Posted on 05/05/2014 10:49:54 PM PDT by wetphoenix
BERLIN — Like most foreign-policy experts, I was shocked by Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its continuing “soft invasion” of eastern Ukraine. Can such a naked land grab really be happening now, in 21st-century Europe?
But Russia’s actions were not the only surprise. If you have followed the German debate about the Ukraine crisis, you have witnessed another strange phenomenon: a parade of former politicians and public figures going on TV to make the case for Russia.
According to these august figures — including former Chancellors Gerhard Schröder and Helmut Schmidt — NATO and the European Union were the real aggressors, because they dared to expand into territory that belonged to Moscow’s legitimate sphere of interest. And it seems part of the German public agrees.
You thought that Germans were the champions of international law and a rules-based world order? Think again.
(Excerpt) Read more at mobile.nytimes.com ...
“According to these august figures — including former Chancellors Gerhard Schröder and Helmut Schmidt — NATO and the European Union were the real aggressors, because they dared to expand into territory that belonged to Moscow’s legitimate sphere of interest.”
I have said as much here before but I question the word legitimate in this sentence. From a Russian point of view it may seem legitimate - maybe even bought and paid for but no country owns the allegiance or can demand another remain in their sphere of interest - it must be continually earned and reinforced through friendship and mutual interest not by force.
Mel
"It is human nature to rationalize evil if we can believe that it is in the cause of a greater good."
This is done, and with alarming frequency we see that those who bring incredible ills upon culture and society justify their actions in the steadfast belief that they will ultimately achieve good.
It also follows that those who are truly diabolical will not hesitate to do what appears to be good, to achieve a greater long term evil goal. (The modern welfare state comes to mind, supported by multitudes who didn't want children to starve, and leading to one of the premier battle cries of the modern Liberal "...for the children!")
In an age of moral relativism, those bereft of an absolute standard of right and wrong are particularly susceptible.
Lebensraum.
Well said. He’s a gangster statesman. He’s a second generation secret policeman with the rank of Colonel and over 17 years of service.
It’s even simpler. Politicians and public officials take bribes and will go on television to support and praise their benefactors.
I think its even simpler than that. Germans yearn for a strong leader. They don’t have one of their own, so they admire Putin.
I’ve visited Germany a few times and seen their artwork, especially the orgy of violence that is in the Residence in Munich. I think Germans are genetically mechanics and warriors—everything else flows from that.
~I’ve visited Germany a few times and seen their artwork, especially the orgy of violence that is in the Residence in Munich. I think Germans are genetically mechanics and warriors—everything else flows from that.~
Warriors no more. Junker aristocracy of Prussia was an original source of German militant spirit. There is no Prussia anymore and no Junkers too.
I think it is still there, just suppressed. It will come back out one day.
Germany fought two world wars trying to conquer Europe. They finally succeeded with the European Union. They have no argument now with Russia
Same with the Nips.
Your posts never fail to impress me with their breadth and depth of understanding. How a poor, self-taught, boy from the green hills of middle Tennessee is able to plumb the depth of the human heart, I will never know. Perhaps being nearly 200 years old helps.
"There was no law among them, but tribe rose against tribe. Discord thus ensued, and they began to war against each other. They said to themselves, "Let us seek a prince who may rule over us and judge us according to the Law." They accordingly went overseas to the Varangian Russes . . . The Chuds, the Slavs, the Krivichians and the Ves' then said to the people of Rus', "Our land is great and rich, but there is no order in it. Come to rule and reign over us."
--Early Twelfth Century, The Russian Primary Chronicle
You are millions. We are hordes and hordes and hordes.
Try and take us on!
Yes, we are Scythians! Yes, we are Asians -
With slanted and greedy eyes!
For you, the ages, for us a single hour.
We, like obedient slaves,
Held up a shield between two enemy races -
The Tatars and Europe!
For ages and ages your old furnace raged
And drowned out the roar of avalanches,
And Lisbon and Messina’s fall
To you was but a monstrous fairy tale!
For hundreds of years you gazed at the East,
Storing up and melting down our jewels,
And, jeering, you merely counted the days
Until your cannons you could point at us!
The time is come. Trouble beats its wings -
And every day our grudges grow,
And the day will come when every trace
Of your Paestums may vanish!
O, old world! While you still survive,
While you still suffer your sweet torture,
Come to a halt, sage as Oedipus,
Before the ancient riddle of the Sphinx!..
Russia is a Sphinx. Rejoicing, grieving,
And drenched in black blood,
It gazes, gazes, gazes at you,
With hatred and with love!..
It has been ages since you’ve loved
As our blood still loves!
You have forgotten that there is a love
That can destroy and burn!
We love all- the heat of cold numbers,
The gift of divine visions,
We understand all- sharp Gallic sense
And gloomy Teutonic genius...
We remember all- the hell of Parisian streets,
And Venetian chills,
The distant aroma of lemon groves
And the smoky towers of Cologne...
We love the flesh - its flavor and its color,
And the stifling, mortal scent of flesh...
Is it our fault if your skeleton cracks
In our heavy, tender paws?
When pulling back on the reins
Of playful, high-spirited horses,
It is our custom to break their heavy backs
And tame the stubborn slave girls...
Come to us! Leave the horrors of war,
And come to our peaceful embrace!
Before it’s too late - sheathe your old sword,
Comrades! We shall be brothers!
But if not - we have nothing to lose,
And we are not above treachery!
For ages and ages you will be cursed
By your sickly, belated offspring!
Throughout the woods and thickets
In front of pretty Europe
We will spread out! We’ll turn to you
With our Asian muzzles.
Come everyone, come to the Urals!
We’re clearing a battlefield there
Between steel machines breathing integrals
And the wild Tatar Horde!
But we are no longer your shield,
Henceforth we’ll not do battle!
As mortal battles rages we’ll watch
With our narrow eyes!
We will not lift a finger when the cruel Huns
Rummage the pockets of corpses,
Burn cities, drive cattle into churches,
And roast the meat of our white brothers!..
Come to your senses for the last time, old world!
Our barbaric lyre is calling you
One final time, to a joyous brotherly feast
To a brotherly feast of labor and of peace!
Sure there are Germans who were brought up in East Germany under control of the Soviet scum and were brainwashed in communism. But many Germans remember the ravages of the Soviet troops and the murders, rapes and thievery.
Everybody is hypothesizing on and article that has as its main premise, an incorrect premise.
The Germans do NOT think these illegal Russian annexations and actions are justified.
Angela Merkel, stated clearly at a US Chamber of Commerce talk and Q n A, that there will be harsh sanctions on the Russians and the German business community is behind the sanctions for the actions in Ukraine.
The article is way off the mark. Probably written by a person who went into deep depression when the Soviet Union fell.
A lot of the Russian Tsars and aristocrats married German princesses. The most famous one was Catherine the Great.
Guess what? They are right.
Van Rompuy: If The Public Doesn't Want EU Expansion, 'We Do It Anyway'
Maybe after losing two world wars that Germans don't want to be dragged into a third by unaccountable Globalists.
Well they loved Hitler too.
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