Posted on 08/04/2006 7:39:05 AM PDT by bobsunshine
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he would welcome German troops participating in an international force in southern Lebanon, according to a newspaper interview published Friday.
German officials have not ruled out contributing soldiers to a security force, but Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that "we as Germans should approach this region with the greatest caution."
Some have speculated over what would happen if German troops were forced into a position of conflict with Israeli soldiers, or if the weight of the Nazi-era past clouded the Germans' ability to make crucial split-second decisions.
Olmert said he told Merkel that Israel has "absolutely no problem with German soldiers in southern Lebanon."
"Why should German soldiers shoot at Israel? They would be part of the force protecting Israel," Olmert was quoted as saying in the interview with the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
"There is at the moment no nation that is behaving in a more friendly way toward Israel than Germany," he added. "If Germany can contribute to the security of the Israeli people, that would be a worthwhile task for your country. I would be very happy if Germany participated."
Berlin has avoided direct criticism of the Jewish state since fighting broke out last month, repeatedly underscoring its right to self-defense, and has called for a cease-fire "as quickly as possible" rather than immediately.
Merkel insists that Germany cannot consider a contribution until a UN mandate is in place. She also has pointed to the fact the German military is already stretched, with troops deployed from the Balkans to Afghanistan.
Still, Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung - a member of her conservative Christian Democrats - has suggested that if all sides were to ask for a contribution, then Germany would have to oblige.
Germany has been calling on Syria - a key supporter of the Lebanon-based Hizbullah - to play a constructive part in defusing the crisis.
"If Germany wants to talk to Syria, no one is going to stop Germany doing that," Olmert was quoted as saying. "But I harbor doubts about Syria's intentions."
"If Syria really wanted to take on a positive role, the country would have many possibilities," he added. "It has rejected them all."
We owe them what we owe every nation that is an object of unjustified and criminal attacs. But nothing more.
Munich was a debacle. They send over some real anti terror experts and together with some training help from them and the SAS germany put up the GSG9.
You may fall - it's only embarrasing not to try to get up.
What I meant was that this is a small step towards inner peace that the german people sorely need to reach in order to exercise the burden they alone carry for what they did to the jewish people.
If german blood is shed for jewish blood fighting the very enemy that is trying to 'wipe them off the face of the earth' then I can say the german people will have exercised the burden of history.
IMHO
I know that he's trying to complement the Germans, but WTF about the USA's friendliness? Thanks for nothing, PUTZ!
Oh, and this is dripping with irony: Germans. With guns. Defending. Jews.
You know, I'm far too young to have experienced the Shoah/Holocaust, and I never lived overseas and had to live with endemic anti-Semitism - so I don't directly carry the scars that survivors like my wife's uncle do. Yet one of the strangest feelings I've ever had occurred when I went to visit a friend in the US Army in 1990 who was based in Germany (West Germany at the time). The feeling I had, as a Jew, coming down the steps of the plane and seeing a guy dressed almost the same as his WW2 predecessors, cradling a sub-machinegun in exactly the same manner, and speaking German, was...terrifying. My skin damned near crawled off of my body - it was like a Twilight Zone episode. And, again, I WASN'T THERE IN THE 1940'S!
Olmert should have some decency - don't let German soldiers into the area near Eretz Yisroel - because when they're on leave they'll come to Israel and some 80-year-old who lost their entire family will relive the experience the moment they see a tall, blond-haired, blue-eyed man speak in German - even if he's the most friendly and generous person on Earth. Spare these people that experience. Please!
I can't disagree with that, but please wait until the survivors of 1940's Europe are dead and gone - spare them re-living the experience.
I'm late to this thread, but I'll say it even if it's been said...Israel doesn't trust France. And rightly so! (Not knocking Germany...not at all)
It is part of the being tired syndrome. It includes a willingness to contract out Israel's security even though it has been shown countless times not to work. If appeasement makes sense why wouldn't this?
If I look at the noise the democrats are making in your country I doubt that you could send another 250 000 to let's say Syria or Iran at the moment without risking peace campaigners to win the next elections.
Imagine Cindys march on washington.
Plus your facing a recruiting problem.
But sending the army in there is maybe what's needed in the near future.
BTW the german army is still not transformed from cold war times to a more international organization. We can do battle by tanks in the northern german planes - but our delivery of Airbus 400Ms has not arrived yet. The units we transformed already rotate in and out of afghanistan, the horn of africa etc etc.
And don't tell me we should speed this up - because we already did. Please remember taht there were times when noone was too keen to see our soldiers outside germany - and they are not so long ago (can understand that, but not change it)
Sorry, I didn't mean to offend all the Rommel fans out there. You are correct about Rommel, of course. Hitler had a great distrust of the officer corps of the German army and carefully selected and promoted yes men, which one of his weakness as a leader. Rommel's success in France and Africa made him popular with the German public and something a public relations issue for the Nazis.
It was really more of a "Make a hyperbolic post, get a similar reply" response.
Fair enough...
Something like how american troops died in the phillippines?
I can understand the point you are making.
(No but...)
I agree with you that it is hard, and our country has in ways grown soft and complacent, and blind to the dangers outside.
And I would hope the call could be put out for our young people to enlist, not be drafted. No one's ever asked them to. Many wouldn't but I bet a lot would.
But we cannot give up, we have to win this. And as clumsy as it seems sometimes, I'm glad we do have some allies in Europe. Thanks.
hyperbolic postings are the grain of salt in this board aren't they ;-)
(trying to be less foggy next time)
The story of my country's life.
Bad idea, unless you want to tip Germany into the anti-Israel camp.
When the usual terrorism begins, Israel is going to get blamed.
It's good to be soft sometimes ... it certainly is appealing to have a rather open and trusting society - I wish to live that way.
As I said - needs must and all this... and as you said we have to win (I guess our peace and freedom once again)
Or just 15 years. That's how long it's been since Desert Storm, when the idea of German troops so near Israel was nigh on unthinkable. IIRC, Germany had quite a small role in the coalition, and no actual combat role at all.
I don't see your point!
I'd take anyone willing to shoot Hezbos.
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