Pacifist Germany
Though I recently made a number of references to the German takeover of Mini and their building ever larger war machines vehicles, Germany is at heart now a pacifist nation.
Witness the fact that their President, a titular position elected by Parliament and used for officialdom not executive powers, resigned due to popular outcry over the following statement:
"A country of our size, with its focus on exports and thus reliance on foreign trade, must be aware that ... military deployments are necessary in an emergency to protect our interests."
This is the guy that quit.
You see, saying things like "of our size" still sounds an awful lot like claiming that you have some set of rights based on the fact that you are German... which then starts to sound a lot like "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles" (thought that was itself originally a unification song for Germany - which was not a single country until the late 19th century).
It also reminds the Germans that they are not just building schools down in Afghanistan - they are working with NATO to fight a war (something German politicians, keen to keep to their pacifism, have avoided ever mentioning to the German public).
But it is still somewhat amazing to me that the country cannot have its titular leader (not real leader - he is just meant to speak well and represent Germany at international sporting events and ribbon cuttings) cannot make that statement. I mean, as much as I make fun of Germany and the damn germans, I am no longer actually worried about them storming the Rhineland and using the factories to churn our panzers and dive-bombers. The idea of a war in Europe - well it would be like Texas going to war with California. Sure, they might really hate each other at times, and they certainly have a lot that they don't agree on, and their cultures are pretty different - but it just isn't going to happen (unless Chuck Norris is elected governor...)
So this is a British American telling Germany: Its Okay. Don't worry, we know you aren't going to try and take over the world. Hell, I would welcome another world power that actually has other people's interests at heart. The Americans are stretched thin, the Brits are only just starting to rebuild their navy after years of neglect, Russia is more interested in a quick buck than its military and has let the whole thing rot (it relies primarily on its nukes for defense now), India plans on being a super-power by 2050 unless government corruption and mis-management get in the way (I wonder if they will...) and then you have China.
Ahhh China. Their main focus is establishing their military so that in 30-50 years - they will be the dominant power on earth and can defeat the US. I am really not kidding on that one. China continues to develop and deploy weapons systems that are designed to do one thing: cripple the United States. Specifically, cripple our carrier groups - the main way that we project power into the Pacfic.
And then I dont even need to get started on all the crazies out there, nuclear proliferation, Islamic extremists, and long-simmering flash-points. Lets not forget Russia just invaded Georgia, North Korea torpedoed a South Korean ship, Iran is getting closer to nukes, Chavez has assembled is own million man militia, and China flipped out over our (limited) arms sale to Taiwan.
In other words: get in the game Germany! We need you! We know you will be playing for the right team this time around, and we need you on the court.
Witness the fact that their President, a titular position elected by Parliament and used for officialdom not executive powers, resigned due to popular outcry over the following statement:
"A country of our size, with its focus on exports and thus reliance on foreign trade, must be aware that ... military deployments are necessary in an emergency to protect our interests."
This is the guy that quit.You see, saying things like "of our size" still sounds an awful lot like claiming that you have some set of rights based on the fact that you are German... which then starts to sound a lot like "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles" (thought that was itself originally a unification song for Germany - which was not a single country until the late 19th century).
It also reminds the Germans that they are not just building schools down in Afghanistan - they are working with NATO to fight a war (something German politicians, keen to keep to their pacifism, have avoided ever mentioning to the German public).
But it is still somewhat amazing to me that the country cannot have its titular leader (not real leader - he is just meant to speak well and represent Germany at international sporting events and ribbon cuttings) cannot make that statement. I mean, as much as I make fun of Germany and the damn germans, I am no longer actually worried about them storming the Rhineland and using the factories to churn our panzers and dive-bombers. The idea of a war in Europe - well it would be like Texas going to war with California. Sure, they might really hate each other at times, and they certainly have a lot that they don't agree on, and their cultures are pretty different - but it just isn't going to happen (unless Chuck Norris is elected governor...)
So this is a British American telling Germany: Its Okay. Don't worry, we know you aren't going to try and take over the world. Hell, I would welcome another world power that actually has other people's interests at heart. The Americans are stretched thin, the Brits are only just starting to rebuild their navy after years of neglect, Russia is more interested in a quick buck than its military and has let the whole thing rot (it relies primarily on its nukes for defense now), India plans on being a super-power by 2050 unless government corruption and mis-management get in the way (I wonder if they will...) and then you have China.
Ahhh China. Their main focus is establishing their military so that in 30-50 years - they will be the dominant power on earth and can defeat the US. I am really not kidding on that one. China continues to develop and deploy weapons systems that are designed to do one thing: cripple the United States. Specifically, cripple our carrier groups - the main way that we project power into the Pacfic.
And then I dont even need to get started on all the crazies out there, nuclear proliferation, Islamic extremists, and long-simmering flash-points. Lets not forget Russia just invaded Georgia, North Korea torpedoed a South Korean ship, Iran is getting closer to nukes, Chavez has assembled is own million man militia, and China flipped out over our (limited) arms sale to Taiwan.
In other words: get in the game Germany! We need you! We know you will be playing for the right team this time around, and we need you on the court.
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