[Peace-discuss] FW: The U.S. Betrays Its Core Values

[Marianne Brun]

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Von: portsideMod at netscape.net
Antworten an: portside at yahoogroups.com
Datum: Sun, 20 Apr 2003 21:52:48 -0400
An: portside at yahoogroups.com
Betreff: The U.S. Betrays Its Core Values

The U.S. Betrays Its Core Values

By Gunter Grass 

April 7, 2003, The Los Angeles Times

BEHLENDORF, Germany -- A war long sought and planned for is
now underway. All deliberations and warnings of the United
Nations notwithstanding, an overpowering military apparatus
has attacked preemptively in violation of international law.
No objections were heeded. The Security Council was
disdained and scorned as irrelevant. As the bombs fall and
the battle for Baghdad continues, the law of might prevails.

And based on this injustice, the mighty have the power to
buy and reward those who might be willing and to disdain and
even punish the unwilling. The words of the current American
president -- "Those not with us are against us" -- weighs on
current events with the resonance of barbaric times. It is
hardly surprising that the rhetoric of the aggressor
increasingly resembles that of his enemy. Religious
fundamentalism leads both sides to abuse what belongs to all
religions, taking the notion of "God" hostage in accordance
with their own fanatical understanding. Even the passionate
warnings of the pope, who knows from experience how lasting
and devastating the disasters wrought by the mentality and
actions of Christian crusaders have been, were unsuccessful.

Disturbed and powerless, but also filled with anger, we are
witnessing the moral decline of the world's only superpower,
burdened by the knowledge that only one consequence of this
organized madness is certain: Motivation for more terrorism
is being provided, for more violence and counter-violence.
Is this really the United States of America, the country we
fondly remember for any number of reasons? The generous
benefactor of the Marshall Plan? The forbearing instructor
in the lessons of democracy? The candid self-critic? The
country that once made use of the teachings of the European
Enlightenment to throw off its colonial masters and to
provide itself with an exemplary constitution? Is this the
country that made freedom of speech an incontrovertible
human right?

It is not just foreigners who cringe as this ideal pales to
the point where it is now a caricature of itself. There are
many Americans who love their country too, people who are
horrified by the betrayal of their founding values and by
the hubris of those holding the reins of power. I stand with
them. By their side, I declare myself pro-American. I
protest with them against the brutalities brought about by
the injustice of the mighty, against all restrictions of the
freedom of expression, against information control
reminiscent of the practices of totalitarian states and
against the cynical equations that make the death of
thousands of women and children acceptable so long as
economic and political interests are protected.

No, it is not anti-Americanism that is damaging the image of
the United States; nor do the dictator Saddam Hussein and
his extensively disarmed country endanger the most powerful
country in the world. It is President Bush and his
government that are diminishing democratic values, bringing
sure disaster to their own country, ignoring the United
Nations, and that are now terrifying the world with a war in
violation of international law.

We Germans often are asked if we are proud of our country.
To answer this question has always been a burden. There were
reasons for our doubts. But now I can say that the rejection
of this preemptive war on the part of a majority in my
country has made me proud of Germany. After having been
largely responsible for two world wars and their criminal
consequences, we seem to have made a difficult step. We seem
to have learned from history.

The Federal Republic of Germany has been a sovereign country
since 1990. Our government made use of this sovereignty by
having the courage to object to those allied in this cause,
the courage to protect Germany from a step back to a kind of
adolescent behavior. I thank Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder
and his foreign minister, Joschka Fischer, for their
fortitude in spite of all the attacks and accusations, from
abroad and from within.

Many people find themselves in a state of despair these
days, and with good reason. Yet we must not let our voices,
our no to war and yes to peace, be silenced. What has
happened? The stone that we pushed to the peak is once again
at the foot of the mountain. But we must push it back up,
even with the knowledge that we can expect it to roll back
down again.

Copyright 2003 Los Angeles Times



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