Posted on 08/26/2017 10:39:49 AM PDT by Olog-hai
… If anything, Germany’s claim to be an integrated member of the Western alliance has never been stronger. Some even speak of Germany as the West’s new leader. As Donald Trump’s America turns inward, possibly abandoning its free trade agenda and its longstanding commitment to democracy, Germany seems like a possible replacement. A poll taken in 2013 showed Germany to be the most admired country in the world; Chancellor Merkel is one of the most trusted public figures in Europe. Germany’s public commitment to environmentalism, multilateralism and human rights give Germany moral standing; Germany’s industrial strength and export clout have given Germany economic power as well.
But in a world where American power is weakening and authoritarian powers are rising, how long can this last? From 1945 to 1989, the American army gave West Germany the safety and security to develop its unique political culture. But now there are many, many countries, including some right on Europe’s borders, that don’t share reunified Germany’s national commitment to pacifism and non-violence. And there are many, many reasons to doubt that America will confront them. Trump may be an aberration, but he does reflect a very real American exhaustion, and real American doubt about the worth of the trans-Atlantic alliance. Germans should have a plan to deal with threats in America’s absence. Right now, you don’t. […]
… If Germany does not want a powerful army, it should still, as a matter of urgency, work with the institutions it has built, most notably the European Union, and especially with France and even Britain (this might be a way to give Britain a future European role) to create a multinational European force that can be deployed in defense of Europe’s borders, and in Europe’s name, at any time. …
(Excerpt) Read more at spiegel.de ...
According to the Wiki article, as of 28 February 2017, the German Army had a strength of 60,431 soldiers in a population of 82 million. Nobody else did this to Germany, Germany did this to Germany.
This isn't a case of America "turning inward" or abandoning any commitment to democracy. It's a case of other countries riding for free, not making their own committed contributions to the collective defense, preening about being pacifist and moral for having deliberately failed to do so, and cursing those who have had to take up the slack as being warlike. Sorry, Anne, but the game's over.
Let each country maintain its own independent military and then work together, as allies do, when needed.
The author of this article is talented though, I mean, typing while goosestepping isn’t easy.
According to the Wiki article, as of 28 February 2017, the German Army had a strength of 60,431 soldiers in a population of 82 million. Nobody else did this to Germany, Germany did this to Germany.
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Why, that's barely enough to conquer France!
Germans do not, as you wrote, need to be exterminated.
You sound like a genocidal leftist posting garbage like that.
Germans need better leadership.
That’s a despicable thing to say.
Not to worry ‘x’. That Germany is ‘’vorbei’’ ‘’over’’.
Many Americans are descended from Germans, either from Germany directly or through England; those two types primarily built this country. Even at the time of WWI, Germans were the largest minority in this country.
That’s what led to the last two World Wars. The powers in Europe have not given up their ambitions of the past.
They never explain that bit. They just make the claim.
A European military does not correlate with a lack of ambition.
It does, however, correlate with an evisceration of the ability of individual European countries to resist the poison ambition of a centralized European authority.
LOL - great line...
Assuming that the Wiki article is correct, you should also then note that the French Army has more soldiers than the German one.
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