blame.

I remember american magazines showing Chirac as a whore etc. It's on both sides.

[Norman]

We need to keep our troops in Germany. Now that the Germans and the French are working so well together again, we do not want to have to use amphibious vehicles again to return when it is time to xlean up their next mess. But any new facilities should be built in New Europe.

[Realitycheck]

I don't quite get the logic. The NPD creates a center near US troops facilities and wants the US out. So we write to the Pentagon asking them to pull the troops out until they stop? I see...

Grafenwöhr is a traditionally US friendly town. What do you expect them to do? Burn down the tennis hall?

Let the people of Grafenwöhr handle this peacefully. When the NPD holds its first convention, let's see who will play tennis with whom.

[Arlene]

@Lou Minatti

"Fringe Kooks?" When was the last time that you heard anything good about America coming from Germany? Fringe Kookism is an epidemic in Germany. They are not friends. They are not allies. There is no longer any connection between us. Good! Time for us to leave!

[J. D.]

Sadly I see nothing that changes the opinion I've formed. Somewhere around 2030 there will be the sound of a bell ringing across the world. Whatever supreme being or entity the variouse people believe in will point to Europe and announce "Round three now get in there."

Enough is enough. Members of two different generations of my family died on that soil. America has expended far more for Europe than ever has or will be returned. Bring the units home. Besides places like the Grafenwohr are arms pits anyhow (the only funny memory I have is of the British 175mm arty firing out of safe and hitting the range control tower).

[Ray D.]

@ Realitycheck:

Why should the US government subject our soldiers along with their spouses and children to a hostile environment where Neo-Nazi rallies are held on a regular basis?

As to Rammstein: I realize that it would be extremely expensive to move a major airstrip. I am not suggesting that. However, we should continue to draw down our forces in places like Grafenwoehr if this sort of thing is going to happen. Why should the US invest hundreds of millions of additional US taxpayer dollars and move thousands more troops into an area like this? I just can't see the logic in that.

---Ray D.

[Vilmos Soti]

Ray D. wrote:

> There can only be one response to this: America needs to pull its troops, families and
> money out of Germany and keep pulling them out until this stops. There are plenty
> of other nations in Europe where American troops would be welcomed with open
> arms and where American financial investments would be greatly appreciated.

Peter P. Haase wrote:

> The best news yet. It is high time to let our boys come home and let Europeans stew in
> their own sauce of hatred.

I disagree. Looking back at history, especially the 20th century, *NOT* only they will stew in their sauce of hatred. In my opinion, it would be a colossal mistake to withdraw. Remember, the US guarantees the safety of Germany and Japan so they don't need to arm. As an extension, the US also guarantees the safety of these two countries' neighbours. If the US leaves, then is it possible that Germany would be overtaken (maybe not big time) by the nazis or the likes. This excellent site mentioned how successful this NPD is in some German states. The US needs to decide which is a better/cheaper option: to station its troops in Germany, providing it with safety, or maybe to go to war again in the future. I think the stationing is far cheaper in any sense.

If the US leaves and Germany starts to re-arm again (maybe only to the extent to be able to protect itself), then a lot of other European nations will start to do so again. (remember, one high level Czech politician said why they look for the US, that they learned the value of the French security guarntee in WW2. They look for the US now, and if Germany needs to re-arm itself again, the I bet that all of its neighbors will do so.) Do we want the Europeans (and I say this as one albeit living in Canada), with the few exceptions (like the UK) to start arming? How expensive the next war would be in both monetarily but especially human lives? The US' stationing its troops there is a pittance compared to the alternative. Consider this as the cost of doing business.

Maybe the US should send a strong message to Germany that if things like this happens more, then the troops there will not only guarantee the German safety, but also make sure that Nazism doesn't raise its ugly head again. If the Germans don't like it, then a polite reminder to their past is due. I agree that today's generation is in no way responsible for their ancestors' acts, but the problem is that the very same thing is developing over there, AGAIN.

Vilmos
http://medienkritik.typepad.com/

[Ray D.]

@ chomskybot:

You write:

“You are just as biased as the media you want to criticize...
German communists were among the first that ended up in the concentration camps. This, of course, doesn't mean that the Weimar Republic communists were helpful for democracy.”

Your point is? The fact that totalitarian revolutions often swallow their children does not excuse the actions of the extremists after the fact. If you know your German history, you also know that Hitler did away with a lot of his own people, including a great number of the SA. That doesn’t mean the SA wasn’t directly guilty of helping bring the Nazis to power.

As to my “bias” why don’t you provide us some examples chomskybot. We bring examples virtually every day of what we see as bias in the German media. Name calling is hardly a convincing argument.

“They decided not to participate in one particular war. Before Iraq, Schroeder connected his political future to the Green Party's approval of the Afghanistan mission.
Herta Däubler-Gmelin kicked herself out with her silly Bush-Hitler comparison. I don't even want to know what Republican politicians say about France and Germany when they feel unobserved by the press.
Stop crying and get over it.
I don't see any sense in referring to three year old stories again and again...”

A lot of countries chose not to take part in the Iraq war. That is not the issue here. The issue is how Schroeder and Fischer exploited fear of war and anti-American sentiments in Germany to get elected. As far as Gmelin goes, she denied ever making the comment, then resigned. So if she never said it as she claims, why did she resign?

“I remember american magazines showing Chirac as a whore etc. It's on both sides.”

Examples? How often have you seen this in America’s largest, most widely read news magazines or newspapers? Give me an example from Time or Newsweek or the New York Times...just one chomskybot. We literally have scores of examples of extreme German media bias from two of Germany’s three largest news magazines (Spiegel and Stern) on this site, not to mention all of our other entries on other major publications. Don’t make me laugh with such obviously ridiculous comparisons. There simply is no comparison.

---Ray D.

[PacRim Jim]

The Germans have been Frenchified, so there's nothing to fear from them. All sauer and no kraut.

[Tom Penn]

I have long hoped to witness an honest public debate on my nation in Germany. I hope the US government doesn't say one word, plan one more deployment, or spend one more dime in Germany until it happens.

Personally, I can't wait to see the German view of the US on public display, openly and honestly debated by the German people. I want front row seats for "Germany on Parade Part Deaux". The first being the elections, political maneuverings and "peace" marches. All so very entertaining. Glad you're blogging, David and Ray. Thank you.

[Lou Minatti]

Arlene wrote, "They are not friends. They are not allies. There is no longer any connection between us."

I completely understand your feelings about this, but don't get carried away. There are still powerful and important business connections between the two countries, as well as millions of family relationships. Ignore the sh**heads; there are plenty of decent Germans. (We have our own sh**heads, but they congregate in California and the northeast. Germany's sh**heads are spread out better and there appear to be more per capita.)

[Ray D.]

@ Lou:

With all due respect Lou: How do you think Germans would feel if they had a large base in the US and the KKK purchased a large hall to hold anti-German rallies and "culture festivals" just next door on Germany's national holiday? Do you think that they would be comfortable with that? Do you think the German soldiers and their wives and kids would feel safe living in an area like that? Do you think the German government would want to invest hundreds of millions of its taxpayers' dollars (or Euros) in such an area and deploy thousands of their troops into that area?

Think about it.

---Ray D.

[Pamela]

This evening I watched a special authored by Tom Friedman on "Europe Hates Us?" He went to Germany, France, England, Spain. What did the Germans say?

"We love America and its values. But this is not America's values, this is Bush's values."

"Bush took away our America and it makes us angry"

"Bush has given power to the small people like border control"

"When I go to America I have to give my fingerprint"

"I travel everywhere, but I am afraid to go to America. I think I will get in trouble with the police."

But for all the damage done by German/European media, the U.S. media is just as complicit by not addressing Europe at all, except to tell us how pissed off Europeans are at us. That's it.

And Peter Haase, I thought your idea was to improve the friendship, not let your homeland "stew in the sauce of their own hatred".

[Arlene]

@Lou Minatti

You say to "ignore the sh**heads." I say that is part of the problem. They have been ignored for far too long. They are emboldened by the fact that there is never a price to pay for their hatred. Why should we allow ourselves to be so abused by the majority of Europe? We have done nothing but spend our blood and sweat to preserve Europe and our thanks is what? We are figuratively (and in some cases literally), spit upon by these ingrates. I wouldn't go to Europe again for any reason. And frankly, I don't believe there are more than a handful of decent Europeans left. Within twenty years we will be at war with Europe.

[Otis Wildflower]

Pull the US troops out of Germany, South Korea, and all other ingrate nations, sounds good to me.

Also, it gives me some satisfaction to believe that the FedGov is keeping the value of the dollar low in order to punish the crap out of Old Europe. Unemployment in Germany is approaching Weimar levels, and yet they can't export to the US. German auto manufacturers are creating nonunion jobs in the US for low-cost production, and giving the unions in both countries the shaft. I LOVE IT!! Squeeze 'em til it hurts, then squeeze some more.

It's just going to get worse and worse, and with the Chinese still in export mode trying to find work for those pushed off the farm by improved productivity, the US will continue to benefit and EU whiners will continue to get the long sharp shaft. This is so richly satisfying on so many guilty levels. Schadenfreude city.

[Arlene]

@Pamela

When Bill Clinton was president did Europe love us? German anti-Americanism has been going on for decades it did not spring up after Bush's election.

[Ray D.]

@ Arlene and Vilmos:

I really don't see the war scenario happening you two. I think you are going to the other extreme. If you disagree, what factors indicate anything like that will happen in the coming decades?

Sorry, but you lost me there.

---Ray D.

[Arlene]

Hatred of America is consuming Europe. Hatred needs an outlet. The war that I speak of may not be a hot one, but we are more than half way to a cold war already. How do you see it ending?

[Pamela]

Hello Arlene,

I was only posting what they said, no agreement implied. I know full well the genesis of anti-Americanism in Europe. Here's an article I always keep in my quiver, you are welcome to load in yours. "A Genealogy of Anti-Americanism". by James Ceaser, poli sci prof at U.Va. A snippet.

" An excellent summary of this position appears, quite unexpectedly, in The Federalist Papers. In the midst of a political discussion, Publius (Alexander Hamilton) suddenly breaks in with the comment: "Men admired as profound philosophers gravely asserted that all animals, and with them the human species, degenerate in America -- that even dogs cease to bark after having breathed awhile in our atmosphere." The oddity of this claim does not belie the fact that it was regarded for a time as cutting-edge science. "

Read his book "The Reconstruction of America".

[Vilmos Soti]

Ray D. wrote:

> I really don't see the war scenario happening you two.

Neither do I. Now. But wasn't many people in the 1930s sure that there would be no war? Except Churchill? Also, wasn't war outlawed in the late 1800s or very early 1900s? Then came WW1.

> I think you are going to the other extreme. If you disagree, what factors
> indicate anything like that will happen in the coming decades?

OK, a question to older European readers. How do you feel, that over the decades, people's opinion changed about the US? Is today's anti-Americanism is just a fad, or is it part of a longer trend? Is it stagnant, or increasing, or decreasing? Which side has the upper hand?

Another problem. In my opinion, Europe as we know now, will be history in 100 years. It will be Muslim. Here is a depressing article to read: http://techcentralstation.com/012705D.html

Also, read the following contribution to a blog by Mark Steyn (a journalist read all over the world): http://austinbay.net/blog/index.php?p=96#comment-979

Then you will understand what worries me about Europe. The major Dutch cities will be Muslim majority (at least regarding the youth) fairly soon. Sweden is also in a big trouble. What do you think what will happen? I am afraid that what Mark Steyn says regarding the traditional European solution: violence, massive destabilization, is right. If it is only a "civil war" withing Europe, then that's one thing. But what will ensure that it won't be anything more? Are you sure that if the jobless rate in Germany grows even higher, then won't be a second coming of a Hitler?

Europe is in a dire situation. Now it is manageable. But if the situation gets worse, then I will be very worried about Europe.

Vilmos

[Lou Minatti]

Ray,

I've spent time around Regensburg. To be precise, a tiny dot on the map called Parsberg. Maybe I just didn't look hard enough, but I just never saw this burning hatred that psychopaths like Uwe Meenan exude.

Granted, it's been 5-6 years since I was there, and perhaps things have changed. But I refuse to condemn the people of that town because a douchebag from Würzburg decided to create a new beer hall. In the US we have a term for people like Uwe Meenan. The term is "carpetbagger", outsiders with sinister motives who move in to take advantage of the locals.

Dunno, maybe I'm just being naive and things really have changed that much in Germany since I was there. But have things really changed THAT much? Do Germans hate Americans so much that they'd embrace an effeminate wannabe Nazi twat (look at his picture!) like Uwe Meenan? I am skeptical.

Now regarding your question, if the tables were turned and the KKK was purchasing a nearby icehouse to foment hatred against the local German military base in Podunk, Texas, yes, I agree that you'd definitely have a valid point. But only if the genuine locals (not the carpetbagger KKK kooks) AGREED with the KKK kooks.

In this real instance, Mayor Waechter is embarrassed that this is happening, but he cannot do anything about it since in a free society any putz can buy property if he/she has the cash.

(BTW, is it just me or does Uwe Meenan look like the kind of guy who has never been laid?)

[Realitycheck]

@Ray
From what I read in the article the mayor and the town of Grafenwöhr are doing everything to stop the NPD and have worked out legal tricks to do so (German bureaucracy can work to your advantage sometimes).

I didn't read that the people of Grafenwöhr are happy about having the NPD "in the house". Don't know what the NPD wants in Grafenwöhr. Maybe they will pretend that they "threw out the Americans"? Who knows.

Re US troops. I know it's hard to do but:

US troops are no longer in Germany to protect Germany. The enemy is simply no longer there and even if the Russians are getting "colder" again, they are far away and my God, they can't even handle Chechnya. But if they "come", having US troops fight in Poland or the Baltics instead of Germany might even be a benefit for Germany. Don't think it will happen. The Russians will have all hands full controlling breakaway provinces and the "Chinese menace".

Why are US troops still in Germany? Because it suits the USA. Much of the strategic planning of ME wars are done in Germany, the logistics are here, training grounds, hospitals, infrastructure. Of course the number of troops is shrinking, as the Pentagon develops new strategies, tries to cut costs, moves into Eastern Europe, closer to Russia or the ME.

If US troops leave completely, it will certainly hurt communities like Grafenwöhr, but on a national level it will not matter that much. It might affect the close and amicable contact between the US Army and the Bundeswehr.

The US will probably reduce troops in Germany anyway. Ramstein and Landstuhl are here to stay though. But not because the Pentagon has a soft spot for the local restaurants, shops and discotheques.

[Pamela]

Vilmos
>>Europe as we know now, will be history in 100 years. It will be Muslim.

France will be Muslim in 25 years. Given the prominence of France in the EU, Europe is screwed in less than 100 years. If they admit Turkey it's worse. I thought it was unlikely that would happen and even more so after the Paris riots in early March. But then I reconsidered the demographics and now am much less sanguine.

>> If it is only a "civil war" withing Europe, then that's one thing.

Well, I think they'll try to avoid it as they always do - coalition government. The Greens, the CDU & the Muslims in Germany and something similar in France. But keep in mind that the U.S. is still looking at long term problems. The EU is trying its level best to make it exceedingly expensive for the U.S. to compete in their market. GE/Honeywell; Microsoft; GM foods; so-called carcinogens in cosmetics; banning chemicals in computer components. All targeted at US economic strength. And now the proposed carrot for Iran is letting it into the WTO.

This is a war with many fronts, some not so obvious. Note that I put that in the present tense.

[Realitycheck]

LOL Lou Minatti, just my thought. US Neo-Nazis look quite similar in that respect!

Time to remember the "Ärzte" Song about Neo-Nazis

Weil du Probleme hast die keinen interessieren
Weil du Angst vor schmusen hast
Bist du ein Faschist
Du musst deinen Selbsthass nicht auf andere projizieren
Damit keiner merkt was für ein lieber Kerl du bist

Deine Gewalt ist nur ein stummer Schrei nach Liebe
Deine Springerstiefel sehnen sich nach Zärtlichkeit
Du hast nie gelernt dich zu artikulieren
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[Vilmos Soti]

Pamela wrote:

>> Europe as we know now, will be history in 100 years. It will be Muslim.
>
> France will be Muslim in 25 years.

And then? How much will this change France's relation to the US and the rest of the world? Let me guess. The French/US relations will be even worse. While I don't say (since I don't know) that many muslims want to "enjoy" muslim style rule, but we all know how much damage a few rotten apples can cause. And the situation is equally dire in Spain, Italy, etc. The birth rates are very low among the original populations. I think it will be a good idea to station US troops in Europe when Europe ceases being Europe and transforms into Eurabia. :-)

> Well, I think they'll try to avoid it as they always do - coalition government.
> The Greens, the CDU & the Muslims in Germany and something similar in France.

And how long will such a coalition last? The Muslim extremists know it is only a question of time when they will have real power. They can wait. Once that happen, it will be brutal both for the world, but especially for the "native" Europeans.

Vilmos

[Pamela]

Hello Vilmos,

>>And the situation is equally dire in Spain, Italy, etc. The birth rates are very low among the original populations. I think it will be a good idea to station US troops in Europe when Europe ceases being Europe and transforms into Eurabia. :-)

Ah. It's always a pleasure to meet someone who is familiar with the term 'Eurabia'. I agree with all your concerns wholeheartedly. I think the only difference is my timeline is a bit shorter than yours.

As for troops in Europe: My husband and I work in Washington - he is a lobbyist - and we have the privlege of getting to speak about things like this with members of Congress and staff. Here is what I have been told.

We will always have troops in Europe. They will not be deployed as they are now. Probably Ramstein will stay, but eventually not much else in Germany. Redeployment will be in smaller, more flexible units in places like Hungary, etc. I had another conversation about this about 2 wks ago - still some fights at the Pentagon on how best to distribute these people. One of the issues is that since there will certainly be fewer troops in Europe, we have to find places for them here in the States and that is neither easy nor cheap. The other interesting item I was told by a Congressman is that the U.S. expects Germany to recoup some of the lost revenue by suing the U.S. for environmental damage caused on the abandoned bases. Stuff like that.

It's midnight here on the East Coast. Past my bedtime. I'll check in tomorrow.

[KisKocsog]

Vilmos,

Szerintem igazad van. De nekem van egy kerdesem: A magyarok altalaban miert nem szeretik az amcsikat?

En nem tudom. Szerintem mert minden europai egy kicsit buta/irigy.

Csa!

KisKocsog

[Mike H.]

Has anyone discussed the next step with the jewish population of Europe? Are they going to try and wait out like they did the last time?

[Vilmos Soti]

Pamela wrote:

> As for troops in Europe: My husband and I work in Washington - he is a lobbyist

Then I think it is Washington D.C, and not Washington state. :-)

> Redeployment will be in smaller, more flexible units in places like Hungary,

YESSS!!! That's my home country. For people not familiar with it, a few info. It is about the size of Indiana, and the population is 10 million. When I was a child (30 years ago) the population was more like 11 million. Now it is barely over 10. It is a small and weak country, and foreign powers (Germans, Turks, Austrians, Soviets) always liked to occupy it. Unfortunately, like it or not, this is our history. We will never be independent in the sense that France, Germany, or the UK can be independent. We will always need (or at least this is my opinion) a strong friend. And as long as it is the US, I don't worry much. Actually I am not surprised at all that a lot of small European countries who were on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain are eager to have the US relocate their bases there. And not only for the economical advantages.

> The other interesting item I was told by a Congressman is that the U.S. expects
> Germany to recoup some of the lost revenue by suing the U.S. for environmental
> damage caused on the abandoned bases. Stuff like that.

That would be fairly disgusting. The US got rid of Hitler, protected them from the Soviets, enabled them to not spend on the military and thereby spend more on social things (which maybe wasn't such a great thing on the long run), and now they would sue the US military? I hope this is nothing more than a misplaced worry.

Vilmos

Europe's hatred springs from weakness. The Eurobetas insult the alphaAmericans only because they know there will be no response. If Russia or China were on top, Europe would hide in the closet and utter nary a peep.

[lemmy]

Fascism and Communism: Two FAILED systems (proven).

Absolutely amazing that people still cling to these pathetic tenets.

But, as we know, sometimes that is what people want to hear, only later to hear their hypocritical claims that they, too, were "victims" of a particular regime.

[LizardAbroad]

Ask the average person what the opposite of chocolate ice cream and they will say "vanilla ice cream". This is, of course, Quatsch. They are both ice cream. So is it with socialism. The difference between a National Socialist and other Socialists is pretty insignificant compared to their similarities.

That said, note that an Ossi sold the verdammte Hall, and I doubt there is a whole lot of NPD sentiment among the citizens of Grafenwoehr. Re: Meenan, Würzburg is allowed to have a couple Idioten. He looks like a Stricher (like Hitler was). So süß ich könnte kötzen.

[klaus]

@Chomskybot

You are just as biased as the media you want to criticize...
German communists were among the first that ended up in the concentration camps.

What Ray wrote is correct. Communists and Nazis have more in common than in difference. It is time to finally learn this lesson.

This, of course, doesn't mean that the Weimar Republic communists were helpful for democracy.

They were not only not helpful, but helped actively to destroy the first German democracy.

I don't see any sense in referring to three year old stories again and again...

It's not "old stories". It was the beginning of one story, which is still not finished. Unfortunately. It's title in a newspaper could be like:

"The Leftists fight for existence"
Collectivism vs. individual freedom / SPD the only wealthy left political party in Europe / "Feel like a dinosauraus" / "We don't like individual freedom, so we make our problem to the country's problem"

@GC:
Where have all the rational people gone? -- perhaps to the the USA?

Emigration is indeed a problem here in the meanwhile: more than 1,5 million native Germans left for emigration since unification. It's in the governmental annual migration report of last year and they comment it like: this aspect has not been object of research so reasons cannot be given....

Well, there are still rational people in Germany, of course. Waiting for better times. And another government. And the funeral of the political left.

@all:

I think that the debate here is partly hysterical ref. to Anti-Americanism and Islamism. And it is surprising:

There are Whites, Blacks, Muslims, Catholics, Proestants, Arabs, Muslims, Chinese etc. living in the US. And now, when 10% of the German population is "foreign" there are talks about Muslim majorities, "dangers", etc.

Very strange. The simple reality is: there is no homogenouos world today. Neither in the US, nor here.

The point is a different one: it's about ethic, about values, about moral. I agree that this is not what cares the political Left, but this doesn't mean that it doesn't care the PEOPLE.

I even would dare to say that there is not much change in my country. It only APPEARS this way, because of all those left airwave-blowers´and their buddies in parliament and government (please don't forget: state medias in Germany are controlled by government de-facto, so are the private ones, which have to apply for "licences"
by the laender-governments. RTL for example got a "licence" by a red-green government - either Hesse or Northrhine-Westfalia).

Anti-Americanism did spring up with the 98-election of Red-Green.

War? Well, I partly agree with Pamela: What the EU is doing here ref. to trade-blockings is dangerous in my view and those commissioners shouldn't have the power they have at present.

@anonymous:

Europe's hatred springs from weakness.

I would prefer to say that it's a mix of jelousy and not-matured political thinking: It shouldn't be forgotten that the US is the answer of Europe's problems.

By the way: how "German" are the USA? Just an informative question with informative answers asked for :-)

Kind greetings from Germany

Klaus

national socialists were left wingers, not right wingers. Its one of the greatest lie by our education system to paint nazi as right wingers

[Bernd]

I think if the NPD really starts any kind of rally in the hall there, you will see crowds of Germans protesting it - not only the people of Grafenwöhr, but a lot of anti-fascist activists from other places also. As I am a strong critic of Bush politics, I know that many german activists in the peace movement have strong ties to american friends and were equally shocked when we found out that the NPD was trying to take advantage of the anti-war sentiments in Germany.

I guess it is the purpose of this blog to denounce every critical statement on the Bush government or the US conservatives in the German media as "anti-american". However, this does not seem to be very helpful.

[klaus]

@Bernd:

I guess it is the purpose of this blog to denounce every critical statement on the Bush government or the US conservatives in the German media as "anti-american". However, this does not seem to be very helpful.

When I began to write in this blog a year ago or so, it became evident that this blog is a Pro-Bush-blog.

BUT: It is a FACT that our media are transporting Anti-Americanism - just read the countless quotes here taken from German media. It is a FACT that Red-Green doesn't like what the US-Republicans stand for (it's not just "Bush", you know). And it's a FACT that we urgently need to wrack down this ludicrous bureaucracy here and give freedom a chance.

One historical irony: the system of economy and values of the US of today have their origins and roots in - the Germanic culture, guess what. Just think, where Leo Strauss came from (he was a scholar of Carl Schmitt, before the Nazis chased him out of Germany, and the Vienna-based philosopher Hayek (or Hajek), whose "The Way to Serfdom" was printed in countless numbers - in English. Try to find a German version of this book on Amazon. You would hardly find any. Does this tell you something?

Kind greetings from Germany
klaus

[Bernd]

@ Klaus

Just for clarification: I am German, too. You mention three so called "facts", but in fact there is only one: Our government does not like what the US Republicans stand for. That's right. BTW, I don't like it either.

As on the media: The quotes here and their perception by the bloggers and commentators on this site tell more about conservative thinking and ability to deal with arguments than about German media. Journalists writing about the US are at best as cliché-reproducing as they are in their reporting about any other region of the world, and not very different from conservative american reporting about other countries (France!). But there is surely one difference: I think it was Thomas Friedman in one of his NYT columns who wrote that all the mainstream thinking on both sides of the political spectrum in Europe would well fit in the Democratic Party mainstream in the US, while there is nothing relevant comparable to today's Republicans in Europe. I think he is right. So, a Republican government seems to most Europeans out of touch with modernity and almost every wisdom and value we share - even more than it does for the anti-Bush half of the american population. Media is part of this society and will of course reflect this sentiment.

I won't comment on your other points - but you should reconsider what you call a "fact", especially writing in a site that deals with "Medienkritik".

Greetings from Berlin
Bernd

[Huan]

1. whether the US should maintain bases in Germany has nothing to do with how Germans perceive us. There is no military need to base them there at all. The action will be further east, either in places like ukhraine or central asia or the middle east. moving bases to eastern europe make both economic and military sense. And they would still be close enough to guard against a belligerent and resurgent franco-germanic alliance.

2. i feel for germans. they seem lost and angry, lashing outward instead of looking inward to resolve things. at the same time, i do not feel it is anyone elses responsibility to dictate to germans how germany should be, that is up to germans such as this site. best wishes for germany. (like how one should feel for a once intimate ex)