German Nobel Laureate: America's Crimes "Systematic, Constant, Infamous and Merciless"

(By Ray D.)

Nobel Prize Winner Grass Vilifies America to Standing Ovations at International Writer's Congress...

It's hard to stay relevant these days. Even as a Nobel Prize winner. Just ask Jimmy Carter. Fortunately, Guenter Grass, who won the prize for literature in 1999, has a knack for staying in the news, even at the ripe old age of 78. Germany's resident bard recently opened a book congress in Berlin for writers in "a world without peace" along with German President Horst Koehler. And it was Grass who received standing ovations from the audience. How? By extensively quoting fellow Nobel laureate Harold Pinter. Grass described the United States as a nation guilty of "systematic, constant, infamous and merciless" crimes and derided American foreign policy as "dangerous and stupid."

At the PEN Congress: German President Horst Koehler (center) and Guenter Grass (right)

Grass blasted the Iraq war and emphasized that it was the duty of authors to give names to the faces of those killed in the conflict. Interestingly enough, the author never felt the need to give a face or name to those tortured, imprisoned and put to death by Saddam Hussein's murder regime, at least not in a way that received the same notice in the German media. He felt no need to blast North Korean mass murder and imprisonment or Iran's threat's to "wipe Israel off the map." He felt no need to highlight the thousands murdered by the fanatical car bombers and assassins of Al-Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah. He felt no need to speak out on genocide in Congo or Sudan.

No. The United States is the real enemy. Stand up and cheer. Bravo!

Like Pinter, Grass characterized the United States as a scheming power that has made others believe it is really fighting for good by putting on a "brilliant, even witty, highly successful act of hypnosis." He attacked the US as responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths stemming from its Cold War support of dictators in Indonesia, Chile, Brazil and Greece.

Unfortunately, Grass seems to have descended into the deep abyss of selective reality. He claims that the war on terror has only strengthened dictators and their power structures. Apparently the Nobel laureate missed the overthrow of the Taliban terror regime in Afghanistan. He must have also missed Libya's renunciation of its weapons programs and Syria's retreat from Lebanon. He must have overlooked the increasing international cooperation to isolate Iran.

And what of the Cold War? Did the United States support Pinochet in an historic vacuum? It seems that Grass still hasn't noticed the difference between eastern and western Germany. It seems that he has forgotten the millions murdered by Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot and Ho Chi Minh. Grass belongs to a fading elitist class that still believes that Germany's Ostpolitik could have negotiated a merciless Communist regime into submission without the backing of American tanks, infantry and missiles. In reality, it was both the military and diplomatic efforts of the United States and its allies that ended Soviet absolutism following World War II. That said, there is no doubt that the United States involved itself with leaders who, in hindsight, it was wrong to support. But for Grass to ignore or omit the historic context of the Cold War is a ringing declaration of intellectual bankruptcy oft repeated by the far left.

Sadly, Grass belongs to a class of Europeans who have themselves never lifted a finger for democracy or human freedom, yet feel obligated to criticize those who act, and sometimes fail, in the fight against fanaticism and dictatorship. These self-satisfied, smug armchair critics are so blinded by visions of moral superiority that they can't so much as acknowledge facts that don't conveniently fit into their worldview.

The most damaging aspect of the inflammatory, populist banter spewed by Grass and others like him is that it completely undermines and undercuts all honest, constructive criticism of the United States. How can Germans expect Americans to fully respect their honest concerns when Americans see, day for day, ignorant populist hatred spewing forth from German society? The simple answer is that they can't.

Unfortunately, Guenter Grass DOES represent a powerful, influential segment of the German mainstream that has manifested itself time and again in German media and politics. The fact that German President Horst Koehler listened nearby as Grass made his comments is clear evidence of that, as are the magazine covers displayed on the sidebar of this website. Sad but true...

Update: A great article (in German) on Grass from Die Achse des Guten. And another good commentary (in German) at Politically Incorrect. And another via Statler & Waldorf. Additionally, the PEN conference is an international congress taking place in Germany, not a German event as we earlier indicated.

Comments

[George M]

A good friend from college was stationed in West Berlin during the heady days of the erection of the Berlin wall, 1961 - 1963. He specifically remembered Gunter Grass, an aspiring writer, who would troll for GI's at the American Library in West Berlin.

My friend was unclear whether Grass had a sexual motive for meeting American GIs. However, one thing was clear. Grass was very enthusiastic about America and Americans.

Somewhere during the late 60s, he made an "Umwandlung" that is worthy of Franz Kafka. It appears today that Gunter has become the embodiment of Gregor Samsa, Kafka's main character in the "Umwandlung." He has turned into an old, fetid, disgusting beetle!

[Pamela]

I've forgotten what was going on in Europe at the time - perhaps the French and Dutch referendum on the EU constitution. At any rate, Grass wrote this absolutely ludicrous screed in the NY Slimes about the evils of capitalism and the moral superiority of the social-justice welfare state. It provided chuckles for a good two days.

I'd love to feed him to the buzzsaw known as Christopher Hitchens.

[MarkD]

He's a pathetic old fool looking for attention. Sort of like Hunter Thompson, who at least had the class to off himself after realizing that his future was all behind him.

The only other comparison I can come up with is Jimmy Carter, minus the carpentry skills.

[Pamela]

This is from LGF via German Eurabia
German Eurabia
Hamburg - In Hamburg, a 40-year-old man beheaded his wife (39) . Afterwards, he ran, his wife’s head in his hand, to a nearby gas station and turned himself in to police. At the time of the brutal murder, both daughters (6 and 13) were in the apartment of the married couple.

Well, he turned himself into police. Gunter Grass should be pleased - if not proud - of this man's obiescence to the authorities.

does it occur to anyone - ANYONE - that this constant harping on the United States is a mere shell game? Grass and his co-horts wanted the communists to win. Or at least not out them?

George M., look at your post. This is a classic KGB blackmail scenario.

[Charlie]

Okay, maybe Guenter right. Maybe it was just too much for Bush to send to Iraq a full brigade of squealing midgets. But then, war is hell.

[Jesse]

It's people like this who actually make level-headed people question all the horror stories from the 30s and 40s (clearly, his lifestyle and political agenda is and has been his motivation - and if he isn't objective here, then it's reasonable for someone to conclude that perhaps he never was). Hopefully I won't be jailed for saying that - get an Einreiseverbot, or somethingorother.
But seriously, we've already had the head-ball story. The Turks with their 'documentary' have already psuedo-insisted that Americans are cutting organs out of people and sending them to Israel. All that's lacking is the claim that the Americans are making furniture out of people, and my little reality is going to feel much less secure - in any case I'll be approaching everyone and everything with an equal amount of cynicism. Someone just needs to draw up a big fat list of the things and people that no one is allowed to *publicly* call into question so that it's easier to avoid entanglements with the authorities. Do you see the problem with your overboard stance Günter? No, I didn’t think so.

[Don]

He has turned into an old, fetid, disgusting beetle!

Gunter Grass. This is news? Bethold Brecht did the same before him more originally and more wittily. Grass is a walking talking cliche....

[Scott_H]

"Unfortunately, Grass seems to have descended into the deep abyss of selective reality."

This, and the examples of this you give, remind me of a scene from a 1980's movie called "The Final Option." The movie was a showcase for the British SAS and was inspired by the Iranian Embassy Seige in London that had occurred previously.

In that movie, a radical terrorist group demanding "total nuclear disarmament" (lead by an American, ironically) takes over the US Ambassador to England's residence in London during a dinner party attended by many dignitaries. One of their demands for the release of the hostages was for the US to fire a tactical nuke "in the name of peace" at a submarine base in England so that the world could "witness the horrors of nuclear war."

An exchange between the terrorist leader, Frankie Leith (played by Judy Davis), and the US Ambassador regarding that demand went something like this (paraphrasing, of course, since I don't remember the exact quotes):

Ambassador: What is it that you hope to achieve by firing a nuclear missile at the Holy Loch Submarine Base -- which, by the way, is something you know they'll never do?

Terrorist: We want total nuclear disarmament.

Ambassador: But, the Western democracies first, right?

As a side note, I'm astounded by the sheer ignorance of either Grass or his audience (or both). Doesn't he know that European colonialism is the root cause of all of the worlds ills?

[pigilito]

To Grass, as an author, everthing must have a plot and a sub-plot. Your analysis of his motives and beliefs is first rate.

[George M]

Scott:

"Unfortunately, Grass seems to have descended into the deep abyss of selective reality."

Gunter is not the only one stuck in this reality. Stern is reporting today on the 60 Taliban that met their fate with their 72 virgins, courtesy of the U.S. Air Force.

"Die Taliban kämpfen gegen die neue von den USA unterstützte Regierung Afghanistans und wollen diese stürzen."

"USA unterstutzte Regierung?" Tell me if I am wrong, but wasn't the present Karsai government, that was elected by the Afghani people, formed during a conference hosted by our German friends in Bonn? Did not Germany play a central role in hosting the conference in Bonn where the Karsai government was formed, and did not Germany also play a central role in getting the various factions to chose Karsai?

Also, are there not 3,000 Bundeswehr soldiers in Afghanistan, protecting this same Karsai government?

[Helian]

“Like Pinter, Grass characterized the United States as a scheming power that has made others believe it is really fighting for good by putting on a "brilliant, even witty, highly successful act of hypnosis."

Do the victims of the holocaust still have a voice? Do they claim we were fighting for evil when we annihilated the power that murdered them? Do those who disappeared in the Gulag still have a voice? Do they claim we were fighting for evil when we resisted the power that oppressed them? Do those whose bones still lie in the killing fields of Cambodia still have a voice? Are they shouting that those who fought to save them were really their murderers? Are they clamoring that the Khmer Rouge who decapitated their country were really their deliverers? Do the victims of Milosevic’s attempted genocide still have a voice? Are they shouting “Yankee go home!” and demanding the return of the fascist thugs who tried to annihilate them? Do the people of Somalia still have a voice? How many of them are alive today because of the “selfish act” of the US that fed them when they were starving? Are they shouting for the food to be returned? Do the murdered and gassed children of Halabja still have a voice? Are they demanding that the evil Yankees go home? Do they yearn for the return of Saddam?

It is not even debatable which side is fighting for good in the world today. The voices of the victims of the Stalinists, fascists, and other assorted pond scum that vile, hate mongering little pigs like Grass have always so ably defended are too loud. He and his ilk will never silence them. Their suffering will stand as a mute accusation against Grass and his kind for all time. What a positive role his kind have played in history! Once they shouted anathemas against the enemies of Stalin, clearing a path for him. When that dictator came to power, he killed every single one of these collaborators, an act of ironic historic justice in a career of otherwise unmitigated evil. Now the Grass clones of the world are promoting the very evil that filled the vacuum left by the demise of Communism. Look at the propaganda of the Islamists, and you will notice a striking similarity with the hackneyed, thread-bare stock in trade of the defeated Communists and their intellectual kin who have now managed to inveigle themselves into such dominating positions in the European political and educational systems and mass media. The leftist intellectual magic has suddenly transformed obscurantist, misogynist, bigoted religious fanatics into brave liberators, boldly defending the “people” against the evil forces of colonialism and imperialism. The people of the former Soviet Union and eastern Europe already know what that kind of “liberation” means.

We should hardly be surprised by this incongruous alliance. After all, the actual content of the Koran and the Hadith are hardly likely to appeal to the Islamist’s leftist fellow travelers as a source of propaganda slogans. Better to just ignore all that under the rubric of the “religion of peace,” and fall back on the old standbys. Dogs will always return to their own vomit. Want to see a mirror image of the Communist propaganda of the 30’s? Just visit any Islamist website and you’ll see the same, tired old lines.

Grass’ “standing ovation” should come as no surprise. Europe is full of irrational haters, and nothing pleases them more than having their irrational hatred justified and rationalized by one who can hide behind the faux moral authority of a Nobel prize. They are haters nevertheless, and the charade they are playing has long been obvious to anyone who takes the trouble to think.

Grass and his ilk aren’t “speaking truth to power.” They are the power in Europe today. Their objective historical role has been to serve as shills for the worst manifestations of evil the world has ever seen. Stalinists, Nazis, Islamists, you name it. Their hands are covered with the blood of the victims. The first thing we need to do is stop apologizing to these people. They are as much our enemies as the Stalinists, Nazis and Islamists they have always served so effectively. Look at the half-baked portrayals of America served up to an ignorant populace every day in the European media, and you will see no attempt to reveal the truth, to tell the whole story, to truly inform, or to notice the positive. You will see only the systematic reinforcement of prejudice, smug self-righteousness and hate. These people are our enemies. We must recognize them as such. There can be no compromise with people whose entire ideology is based on resentment, envy, and an irrational desire to destroy. There is no point in attempting to explain, reason, or compromise with people whose fondest wish is to destroy you.

America, with all her warts, is the strongest, most consistent force for good in the world today. Hers is the historical role of defending the values of the Enlightenment from the dark forces of fanaticism, obscurantism, and hate. It is by no means certain that she will succeed. Many of her people have forgotten what Liberty and freedom really mean. They would throw the human rights their forefathers shed their blood to establish out the door in favor of the chimera of security. We need all the help we can get to bring them back to their senses and remind them that it is more worthy to defend human rights than the security of slaves. From Europe, that help should come in the form of honest, positive, constructive criticism from those we recognize as our friends. We will never hear that criticism as long as hate peddling pigs like Grass control the public forum. If they succeed they will poison our relationship and build a wall between us. Kudos to Medienkritik for its consistent and principled resistance to the haters. Keep fighting the good fight.

[Don Miguel]

I'm still wondering why people care about the opinions of journalists, much less writers or actors.

[WhatDoIKnow]

Do those who disappeared in the Gulag still have a voice? Do they claim we were fighting for evil when we resisted the power that oppressed them?

Simple answer is "No, they don't". Grass has a voice, Chomsky, Moore.

A large part of my family of all ages died in cattle trains on their way to Siberia, like other countless millions. Their fault? Being Romanians in a part of Romania that the Soviets wanted (today's "Republic of Moldova"). Other relatives were lucky to survive 17 years in Communist prisons just to die after being released because of the prison treatment. But hey, some did return from Siberia eventually, so I shouldn't complain too much.

The dramas caused by Communism extend beyond anyone's wildest imagination and left scars that will never heal. Intelectuals all over the world would have material to dissect and analyze Communism for decades. Heck, six years of world war fill out entire libraries. What about 50 to 80 years of Communism ?

Yet, the intelectual "elites" have no interest in truly confronting the evil of the past. They are busy refurbishing it and selling it in a new package, or simply avoiding it. That's the spirit - Everyone knows that Communism was kind of wrong, here and there, but now let's focus on the true miscreature of humanity: America. What is the difference between a Gulag guard and Grass & CO? One kills you with a gun, the other one burries deep in the mud the ones who try to help.

The EU "elite" is generally made up of hollow people who are dark inside, sensitive to other people's sufferings only as long as it doesn't contradict their rigid empty structure. The conditions in North Korean Gulags in which millions died must be beyond human comprehension, but Grass's and EU's voice shivers only when it speaks of American-flushed Korans. Everything starts and ends with America. America hating/bashing is the new opium of (many) people. It is the New Age religion and its worshippers include Taliban, Al Qaida, Communists and EU "elites", amongst others.

==============================

@Don Miguel

I'm still wondering why people care about the opinions of journalists, much less writers or actors

Because unfortunately in EU they give the tone and the people follow. It is very sad and discouraging. This also happens to a certain extent in the US, but it's not even close.

[LC Mamapajamas]

WDIK: Your family history is frightening :(. I don't know how I would act around Marxist apologists if I were you. Cuban friends of mine respond to Castro apologists with brilliant lessons in Spanish cursing.

re: "That's the spirit - Everyone knows that Communism was kind of wrong, here and there, but now let's focus on the true miscreature of humanity: America."

Yup... if we try it just one more time, maybe this time we'll get it right!

It never ceases to amaze me that these pseudo-intellectual dingbats still haven't figured out the lessons from Medieval times... that Feudal redistribution schemes don't work, never have worked, and never will. It is against human nature. And this is all that even the very best of socialistic plans is, never mind an extreme situation like Marxism.

Redistribution places too much power into the hands of the elites doing the redistributing. And it doesn't matter whether you call those elites "king" or "chairman", it all ends up the same. That kind of power is corruptive, and no one escapes that, no matter how good their intentions at the start.

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[Jabba the Tutt]

@Helian: "“Like Pinter, Grass characterized the United States as a scheming power that has made others believe it is really fighting for good by putting on a "brilliant, even witty, highly successful act of hypnosis.""

Where is this "brilliant, even witty" pro-US propaganda? I've spent hours on the internet and haven't found it. Where is it? Or is Rove (Bush's Brain) so clever, that he's put the anti-American ranters in the front row, because of how they discredit themselves? In 2003, the "anti-War" marches attracted millions world-wide. Today, they have trouble getting 5000 people together.

Now, in the USA, starting with Los Angeles, up to 2 million illegal aliens and supporters took to the streets in another clever Rovian plot. Today, up to 80% of the Americans support controlling the border and oppose any amnesty or reward for the illegal civilian invaders. Another successful backlash operation.

So, the obvious conclusion is that Grass is an operative of the GOP (the CIA being on the other side now).

[Former CNN Watcher]

I will always be grateful To Grass for contributing to a great anecdote reported by Tom Wolfe, that is one of the finest retorts to the lunatic left.

Read it here:
http://volokh.com/posts/1139878045.shtml

[F. Hoffmann]

Für alle, die ein bissel deutsch können, hier der (imho) beste Kommentar zu Grass, geschrieben von Alan Posener von der WELT am Sonntag:
http://www.wams.de/z/plog/blog.php/apocalypso/kritik_der_kritischen_kritik/2006/05/27/guenter_grass_erklaert_den_krieg

Kritik der kritischen Kritik
Günter Grass erklärt den Krieg
Zu den großen Enttäuschungen dieser Woche gehörte die Rede von Günter Grass vor dem PEN-Kongreß in Berlin, der unter dem Motto tagte, „Schreiben in friedloser Welt“. Ich weiß nicht, warum ich enttäuscht war. Schließlich hat Günter Grass seit seinem Roman „Kopfgeburten oder Die Deutschen sterben aus“ (1980) keinen originellen Gedanken mehr gehabt; und sprachlich legt jedes neue Werk seit der „Blechtrommel“ (1959) Zeugnis ab über die nachlassende Potenz des Autors. Doch wenigstens zu einer ordentlichen anti-amerikanischen Philippika sollte es reichen, dachte ich, an der ich mich mit einer gewissen intellektuellen (wenn auch masochistischen) Lust abarbeiten könnte.

Aber nein. Den aktuellen Teil seiner Rede (also das modische Geschimpfe auf Amerika) hat Grass einfach von Harold Pinter abgeschrieben, was zugleich auf intellektuelle Erschöpfung und politische Feigheit hindeutet. (Denn Pinter ist tatsächlich Antiamerikaner, wie gleich zu zeigen sein wird, was Grass ja weit von sich weisen würde. Und so kann er notfalls sagen: ich hab’ ja nur zitiert.) Garniert hat Grass die Pinter-Wiederholung dann mit der üblichen Frühstücksdirektorenprosa, die deutsche Intellektuelle mittlerweile auf der Repetiertaste haben.
Beginnen wir also mit dem Pinter’schen Herzstück der Grass-Rede. (Und vergessen wir nicht, daß Pinter einmal ein grandioser Dramatiker gewesen ist. Ich denke etwa an „The Birthday Party“ und „The Dumb Waiter“.) In seiner Rede zur Annahme des Nobelpreises sagte Pinter u.a.

»Nach dem Ende des Zweiten Weltkrieges unterstützten die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika jede rechtsgerichtete Militärdiktatur auf der Welt, und in vielen Fällen brachten sie sie erst hervor. Ich verweise auf Indonesien, Griechenland, Uruguay, Brasilien, Paraguay, Haiti, die Türkei, die Philippinen, Guatemala, El Salvador und natürlich Chile. Die Schrecken, die Amerika Chile 1973 zufügte, können nie gesühnt und nie verziehen werden.

In diesen Ländern hat es Hunderttausende von Toten gegeben. Hat es sie wirklich gegeben? Und sind sie wirklich alle der US-Außenpolitik zuzuschreiben? Die Antwort lautet ja, es hat sie gegeben, und sie sind der amerikanischen Außenpolitik zuzuschreiben. Aber davon weiß man natürlich nichts.

Es ist nie passiert. Nichts ist jemals passiert. Sogar als es passierte, passierte es nicht. Es spielte keine Rolle. Es interessierte niemand. Die Verbrechen der Vereinigten Staaten waren systematisch, konstant, infam, unbarmherzig, aber nur sehr wenige Menschen haben wirklich darüber gesprochen. Das muß man Amerika lassen. Es hat weltweit eine ziemlich kühl operierende Machtmanipulation betrieben und sich dabei als Streiter für das universelle Gute gebärdet. Ein glänzender, sogar geistreicher, äußerst erfolgreicher Hypnoseakt.«

Und halten wir fest: Das, was Pinter im ersten Absatz schreibt, stimmt, leider. Und man könnte Diem in Vietnam und die Generäle, die Diem stürzten und ermordeten, oder den Schah im Iran mitsamt seinem SAVAK-Geheimdienst hinzufügen. Von Saudi-Arabien, Ägypten und diversen anderen arabischen Schurken ganz abgesehen. Von links (Jimmy Carter) wie von rechts (die Neocons) hat es immer wieder amerikanische Politiker gegeben, die an dieser Art Realpolitik gelitten und sie zu verändern versucht haben.

Freilich war das nach dem Fall des Kommunismus leichter zu fordern (und zu bewerkstelligen) als in einer Situation, da man oft genug zwischen zwei Übeln wählen mußte oder wählen zu müssen glaubte. Der Ehrlichkeit halber muß man fragen, was aus Chile (und ganz Südamerika) geworden wäre, wenn es den linken Kräften gelungen wäre, das Land in den Bürgerkrieg und die linke Diktatur zu treiben, wie es die Trotzkisten wollten. Man hatte ja das Modell Kuba vor Augen. Der Ehrlichkeit halber muß man erzählen, was mit Vietnam passierte, von Kambodscha ganz zu schweigen, nachdem die Kommunisten die Macht übernahmen. Und so weiter und so fort. Die Zeit, von der Pinter spricht, ist die Zeit des Kampfes zwischen Mao (70 Millionen Opfer) und Stalin bzw. seinen Nachfolgern (50 Millionen Opfer) auf der einen Seite, den Demokratien auf der anderen. Und da gab es eine Seite, die für das Richtige stritt und eine, die für das Falsche. Das mag nichts oder wenig entschuldigen; aber es gehört zu einem fairen Bild. Aber Pinter will kein faires Bild zeichnen, so wenig wie Grass.

Was nun den zweiten und dritten Absatz betrifft, so ist das schlicht und einfach Blödsinn. Die Verbrechen der USA oder der von den USA gestützten Diktatoren hätten niemanden interessiert? Das kann Pinter eben nur sagen, weil er im ersten Absatz die beiden Paradefälle Persien („Modell eines Entwicklungslandes“ – Bahman Nirumand) und Vietnam (!) weggelassen hat. Durch die ganzen 60er und 70er Jahre hindurch hat man ohn’ Unterlaß von Vietnam und Persien – und dann auch von Chile – gesprochen, hat Demos und Komitees und Solidaritätsadressen organisiert und stets und immer wieder die Rolle der USA betont, und wenn demgegenüber etwa Indonesien zu kurz kam, so eben wegen der Konzentration auf diese Paradebeispiele, und keineswegs, weil es den USA gelungen wäre, davon abzulenken. Über Suhartos Coup in Indonesien wurde sogar 1982 ein Film mit Mel Gibson gedreht, als die meisten Intellektuellen hierzulande der Meinung waren, Hollywood sei sozusagen eine Propagandaagentur der amerikanischen Rechten, nicht deren Haßobjekt. (Für Hollywood wurde übrigens Harold Pinter als Drehbuchautor tätig, nachdem ihm, wie Grass, die schriftstellerische Potenz versiegte.)

Der Kernsatz in dieser Suada lautet:

„Die Verbrechen der Vereinigten Staaten waren systematisch, konstant, infam, unbarmherzig…“

Das ist nun offener, ungeschminkter Antiamerikanismus, und dafür muß man Pinter dankbar sein. Hierzulande ist die Offenheit wieder einmal aus der Mode gekommen. Man ist ja nicht gegen Amerika – nur gegen Bush. Der Satz ist zwar falsch – die Verbrechen „der USA“ – gemeint sind vor allem der innere Kreis um Präsidenten wie Kennedy, Johnson und Nixon sowie die CIA ­– waren unsystematisch, eben nicht konstant; infam ja, wie jedes Verbrechen; und unbarmherzig, nun ja, barmherzige Verbrechen wären ja noch schlimmer; sie wurden mit schlechtem Gewissen begangen, wider besseres Wissen und Gewissen und meistens unter Hintergehung der Öffentlichkeit und des Kongresses. Der Satz ist also falsch und unterstellt den USA die leninistische, stalinistische, maoistische Bosheit ihrer Feinde, von denen Pinter schweigt; aber er ist offen, er bezieht Partei. Er entstammt einer spezifisch britischen Tradition des Anti-Amerikanismus, in der ich auch erzogen wurde, und die im Kern dem Ärger über die Selbstgerechtigkeit entspringt, mit der die USA nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg das britische Weltreich kritisierten und demontierten. Das ist nicht unwichtig, denn wie der Amerika-Haß des deutschen Nobelpreisträgers letztlich recht ungefiltert aus seiner Sozialisierung im Dritten Reich zu uns herabkommt, ist der Amerika-Haß des britischen Nobelpreisträgers ein mir vertrauter Topos aus der Nachkriegszeit, sozusagen eine antiimperialistische Überkompensation des Verlustschmerzes nach dem Zusammenbruch des Empire.

Soviel zu Pinter. Grass nun beginnt seine Rede vor dem Kongreß „Schreiben in friedloser Welt“ mit der Feststellung, friedliche Zeiten habe es nie gegeben. Blödsinn natürlich, aber Blödsinn, der wie Hamlets Wahnsinn Methode hat. Wenn immer schon überall Krieg war, dann waren alle immer schon am Töten, und von besonderen Kriegen (besonders von EINEM besonderen Krieg) brauche ich dann nicht zu reden:

Immer herrschte nahbei oder weit weg Krieg. Oft tarnte er sich als »Befriedung« oder »Normalisierung«, todbringend war er allemal. Auch fehlte es nicht an Heldengesängen oder nüchternen Beschreibungen gallischer oder sonstiger Kriege. Zu unserer Zeit unterhielten uns mit trickreich gesteigerter Spannung Filme auf Leinwänden und auf der Mattscheibe, die ihren Stoff aus unablässigem Kriegsgeschehen bezogen: abermals Heldenrollen zuhauf. (…)

Immer war Krieg. Und selbst die Friedensschlüsse bargen, gewollt wie ungewollt, die Keimzellen künftiger Kriege, gleich, ob Verträge im westfälischen Münster oder in Versailles ausgehandelt wurden.

Das ist überhaupt die wiederkehrende Coda bei Günter Grass: DER Krieg an sich ist schlecht; und „Befriedung“ ist eben nur Tarnung; und Heldengesänge und Hollywood gaukeln uns trickreich vor, es könnte hierbei vielleicht auch gelegentlich (oder auch nur in den EINEN Fall) um Recht und Unrecht gehen, um Aggression und Widerstand: siehe etwa „Private Ryan“ vom Juden Spielberg. Da zieht Günter Grass den Antisemiten Celine vor.

Nun gut; es folgt auf diesen rhetorischen Trick, mit dem Faschismus und Antifaschismus, Kommunismus und Antikommunismus, Terror und Antiterrorismus als Kategorien unter den Tisch gekehrt werden, ein braver Grundkurs Deutsch 11. Klasse, in dem Grass die barocke deutsche Kriegsklagenliteratur (Gryphius, Opitz, Dach, Grimmelshausen) zitiert, um dann unvermittelt in die Pinterei zu springen.

Oder vielmehr nicht unvermittelt, sondern vermittelt; denn auf die Klage darüber, daß Deutschland im 30-Jährigen Krieg zum Schlachtfeld der europäischen Mächte wurde, folgt zunächst die Feststellung:

„Selbst den meiner Generation nachgeborenen Autoren, denen während Zeiten der Aufrüstung und Erprobung von atomaren Erstschlägen Frieden durch wechselseitige Abschreckung verheißen wurde, blicken, sobald sie in geretteten Familienalben blättern, ernst und jung verheiratet das Foto des Urgroßvaters oder des Großvaters an: Der eine verblutete während der Materialschlacht um Verdun, der andere krepierte im Verlauf der Panzerschlacht von Kursk, und schon wollen sie erinnert, das heißt belebt werden, und sei es auch nur auf Papier.“

Ja, sie wollen erinnert werden, Herr Großschriftsteller, aber wie sollen sie erinnert werden? Hier möchte ich an meinen Onkel Karl erinnern, der als 15-Jähriger freiwillig für Kaiser und Vaterland in den Krieg zog und Unaussprechliches vor Verdun und anderswo erlebte – an den Artilleristen und Arzt Karl Posener, den die Nazis dann aus dem Land seiner Väter trieben; und daran, daß sein Bruder Julius, mein Vater, in der Uniform der Feinde aus dem Ersten Weltkrieg 1945 nach Deutschland zurückkehren mußte, weil es keinen anderen Weg zurück gab als durch den Krieg. Und es tut mir leid um den bei Kursk Krepierten, weiß Gott, aber starb nun einmal für die falsche Sache, das muß einmal irgendwo gesagt werden; und ich will meinen Vater und die britische Armee nicht verklären, aber er kämpfte in ihren Reihen für die richtige Sache, und das macht einen Unterschied, Herr Grass.

Warum kann Grass das nicht sehen? Nun, deshalb:

„Ich spreche aus Erfahrung. Sechzehn zählte ich, als ich Soldat wurde. Mit siebzehn lernte ich das Fürchten. Und glaubte dennoch bis zum Schluß, als längst alles in Scherben gefallen war, an den Endsieg.“

Eine ganze Jugend hindurch indoktriniert; abgefüllt mit Haß gegen Amerika und England, gegen das raffende Kapital der Wall Street, die kolonialen Verbrechen des perfiden Albion (und von den Hintermännern will ich gar nicht reden); glaubt Günter Grass ernsthaft, DAS habe er in sich getilgt? Bertolt Brecht wußte es besser: Der Schoß ist fruchtbar noch… oder wie Günter Grass sagt:

„Es ist die wiederkehrende Krätze.“ In der Tat.