Reason Rears Its Head in Germany

It's about damn time! The "tolerance" displayed by much of the world, especially Germany and France, looks more like "blind fear" to me. If I don't look at it, it won't scare me. I am sick and tired of people saying that we started this war because of our own "fear", and how "afraid" Americans are. No! What we are just the opposite, and we happen to have the guts and the military to defeat what the rest of the world fears- intolerance and oppression.

Throw eggs? No. more likely some whackjob will slit his throat, stab him repeatedly in the jest, finally stick a note blaming the victim and warning of massive retribution on the West, and who then blames the West for disenfranchisment. Yeah, we better bring this guy over here. Maybe even make him the chair of the DNC.

Surely, no one who knows Germany can be surprised by this. Germany, until the first Gulf War, had NEVER fought in any war on the side of Freedom for others. Moreover, considering the self-serving commercial aspects of Gulf War I, I think it's fair to say Germany has never fought in any war, jeopardized its people, or sacrificed even a pfennig just because it was the "right" thing to do. My experience has been that Germans (as a cultural entity) care about their money, themselves, their stadt, their country, and their planet in that order. I know that's harsh, but consider: One would think that of all the countries on earth that would shy away from selling poison gas factories to Libya, Germany would be at the top of the list. Right? Well, when confronted about their sales of poison gas factories to Libya in the 80's their response was "we have the right to earn a living." If you think this is too fantastic to believe, google this (no quotes): "germany poison gas libya sales" Frankly, Germans and even other Europeans may think they are like us, but most of them don't have a clue what we are or what truly motivates us. What's more, many of them think they really do understand us, and thus, they feel no need whatsoever to try to really learn more (it's we who should learn about them, don-cha know). The problem with this is that some European countries' actions make them seem like bizarro versions of the United States--make Europe look like a place where the best intentions are constantly perverted and skewed by too much enthusiasm tempered by too little comprehension and no genuine compas-sion. All is not lost, of course, everyone there is not the same, but sometimes it is really depressing that Europe seems to actually "get" so little about us and what makes the world turn. [sigh] -SangerM

You mean it came out sounding nice? Well, just crap! I need to work on my rhetorical syntax and grammer or somethin'. Now I'm depressed. Maybe I'll go lobby Congress for a 'Our Friends the Europeans' holiday. Whatcha think? :-| SangerM

Sorry, but the Corps has already polished off anything comestible around here...unless you're in the mood for a shot of Lysol. Eccch...

SangorM, I agree with you. Sadly, though, it isn't just Europe - I think a lot of the world doesn't 'Get' us. They can say the word Freedom, but they don't really understand it, and why our military is willing, even eager, to go halfway around the world to take down two oppressive regimes - because the alternative is to fight the terrorists on our soil.

Barb, you are right, but I think individually a lot of them might; it's just the herd-level knowledge that is usually wrong. I'm sure there's a sociology doctoral thesis in that comment somewhere--too bad I gave that up after my BS. As for stuff that burns, you'd be amazed at what does.... Ever seen a Ken doll do a Johnny Storm (Human Torch) imitation? It makes the coolest whoosh sound as it flies across the yard. And of course, you can have all sorts of fun with some of the lotions and potions the ladies store beneath the bathroom cabinet. AquaNet had a particularly nasty smell when used as torch fuel. . . And I won't even tell you about some of the other things I've see... er.. heard about I mean, not that I'd know from experience, mind you..... SangerM

I don't drink any more, either... but I shertainly don't drink any lesh. Prost ex!

This little poem allegedly by a paratrooper in Iraq is a little rough, but probably portrays the attitude about our beloved media. Poetic Justice By Russ Vaughn 2d Bn, 327th Parachute Infantry Regiment 101st Airborne Division You media pansies may squeal and may squirm, But a fighting man knows that the way to confirm That some jihadist bastard is truly dead, Is a brain-tappin' round fired into his head. To hell with some wienie with his journalist degree Safe away from the combat, tryin' to tell me I should check him for breathing, examine his eyes. Nope, I am punchin' his ticket to Muj paradise. To hell with you wimps from your Ivy League schools, Sittin' far from the war tellin' me about rules. And preaching to me your wrong-headed contention That I should observe the Geneva Convention, Which doesn't apply to a terrorist scum So evil and cruel their own people run from, Cold-blooded killers who love to behead, Shove that mother' Geneva, I'm leaving em dead. You slick talking heads may preach, preen and prattle, But you're damn well not here in the thick of the battle. It's chaotic, confusing, It all comes at you fast, So it's Muj checking out, because I'm going to last. Yeah, I'll last through this fight and send his ass away To his fat ugly virgins while I'm still in play. If you journalist wienies think that's cold, cruel and crass, Then pucker up sweeties. Kiss a fighting man's ass. And Im sure he refers to many that dont back him...

Cricket, didn't the Germans send some pilots and folks to Afghanistan? Also, do you know if they have changed their constituion yet to allow them to send fighting folks outside the country. That was a problem for them before. Maybe they did that for Gulf War I? Hard to say.

Hey Margaret, do we have to kiss them before we kill them? Isn't that a little like the Walrus and Carpenter sympathy? And your daddy may have been bent by something other than guilt.

Hey Walter, are you the same Walter E. Wallis who posted all of these: ---------- On ScrappleFace: Headline: New Science Book Stickers Evolve After Court Ruling I wonder how many of the vigerous defenders of evolution and scientific method are also filling their student's minds full of Gaia worship, Kyoto crap and general Greenie pantheism? If they can believe the idiot [deleted] the enviros spout, a miracle more or less shouldn't make that much difference. Posted by Walter E. Wallis on 2005-01-14 13:27:44 Top Headline: Rumsfeld Failed to Lick Stamps on GI Death Letters For shame - wasting time signing letters that he could better use bolting armor on humvees. When nothing will please, stop worrying. Some liberals would [complain] if you hanged them with a silk rope. Posted by Walter E. Wallis on 2004-12-20 17:43:36 Headline: Carter Wins Nobel: Mid-East Now At Peace The Camp David accord has resulted in more deaths than the Berlin-Moscow peace treaty. We all know that the Canal giveaway resulted in the perpetual love of the Third World for the United States Posted by Walter E. Wallis on 2002-10-11 18:23:05 ---------- on Joanne Jacobs re: Bill Cosby So much for the Age of Aquarius. What a waste. Posted by: Walter E. Wallis at October 25, 2004 06:49 PM ---------- Or this on Ornery American Walter E. Wallis, New Member Member # 2231 posted January 04, 2005 03:20 PM ... The only problem with nuclear waste is that the courts have not insisted that opposition arguments make sense. There never has been a waste problem except that opponents to nuclear power want to strangle nuclear power on its own waste because of their religious objections to nuclear. ---------- If not, you ought to consider a pseudonym because someone out there using your name is posting some really stupid and inane stuff. Umm...if it was you, then I didn't mean that. .. uh, yeah. And oh yeah, I'm really impressed that you made the wrong association with the name; you just joined the ranks of at least 2 other people who've earned the right to feel clever. I'll have a certificate sent right over. After that, you wanna' help me cleanse the world of undesirable subhuman riff-raff? As for my former Marine Raider step-father, well, yeah, you're right. His emotional problems could have been caused entirely by the massive brain tumor that killed him a couple years after the incidents I described. Could have been. But probably not. Thanks for asking, though

As far as I know (and I may be misinformed since I watch the local German news), there is currently a Bundeswehr Task Force in Kabul and two Assistance Groups of about 200-300 Soldiers and civilians in a town in the North ? and one in the East (Herat?). I think I remember hearing about some of the Bundeswehrs' KSK Commandos being deployed to Afghanistan back in 2002 and that they were attached to U.S. units in the field where they may have participated in some fighting. As to Gulf War I, the Bundeswehr deployed a small number troops to Turkey. Mostly Air Defense and Luftwaffe and they had trouble deploying (they hired Ukranian cargo aircraft to do the heavy lifting). I am pretty sure they sent NBC Soldiers to Saudi Arabia to field the 50 or so Fuchs NBC Spurpanzer that they gave to our Troops. Since Chancellor Schroeder won his last election on a promise to not send Soldiers to invade Iraq, I do not think he will be sending any combat units to Iraq. As far as I know there is nothing in the German Constitution that forbids the sending of Forces outside of the Territory of the Republic for peace keeping or combat. It is a lack of politcal will on the part of the politicians and the people. They are afraid of war.

Hmmm... Lots to ponder. I had thought Germany was similar to Japan re: not being able to legally send soldiers outside the country for war purposes. I could have been wrong though. Either way, the issues is not, so far as I can tell, about Germans fighting well. They can do that. And I don't think it's that the Germans are especially afraid of war (regardless of being raised by the losers of the last big one); I really think it has a lot to do with the way Germans perceive the world and their place in it. And as for the relationship to the US, well, that's complex beyond words in many ways. For example, one third of our language is rooted in German (the other 2/3rds are Saxon and Danish--NOT Greek and Latin, contrary to what most people think they know). Almost everything in our language that is concrete in nature comes from those roots, e.g., bread=brot, table=stul; father=vater, mother=mutter; tochter, Gott, schwester, hund, wurst, turm, butter, boot, shue, and so on for thousands of words. On the other hand, most of the abstract concepts in our language are rooted in the Latin/Greek, e.g., democracy, liberty, and so on. These words actually got attached to the English language after 14 Oct 1066, when French became the court language of England, and The Church moved in too (simplified version, there). That we in England and America do not speak French is a testament to the durability of the root forms of our language. BTW, did you know that English is the only language that has a thesaurus of any real size and variety. Why? Because we have three root language, overlaid by the Romance languages and sprinkled with bits and pieces of almost every other modern language out there. This country is like a reverse Tower of Babel in more ways than most people realize. . . But anyway, consider: If all the abstract words--and thus the concepts they describe--are rooted in Latin and Greek, and to a smaller extant Hebrew, then it stands that these words came to the Germans long after they came to English. That does not mean the Germanic peoples never contemplated democracy, but the language a people speak has far more influence on them and they way they perceive and understand the world than most people ever realize. Without the words to describe a notion, that notion either dies in the mind or is perverted by inadequate vocabulary. And in fact, it is in vocabulary that English excels. We speak the most flexible language on the planet. We can turn nouns into verbs, verbs into adjectives, pronouns into nouns, prepositions into phrases, and we can swap them around in whatever way we want until we get just the right thought out in the open. Which brings me to German and the German peoples. Anyone out there know the German word for Stapler? It's something like tablehammer, but I really don't know. In fact, the Germans who worked with my wife in the housing office didn't know what it was called in German either, so they all called it the "shtapler." Those of you who have been in Germany can probably come up with a score of examples of this. For example, in Nurnberg, I learned to call mustard "moostrick" not senf, but it was only there, where the Germans had picked up the word from Americans. Suffice to say, German is not an easy language to use for expressing complex abstract thoughts, and it is not nearly as flexible as English (for real fun, read Twain's essay on the wonderful German Language). And there's a reason besides global power that air traffic control uses English. And that brings me back to this point: I am not sure Germans are afraid of war, really, considering they really are a warrior culture (in the late 70's they still had active fencing clubs in most large towns), I think they just don't yet know how to pursue war without it being an issue of conquest, so they see all wars as being focused on taking things from others (as all their prior wars have been). And it is THAT aspect of our country that I think most other cultures understand the least. I believe we Americans are quite often misunderstood because we try very hard to avoid war, which some other cultures see as fear. The truth, of course, as almost any American can tell anyone who asks, is that we just don't want to have to deal with other peoples' nonsense, we just want to be left alone, and we want everyone else to "play nice." It is the greatest of all dichotomies, actually: Never on Earth has there been a country as powerful as ours that wasn't bent on conquest by force; a country that worked so hard to avoid conflict, but that makes war better and prosecutes it with more relish than any other; a country that can kill its enemies with joyous, righteous abandon, while striving at the same time to end the conflict in a way that is good for the enemy's people. What other country ever could conceive of a Marshall Plan? Or would have rebuilt Japan as we did? What other country has ever tried what we have done in Afghanistan and are doing in Iraq? What other country has ever worked as hard to make the world a better place, for so little gratitude? But then, that's just us, ain't it? Personally, I think it's the language. 'Nuff said, eh? -SangerM

SangerM, That was a well stated, Etymolo-Linguistic Discourse of the origins of our language. I couldn't have stated it better, only to add: If it weren't for Willy defating Harry, my understanding is that we would be speaking something akin to Flemish or Lower Dutch. If on the other hand if Harry would have been the victor, our language wouldn't have been as gifted with the dynamic flexibility that we now have. Boquisucio

Cricket, I think there is a great deal to what you say. I haven't been there since '89, and not for a long time since '85, so I don't know what things are like now that the Peril in the East has subsided and the fences have been torn down. As for moral compass, I think that is the problem most folks have, even here sometimes--at least individually. In re: the Germans, I don't know. . . I just don't think the culture really promotes thinking outside the borders in terms of anything except places to take the annual holiday, and places to get stuff from. We may be no different in a lot of ways, but I think our national subconscious connections to the old countries may be what keeps us focused on externals as much as internals. There aren't many people here who don't still think of themselves as transplanted something else's, even if their families have been here since Williamsburg. And that's another thing. If you ask most folks here how old our country is, they go back to 1776. Very few people actually think about this country being around 400 years old, and that 1776 was just the time when we gained our independence. It's a shame really, because an awful lot happened before then that we should be proud of too, and I think it would change some notions of America if more people knew more about what happened in the hundreds of years before 1776. BTW, one interesting book about those times is McCullough's John Adams. A bit dry at times, but fascinating overall, especially the part about Adams going to meet the English King, as the first U.S. ambassador to England after the War. THAT must have been something, eh? Anyway, just thinnin' SangerM

SangerM Ah, the imponderables of the "What if's of History". I certainly have to check Howarth out. I trully believe in turning points in history, for one would never know and only speculate, on the different courses that we as humans could have taken. The English language could have followed the path that you described, then again who knows. Its been speculated, that if it were not for the bushwhacking that the Romans got at Teutoburg, Quintilus Varus could very well have Latinized the rest of the Germanic Tribes into submission. This would have drastically changed the character and culture of the Germans. In turn, it would have precluded Hegel, Kant & Nietzsche's thoughts, which served as the moral grounding for the two German wars of aggression of the last century. But alas, that is all idle talk. As you, I do believe in God's hand shepherding us, as we stumble through history. Boquisucio

I believe in turning points in history as well, but with the hand of the Almighty helping it along, and we have to be able to take advantage of those blessings. One turning point for us in the Revolutionary War was a fog that came up, another was the Battle of Trenton when a bunch of survivors of Valley Forge, little older than teenagers took the Hessians. In WWII, I also believe that we were meant to win, and having had parents that were stationed there during the Airlift, their stories just reinforced to me that it takes vigilance to preserve liberty. The Bundeswehr may have been poised and read to defend the Vaterland, but they always had the US Army watching their backs. But going to Kosovo alone was a different. Again, not because of a lack of courage on the part of the Germans, but a lack of a moral compass of the part of their leaders. I also think too that they would have been stalemated as they have had a long standing alliance with Saudi Arabia. To have helped with the WOT would put them in an awkward position. At least their refusal to fight wasn't from cowardice.

Oh, and Sanger - "heftmaschine" sind 'stapler' auf Deutsch.