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17
March
2003
Pacifistic
Attitude
Doesn't Mean
Anti-USA.
As the title of this section says, I'm a Berliner in Arkansas, a German in the United States. Since I came here a lot of my German friends and relatives as well as many American friends have asked for my opinion about the upcoming war in Iraq. In particular many Americans want to know why a majority of Germans opposes a U.S.-led campaign against Iraq.
Once again, as I wrote in my column of February 26, I can't describe what THE Americans and THE Germans think, but I can report the opinions and views of the many different people I've met. Not all Germans oppose a war against Iraq. Not all Americans support it. The variety of opinions is broad and complex.
N O T H I N G M O R E T H A N S H O W .
First of all, it is curious that nearly everybody whether he is a politician or a normal citizen has talked about an upcoming war for four or five months now. I have the impression that the decision to attack Iraq was made some time ago by the USA.
So, why does the United States struggle so mightily for approval from the United Nations? President George W. Bush has often said the USA could attack Iraq without the approval of the U.N. Why seek another resolution, which might legitimize a war, or give the U.N. inspectors more time to force Saddam Hussein to disarm? Is U.S. diplomacy nothing more than a big show?
The problem is that George W. Bush does not only just carry the "big stick," but he also wants to use it no matter how many people and governments in other countries oppose his solution to the situation in Iraq and in the Middle East.
I oppose a war against Iraq. The United States should accept the world's majority opinion. The first goal should be to disarm Saddam Hussein peacefully. Everybody who says, "That's what we've tried for the last ten years," forgets that we didn't even try. Instead there were more preparations for war than attempts to disarm evil Saddam Hussein.
I'm not totally against the means of war. I think that sometimes war is the only solution whether we like it or not. Today Kuwait is not part of Iraq because of the means of war, because the United Nations backed a U.S.-led campaign that freed a country that had been attacked. That wasn't a campaign of "blood for oil" as it is so often said even today.
F R O M A G G R E S S I O N T O P E A C E .
In Germany my opinion might be a marginal one. A lot of Germans are strictly against the means of war, which might be because of our history in the two World Wars of the Twentieth Century. There might be a pacifistic mentality because Germany under Kaiser Wilhelm II, and later under Adolf Hitler, twice was responsible for the devastation of the European continent. The successful story of democracy in Germany from 1949 through today has brought a peaceful attitude to the often aggressive German nation.
A few weeks ago more than half a million people in Berlin demonstrated against war. I might not have taken part in the demonstration if I had been there. An aggressive minority of demonstrators in Germany very often combines support for peace with anti-American feelings. I can't share their goal when I stand up for peace.
Here in Arkansas I took part in a small demonstration against the war, but it was a demonstration for peace conducted without anti-American feelings. There were about 300 participants who listened to anti-war speeches and gospel songs. The size of the peace rally on campus here at UCA wasn't comparable with the big demonstrations in Berlin and other European capitals, but I felt this is the place I want to be. It very much impressed me when a student at the end said, "Let's support our troops
and bring them back!"
K E P T R I G H T , P U T R I G H T .
Some days later I chatted with a friend about Carl Schurz, a German-born revolutionary of the Nineteenth Century who rose to some prominence in the USA. A close advisor to Abraham Lincoln, Mr. Schurz served as a Union general in the Civil War, was elected to the U.S. senate, and later served as Secretary of the Interior. In his "Address at the Anti-Imperialist Conference in Chicago" on October 17, 1899, he modified the patriotic saying, "Our country, right or wrong." Instead he said: "Our country when right to be kept right, when wrong to be put right."
Mr. Kranz can be reached by E-mail
at alexanderpaetow@web.de
*This is the first step toward THE One World Language.
Step Back: Balderdash and bombast in a binomial!
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