Germany Moves to Front Lines
In the wake of the Islamic terrorist attacks on the U.S., the German chancellor publicly announced that the time has come for Germany to move from its status as a secondary military power to the front line in response to global disturbances.
According to the October 12 Daily Telegraph from London, “In a powerful speech to the German parliament yesterday, Gerhard Schröder said his country must draw a close to the post-war era and stand ready to play a front-line role in international military actions.
“The chancellor told mps the time had come for the nation to take up new and heavy responsibilities in the modern world, rather than continue as a secondary military player living under the shadow of its past.”
Sensing that his time had come—that both German public opinion and the world climate, sensitized by the terror attacks on the U.S., was ripe—Schröder announced “a new self-conception of German foreign policy. … Avoiding every direct risk cannot and must not be the guideline of German foreign and security policy” (Washington Post, Oct. 12). He declared forcefully that “Germany has cast aside its post-war wariness of military force” (ibid.).
“There are more reasons why Germany, in the current situation, must show its presence and its active solidarity in the international alliance against terrorism,” he said. “Historical reasons, contemporary reasons and reasons which have to do with the position of Germany in the future.”
Indicating that Germany’s post-war timidity in world affairs was “irrevocably passed,” he stated that Germany was now ready, willing and able to deploy its troops abroad “in defense of freedom and human rights.” He concluded that Germany would assume a “new muscular role.”
Karsten Voigt, the coordinator for German-American relations in the German government’s foreign ministry, followed up Mr. Schröder’s remarks. “Germany is showing itself increasingly prepared to bring in the military element as a component of foreign policy,” he said (Boston Globe, Oct. 12).
Writing for the International Herald Tribune, John Vinocur indicated that Schröder’s speech “represented a gesture of emancipation from the limited international role the country has played since the defeat of Hitler” (Oct. 12).
He continued, “Germany, now increasingly able to project its power militarily, could feel free to move gradually toward a level of global political influence corresponding with its vast economic capacity.”
Delete “gradually”! On present indications Germany has kicked over the traces of restraint and is now moving aggressively to harness the peace process in the Middle East, dominate the Balkan Peninsula economically, governmentally and militarily, and now move in blitzkrieg fashion to establish a strong mediating role in Pakistan and Russia so as to seize the initiative, at the first indication of American weakness, in the current war on terror.
Having Russia already sewn up as a prime creditor, Germany has led the European Union into granting a multi-billion dollar aid package to Pakistan and accelerating the signing of an EU-Pakistan friendship pact. This is all designed to give Europe leverage in the Eurasian theater, so important to Russian and U.S. efforts to contain the rise of Islam.
The EU has seized the moment created by the terrorist attacks on the U.S. to quicken the pace of union on all fronts.
European Commission President Romano Prodi has declared outright that the EU is taking advantage of the changed political landscape in Europe created by the terrorist attacks which he sees as “opening the way for closer political union” (op. cit., Daily Telegraph).
Prodi continued, “We have almost fully completed economic and monetary integration. We now need to turn together to social issues, sustainable development, justice and security.” As the Trumpet has often written, Europe lives with the heritage of the murderous Holy Roman Empire. Historically, its views on issues such as justice and security resulted in terrible atrocities! (Request our booklet Germany and the Holy Roman Empire for proof.)
Three key personnel in the EU hail from rabid left-wing (Marxist) backgrounds: Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana, German Foreign Minister Fischer and Chancellor Schröder. In their youth, all three worked to overthrow the established order. In fact, Fischer actually harbored terrorists in his bachelor pad in the 1970s.
As the late Herbert Armstrong noted, there is a very slim dividing line between the socialist ideals of fascism and communism. As leopards are not known for changing their spots, socialists are seldom known to change their ideals.
Have these three wormed their way into EU politics with a long-range agenda of destroying the “white, Anglo-Saxon Protestant” culture of Anglo-America and replacing it with Catholic social (universalist) dogma?
“This is a defining moment for Germany, and its role is being fixed,” stated Karl Kaiser, director of the German Council on Foreign Relations (op. cit., Washington Post).
As Mr. Armstrong often pointed out, since the Allied victory in World War ii powerful forces have been at work, biding their time, cautiously rebuilding Germany via trade, commerce and treaties, locking European nations into a process which sacrifices independent sovereignty in exchange for dependence on a federal Europe under Vatican social and religious control and German economic, political and military superiority.
Note how a German newspaper describes the manner in which the Schröder government has bided its time before showing its true colors: The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said Mr. Schröder “must consider that the cautious whittling away at the German taboo surrounding everything military has been one of the achievements” of his coalition government.
Cautious whittling away! That’s how the Germans have done it this time: not by military blitzkrieg—yet! As Mr. Armstrong stated so often, the Germans learned their lesson after defeat in two world wars. Their cautious whittling away is paying off. But after the whittling, watch for the whirlwind! (Dan. 11:40; Zech. 7:14).