Beautiful German weapons sale of the week – or between 2002 and 2006, I mean.*
Because somebody has to admire them.
*It was only just a few harmless tons of chemicals (111 tons worth) that could have been used to make sarin nerve gas but it was absolutely perfectly legal so don’t anybody out there get all hot and bothered about this, OK? Thanks. I know you wouldn’t.
When will the horror ever end?
No, I’m not talking about the radical German Islamists killing Christians in Syria. Nor am I referring to that German spy software being used the world over, either.
I’m talking about the horror of the very thought of German intelligence services having worked together with the CIA for years in a secret anti-terror unit named “Project 6” in Neuss. And get this: In 2010 their focus actually briefly turned to a German journalist! We’re talking horror here, people.
Deutsche Nachrichtendienste und die CIA haben nach SPIEGEL-Informationen jahrelang eine geheime Anti-Terror-Einheit mit dem Namen “Projekt 6” in Neuss betrieben. Herzstück war die gemeinsame Datenbank PX. Im Jahr 2010 geriet ein deutscher Journalist in den Fokus.
PS: I never realized…
And this is the Spiegel we’re talking about here, folks.
Barack Obama wants to let the US Congress decide on whether to attack Syria or not, supposedly out of respect for “democracy and the constitution.” In reality he is doubtless shirking the responsibility of having to make an unpopular decision and endangering the credibility of world power America.
Barack Obama will den US-Kongress über Angriffe in Syrien entscheiden lassen, angeblich aus Respekt vor “Demokratie und Verfassung”. In Wahrheit drückt er sich wohl vor einer unpopulären Entscheidung und gefährdet so die Glaubwürdigkeit der Weltmacht Amerika.
Reluctance? No reluctance here. Saying no is the standard German operating procedure in this country. You know that, Karl-Theodor. It’s just good-old German irresponsibility when it comes to international matters that might actually cost them something.
So what’s being “tested?” I don’t get it. Why waste all these words and all this time trying to make something so blood simple appear to be so complicated, Karl-Theodor? No need to explain. This is standard operationg procedure in Germany, too.
In the wake of the chemical weapons attack near Damascus, Western military strikes against Syria seem imminent. And Germany will once again demand a special role.
PS: Important German of the day here: Extrawurst. That means “extra wurst” of course, or special treatment.
“US Experts Want More Leadership from Germany”
There hasn’t been any leadership in the US for about five years now. Somebody ought to start doing it one of these days.
Germans aren’t the only ones with interests at stake in next month’s election. The US is watching too — and Washington is hoping that, once the campaign is history, Germany will show more leadership on global issues.
“I think the assumption Americans have is that Germany should always step up and take responsibility commensurate with its weight in the world.”
PS: There was yet another anomaly in the GCG (Gun Control Germany) yesterday.
How come nobody listens to America anymore?
Good question. Beats the hell out of me.
“We have been very clear to the Assad regime — but also to other players on the ground — that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. “That would change my calculus; that would change my equation.”
“Ich habe bis jetzt kein militärisches Eingreifen angeordnet, aber für uns ist eine rote Linie überschritten, wenn eine ganze Menge chemischer Waffen bewegt oder eingesetzt wird.”
PS: And speaking of changing your equation, sometimes a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do.
Since when? This is classic German mind gymnastics for me. Take something simple and make it complicated. Then add a dash of sinister anti-American consipiracy theory (or anti-Western, if you prefer), a clove of institutionalised German peacenik guilt complex, hand-wring thoroughly and then serve warm.
Mr. Todenhöfer faulted Mr. Reuter and other Western journalists for what he called their willingness to accept the rebel (Syrian) narrative, with its uncorroborated casualty reports, unverified videos of destruction and anonymous witnesses to atrocities by soldiers and thuggish militiamen. “I criticize their disinformation campaigns and their dreadful ‘massacre marketing,’ ” he said.
He has castigated Western press coverage of the Syrian conflict, calling it unfairly hostile to Mr. Assad and overly sympathetic to his enemies.
“Mr. Assad still holds the authority among the majority of the population.”
Just in case you were wondering, I mean (this time they’re not considering them for Syria).
Not like anybody would ever expect them to consider otherwise. I mean, is the Pope a Catholic? Do chickens use fowl language? Do vacuum cleaners suck?
Germans never consider military options, even when they maybe ought to. Unless it’s an Angriffskrieg (war of aggression), I mean. And that’s been a while. It’s just what they (don’t) do. They don’t use weapons, people. They just, you know, sell them.
“We want to avoid a wildfire in the region.”
This must have been a big misunderstanding or something. A German-owned freighter loaded with weapons from Iran bound for the Syrian regime of Bashar Assad and stopped on Friday near the Syrian port of Tartus has now disappeared off the watery face of the earth.
Und das ist auch gut so (and a good thing, too), as we all know that Germans would never disregard a weapons embargo, neither for fun nor profit, being the pedantic pacifists they are, so this must have been one of those Fata Morgana things that happen out there on the high seas from time to time.
Weapons from Iran? Maybe it was that infamous ghost ship the S.S. Günter Grass.
Der Frachter, der schweres Militärgerät geladen hat, schaltete seinen Transponder aus und ist nicht mehr zu orten.
Observing Hermann 