Posted on 10/04/2004 3:28:41 PM PDT by 11th_VA
There's a little bit of a Donnybrook developing over a column written in the New York Post a couple of weeks ago. The opinion piece, which ran August 19 was written by an old and dear friend of mine, retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Peters.
In the column in question Peters disparaged the motivations of the German and French governments who, he spelled out in no uncertain terms, had essentially left us in the lurch in our struggle for Iraq. He went on in his column to criticize German motivations regarding U.S. troops stationed in that country.
"The primary reason why German politicians want American troops to remain," wrote Peters, "is that they've been fleecing us for a half century. Some flunky from the German Embassy may respond with bogus claims about how our presence is subsidized, but the truth is that American tax dollars go to lazy, arrogant, corrupt German employees who work on our bases and over whom we have little control.
"The Germans aren't worried about global security. They're worried about their dismal unemployment numbers."
Quite frankly, he was exactly correct.
This, of course, is not what the German government wanted to hear. When you're caught with your hand in the ideological cookie jar, the last thing you want as a government is for someone to call attention to your feckless behavior and unguarded language. Peters called their bluff and Schroeder's government was not happy about it.
The result, for what it's worth, promises to provide the current German version of high dudgeon.
From September 28 through September 30 the city of Heidelberg will be the site of the annual Land Combat Expo sponsored by the US Army and ,at which Peters is scheduled to be a speaker.(LOL!)
According to European Stars and Stripes, the German Army was scheduled "to provide three tanks, two wheeled vehicles and about 30 soldiers as part of the German army's display at the expo."
But, in a rather pitiful protest of Ralph Peters' cutting remarks in the New York Post, and his scheduled appearance in Heidelberg, the commander of German land forces, Lt. Gen. Axel Bürgener, announced that Germany was withdrawing its participation in the expo.
Peters, in deference to the sensitivities of American commanders, offered to withdraw from the program to spare them any potential embarrassment. But, much to his credit, General B.B. Bell the American general hosting the event and commander of U.S. ground forces in Germany, declined Peters' gallant offer. He even offered to provide security for the former soldier who has received a storm of protest from enraged Germans.
Well, "three tanks, two wheeled vehicles and about 30 soldiers" is considerably more combat power than Germany ever offered to support our efforts in Iraq. And, if memory serves me right, Heidelberg is rather less of a high threat area than Mosul. This is not the German Army I remember.
This entire business is rather a shame as I count myself fortunate to have a great many old friends in Germany - many of them soldiers in the German Army. These are all bright, dedicated, people. They don't deserve the sort of lackluster political leadership with which they have had to contend of late and I do not hold them responsible for Schroeder's or Lieutenant General Buergener's little fit of pique. But these sentiments do not make Ralph Peters' comments any less valid.
For those who haven't had the pleasure of meeting or working with him, Ralph Peters is a rare bird - a first rate soldier, accomplished linguist, brilliant analyst and theorist, and one hell of a great writer - of commentary, political/military affairs, and fiction. I would be hard put to determine in which of those fields he is most accomplished for he's marvelously skilled in all.
Peters is also very fond of Germany - he lived there for years, speaks the language like a native, and reads German literature in the original language. Of course this may be why his remarks sting so badly. He's no dilettante. Few Americans know Germany and German culture as well as Ralph Peters.
I do not doubt that when Ralph arrives in Heidelberg there will be some sort of protest on the part of the host Nation. But it will amount to no more than a tempest in a teapot - full of sound and fury and signifying absolutely nothing.
Do you know how true that is? Many hostesses now request that we pee sittin.
So apparently someone else thinks he's a worthwhile theorist.
They spend less than 1% on their nations defense.
And that's what it should be, always! Never let the Germans become a military power again!!
Soon it will be time to liberate Europe again...
I, for one, have better things to do with my life and liberty.
LOL
I say put a wall up around Old Europe, fill the area in with water and create a new European resort with sandy beaches...
I wonder what you would say if Europeans said such about America...
I don´t know where your blind hatred derives from, I for myself cannot say that I´ve ever met people who say they hate Americans that much that they´d wish a wall around your country.
As far as I´m concerned, since the day life with consciousness exists on earth there has been evil.
Please define your politics for me quickly, if you would please. I believe you are a younger German gentleman, but that's about it. TIA
Frederick J. Chiaventone, the article's author, wrote: "Peters is also very fond of Germany - he lived there for years, speaks the language like a native, and reads German literature in the original language."
There seems to be a fundamental contradiction in these views. Though his column today wasn't too bad, he was blind to what was happening during major combat operations in Afghanistan and in Iraq because he wanted a disaster he could pin on Rumsfeld. (He has some other strange views as well.) Other military analysts provided far more insightful and intelligent reviews of these wars and the reasons for our success than Peters.
They get the EU six-week vacations, all German holidays and of course all American holidays. They get full retirement just like GS, NAF, and military personnel. They file grievances at the drop of a hat.
I've heard (but can't verify) that in most cases if you fire one, you have to pay their retirement.
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