Ca Change Vraiment

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Permalink Reply by StephenBln on June 12, 2008 at 15:05

Hi Steffen...you're comments are bit outdated. I'm not sure how long it is since you were last in Sachsen.. I presume that's where you come from.. But the cheque book diplomacy went out a long time ago, in fact with Helmut Kohl in 1997.
The poll in question was taken at the beginning of this year, ten years after the demise of the Kohl'sche style of politics.

I'm very proud that Germany stood up against pressure from the USA to get involved in Irak. It's a pity the UK didn't do the same. In fact Joschka Fischer, the then German Foreign Minister, stood up in front of the UN and Colin Powell, just before the invasion started and stated that there were no WMDs in Irak, which Powell and the Brits of course denied. But who was right?
Your term, "The dirty work" is quite apt in my opinion. Now, in the face of real dangers in the future with Iran, Britain and the USA have lost all credibility in the international community and it will be extremely difficult to get other countries on board in an alliance that will be needed against that regime.

Yet on the other hand, Germany has troops in Kosova and also has the third largest contingency of soldiers in Afghanistan after the USA and UK.

The difference is, Germany doesn't aspire to be the world's policeman and certainly doesn't like to punch above it's weight, like the UK is always seeking to do.

I don't know why you have such negative opinions of Germany, I imagine it might have something to do with the demise of East Germany, but that's only a guess.

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