[Peace-discuss] Germany's Refusal to Join the Latest US-Led Missile Strikes on Syria

Wed Apr 25 16:09:01 UTC 2018

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<https://blackagendareport.com/germanys-refusal-join-latest-us-led-missile-s
trikes-syria> Germany's Refusal to Join the Latest US-Led Missile Strikes on
Syria 

 <https://blackagendareport.com/author/Ann%20Garrison> Ann Garrison, BAR
contributor 

25 Apr 2018 

<https://blackagendareport.com/sites/default/files/2018-04/GARRISON_845x400%
20(1)_0.jpg> Germany's Refusal to Join the Latest US-Led Missile Strikes on
Syria

Germany's Refusal to Join the Latest US-Led Missile Strikes on Syria

"The major left party concluded that the US-led missile strikes violated
international law."

Germany did not join the US, UK, and France in the latest missile strikes in
Syria despite President Trump's invitation. The next day Germany's
<https://en.die-linke.de/welcome/> Die Linke , aka the Left Party, released
an unequivocal statement opposing the strikes:

"The US military escalation must be stopped immediately. Last night's US
missile attack, which violated international law, puts Syria further away
from a peaceful solution and has given the Islamic State cause for
celebration.

"Instead of reflexively getting behind Trump, the German government should
do everything in its power to stabilize relations between Russia and the US.
The current situation is extremely dangerous and could get out of control at
any time."

Die Linke also requested the opinion of the German Parliament's legal
experts, who concluded that the US-led missile strikes violated
international law. The
<https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/04/19/left-a19.html> World Socialist
Website , however, says that Die Linke is just posing as antiwar "to capture
the growing anti-war sentiment of broad sections of the population and
prevent a powerful anti-war movement from developing."

"The Greens also denounced the US-led missile strikes."

The Die Linke logo is its name with a red flag dotting the "i' in "Linke."
Identifying as Democratic Socialist, it allies with the European Left Party
in Europe and the European United Left-Nordic Green Left in the European
Parliament. In 2013, it won 8.6% of the vote and 64 of 630 seats in
parliament and became the leading party of the opposition. In 2016, it
increased its percentage of the vote to 9.2% and its parliamentary seats to
69, but the Alternative for Germany (AfD) surged to became the new leader of
the opposition with 12.6% of the vote and 94 seats. Alternative for Germany
is commonly described as right-wing populist, best known for its
anti-immigrant and Islamophobic stance. Its leaders bemoan the open door
policy, which has brought more than half a million Syrian refugees to
Germany, and accuse the government-now a fragile Christian Democrat/Social
Democrat alliance-of extending them generous welfare benefits at the expense
of impoverished Germans. Anton Friesen, one of AfD's parliamentarians and a
member of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee, told Sputnik News
that Alternative for Germany opposed the US-led missile strikes and
supported Syrian sovereignty:

"Unlike in Afghanistan, Germany in Syria is not following the United States.
That is, undoubtedly, a positive fact. But the refusal to follow still does
not mean that Germany has its own position aimed at pursuing its national
interests. From AfD's point of view, Germany must hold talks with the
legitimate Syrian government as well as support international formats. One
can find settlement of the Syrian issue only through such measures."

Together, Die Linke and the Alternative for Germany represent 21.8% of the
vote and 161 of 690 seats. Not a majority, but a significant minority.

The German Greens won 8.6% of the vote and 67 seats in 2017, but if they
took a position on the latest US-led missile strikes, it wasn't reported and
there's no sight of one on their website. The website confirms many reports
that the German Greens have become exceedingly bland and far more
conservative than their founders. Their spare statement on foreign policy
calls for reform of the UN Security Council to eliminate the veto power of
the five permanent members, and says that they endorse the "responsibility
to protect" doctrine, which is used to argue for humanitarian
"intervention."

Widespread German skepticism about chemical attacks

University of Illinois Law Professor Francis Boyle said that he and Sam
Husseini put out a press release that received more coverage in the German
press than any of their statements have ever received here in the US:

"Sam Husseini and I put out an Institute for Public Accuracy press release
saying that the US-led missile strikes would be an act of aggression
violating international law codified in the UN Charter. And it turned out
that a translation of our press release was all over the mainstream media in
Germany; you could find it by searching the Web in German. Chancellor Merkel
wanted to get involved in a military strike, but apparently there was so
much opposition that she couldn't.

"In the end, Merkel said that she supported the missile strikes, but Trump
had asked Germany to join in militarily. She's got a very shaky coalition
government over there, and she had to abstain. Her government would not go
along with it."

"Merkel wanted to get involved in a military strike, but apparently there
was so much opposition that she couldn't."

Veteran European political reporter Diana Johnstone, in personal
correspondence, said that many Germans already agreed with Boyle and
Husseini's statement, but that it may have helped their credibility to cite
an American.

"In Germany there are reports on the ground from Karin Leukefeld, the German
equivalent of Eva Bartlett and Vanessa Beeley. But disbelief of official
statements about Syria is much more widespread in Germany than in France,
much less Britain."

Germany's largest public TV news broadcaster had a senior correspondent,
<https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-21/germanys-largest-public-tv-news-b
roadcaster-syria-chemical-attack-most-likely> Uli Glak, on the ground in
Syria, where he reported, "The Douma chemical attack was most likely staged;
a great many people here seem very convinced."

Ursula von der Leyen, another #MeTooforWar woman 

Diana Johnstone also said that German defense minister Ursula von der Leyen
shared Angela Merkel's disappointment:

"Ursula von der Leyen (another #MeTooforWar woman) wanted to take part in
the attack on Syria as a way to promote Germany's demand for a UN Security
Council seat. She boasted that Germany could have done as well as Britain.
These ambitious women always excel in reciting their lesson. Von der Leyen
called for a common EU foreign policy, with majority decision-making. In
Germany as elsewhere, the worst people rise to the top."

Ann Garrison is an independent journalist living in the San Francisco Bay
Area. In 2014, she received the Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza Democracy and
Peace Prize for her reporting on conflict in the African Great Lakes Region.
She can be reached at @ AnnGarrison or  <mailto:ann at kpfa.org> ann at kpfa.org .

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