German Handelsblatt: The West on the wrong path

[reorg]

As was to be expected, the most outspoken contrarians to the current course, at least in Germany, will be industry managers and their mouthpieces. Handelsblatt, the newspaper for German business and industry is coming out with some pretty strong points, and not just in German, also, who guessed it, in Russian, and in English:

By Gabor Steingart,
Düsseldorf, Germany, 08.08.2014

Every war is accompanied by a kind of mental mobilization: war fever. Even smart people are not immune to controlled bouts of this fever. “This war in all its atrociousness is still a great and wonderful thing. It is an experience worth having“ rejoiced Max Weber in 1914 when the lights went out in Europe. Thomas Mann felt a “cleansing, liberation, and a tremendous amount of hope“.

...

We interrupt our own train of thought: “History is not repeating itself!” But can we be so sure about that these days? In view of the war events in the Crimean and eastern Ukraine, the heads of states and governments of the West suddenly have no more questions and all the answers. The US Congress is openly discussing arming Ukraine. The former security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski recommends arming the citizens there for house-to-house and street combat. The German Chancellor, as it is her habit, is much less clear but no less ominous: “We are ready to take severe measures.“

German journalism has switched from level-headed to agitated in a matter of weeks. The spectrum of opinions has been narrowed to the field of vision of a sniper scope. Newspapers we thought to be all about thoughts and ideas now march in lock-step with politicians in their calls for sanctions against Russia's President Putin. Even the headlines betray an aggressive tension as is usually characteristic of hooligans when they 'support' their respective teams.

and on it goes, pretty long article.

A few more excerpts:

The verbalists are back and their headquarters are in Washington D.C. But nobody is forcing us to kowtow to their orders. Following this lead – even if calculatingly and somewhat reluctantly as in the case of Merkel – does not protect the German people, but may well endanger it. This fact remains a fact even if it was not the American but the Russians who were responsible for the original damage in the Crimean and in eastern Ukraine. ...

If the West had judged the then US government which marched into Iraq without a resolution by the UN and without proof of the existence of “WMDs“ by the same standards as today Putin, then George W. Bush would have immediately been banned from entering the EU. The foreign investments of Warren Buffett should have been frozen, the export of vehicles of the brands GM, Ford, and Chrysler banned. ...

The last successful major military action the US conducted was the Normandy landing. ...

... there are no recorded cases in which countries under sanctions apologized for their behavior and were obedient ever after. On the contrary: collective movements start in support of the sanctioned, as is the case today in Russia. The country was hardly ever more unified behind their president than now. This could almost lead you to think that the rabble-rousers of the West are on the payroll of the Russian secret service. ...

http://www.handelsblatt.com/meinung/kommentare/essay-in-englisch-the-west-on-the-wrong-path/10308406.html

[BillZBubb]

1. This guy is wrong on a number of points.

The worst of which is the statement "...no recorded cases in which countries under sanctions apologized for their behavior and were obedient ever after." South Africa certainly changed because of sanctions, and did, eventually apologize.

I do agree with his point about bush, though. bush should still be indicted for war crimes.

[reorg]

4. I think it is widely disputed that sanctions

were a decisive factor in the fight against Apartheid. The analogy is not really applicable here, anyway - it's more like the sanctions against Iran or Iraq. And this is a spokesman for industry, remember, who I believe have always argued against sanctions in any case.

[swilton]

2. Bookmarked

Worth a more serious read than I have time for tonight.

[reorg]

3. German business expresses concern over mutual sanctions

German business expresses concern over mutual sanctions over Ukraine, urging Russia and the European Union to get down to the negotiating table.

“It is especially important in the current situation to stop a spiral of sanctions and retaliatory measures, getting back to the negotiating table,” said Eckhard Cordes, head of Germany’s Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations in comments on Russia’s ban on imports of Western agricultural products. ...

http://en.itar-tass.com/world/744023

[swilton]

5. Commenting late

Thought this article was one of the best reads on the current crisis.

US definitely has a different lens to view the world. May saner heads prevail.