German Officials Warn U.S. Not to Arm Middle East

Philadelphia Church of God ^ | Thursday, August 2, 2007 | The Trumpet

[SunkenCiv]

A plan by the United States to give over $50 billion in arms to Middle Eastern nations has sparked intense opposition from top German officials. Germany's foreign ministry coordinator for German-American relations, Karsten Voigt, criticized U.S. plans to arm Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and Israel. Adding more weapons into an area bristling with arms will not produce peace, he said... The U.S. plan is an attempt to shore up allies and maintain the balance of power in the region, according to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Arab countries would receive U.S. arms to counterbalance Iranian and Syrian military upgrades. Israel would be given arms to not only counterbalance Iran and Syria, but also to counterbalance Saudi Arabia's upgraded arsenal. State-of-the-art military equipment Saudi Arabia would receive includes satellite-guided bombs, improved missile defenses, new navy ships, and air force upgrades. The U.S. proposal evoked especially strong criticism in Germany, a country which is trying to position the European Union as the new Middle East peace broker. Politicians from both Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (cdu) and the Social Democrats slammed the U.S. plan. Ruprecht Polenz, a cdu member and the head of the German parliament's foreign affairs committee, called the region a "powder keg," and said America threatened to destabilize the whole region... Polenz also says the U.S. is running the risk of creating a Middle East arms race. Social Democrat Johannes Jung supported Polenz, saying, "The region needs to be disarmed, not armed." He also went so far as to say, "As so often, all level-headed people are waiting for a new U.S. administration."

[Matchett-PI]

Were you aware of the background and beliefs of the religious kook/cult leader that publishes “The Philadelphia Trumpet”, when you linked the unsuspecting to his web site, or do you care?

[SunkenCiv]

Hoosier-Daddy: The US is giving all the players in the ME lots of toys for the inevitable "Hold ma beer" popcorn moment you know is coming.

:') I look forward to it. The quickest way to create stability is to set two enemies to fighting and sell ammo to both sides. :')

jwh_Denver: And bunker building.

denydenydeny: ...German nuclear proliferation to rogue nations in the Middle East.

Blackyce: "Kettle warns pot not to call the kettle black."

Oh, sure, but other than that, and supporting the Grand Mufti during WWII, and the Holocaust, and allowing the PLO to massacre Israeli athletes in Munich in 1972...

Constantine XI Palaeologus: Perhaps the reason the Germans and the French don't want us arming the Middle East because that happens to be one of their big markets, especially for military hardware?

Naw, that's just a coincidence. /sarc

bill1952: As so often is the case, I wish that another German politician named Johannes Jung would die soon.

What you said.

SolidWood: The WMD distributing, Muslim-Hitler-wannabe supporting Germans need a big nice cup of STFU.

A couple of years ago, the leader of Turkey threatened Europe with Moslem mayhem if they wouldn't allow Turkey into the EU. All those French auto-pyres were unrelated to the coming violence (apart from both being Moslem in origin).

justa-hairyape: So Russia selling enhanced military equipment to Iran, Syria and the Hez, is NOT destabilizing the area ?

Gosh, they were hoping no one would make that particular point, or mention that Germany buys a lot of natural gas and stuff from their Russian overlords -- the same overlords who are behind the opposition to US operations in the Middle East, the same overlords selling nuke stuff and planes to Iran, missiles and fighters to Syria, etc etc.

Wiz: Germany will be punished by recieving less oil :)

Naw, they'll just have to pay $100 a barrel for it, just like everyone else.

Wiz: Germany against arming Israel? That should recieve a very strong uproar from Israel.

Germany at least used to sell some arms to Israel.

singfreedom: After all the German, French, Chinese and Russian arms we found in Iraq AND Afghanistan, just what is their POINT? Has anyone forgotten Saddam's German constructed bunkers? Oh. I guess its O.K. when they do it. Only the U.S. is prohibited from making arms deals.

The Germans could be persuaded, in fact, all of Europe could be persuaded, all it would take is a reminder that the US is perfectly happy imposing higher fuel economy and other requirements (in the interests of reducing global warming) to preclude any Mercedes, BMW, and Italian sports cars' being sold in the US; to pull all US troops out of the wreckage in the Balkans and let the Euros police it; to close all those cold war era US bases in Germany...

mimaw: Screw the sneaky Nazis.

Oh c'mon, that last World War was just a misunderstanding which was really the fault of Germany's enemies, and it could have been dealt with in a nuanced way, through negotiation.

sukhoi-30mki: After the US, Germany is the largest arms supplier to Israel. They are currently building 2 advanced diesel/electric subs for the Israeli navy.

Thanks! Sounds like German cover fire for their own activities is really what is at work here.

Joe Boucher: Like Germany is in a position to tell anyone about selling arms? Remember that little pipeline the french and germans had going to sadman insane?

Shh! No one was supposed to find out about that!

Diogenesis: appears to be trying to deflect from its current, quite successful, takeover of the EU and the United Kingdom.

Germany is bound to dominate the EU, in time, however, reintegration of the old Soviet-occupied eastern portion of the country hasn't been carried out with spectacular success, a factor in the weak mandate given to Mertel in the last election. It has the largest population in the EU (I don't remember if Russia is in the EU; if so, Germany's is the second-largest) and the largest economy. Due to devaluation of the dollar and upward spiral of petroleum prices, the EU economy hasn't been too good, geared as it is toward export to support a bloated and outmoded engineered social model.

Matchett-PI: Were you aware of the background and beliefs of the religious kook/cult leader that publishes "The Philadelphia Trumpet", when you linked the unsuspecting to his web site, or do you care?

No, and probably not, but I'm sure he's wacky.

NOT A PING LIST, merely reply to: Hoosier-Daddy; jwh_Denver; denydenydeny; Blackyce; Constantine XI Palaeologus; bill1952; SolidWood; justa-hairyape; Wiz; singfreedom; mimaw; sukhoi-30mki; Joe Boucher; Diogenesis; Matchett-PI

[singfreedom]

Thanks, Civ, loved the “blanket” reply. Talk about covering all the bases. (I must say, I think its the first time I’ve ever gotten one of those.) Nice!

[SunkenCiv]

:’) i think that’s first time I’ve ever been thanked for one. ;’) Thanks!