Building a bridge - Mr Obama live in Berlin
So I just sat down and watched Barrack Obama deliver his speech in Berlin, in front of the Siegessäule (a pillar representing the Roman goddess of victory, called Nike). He talked a lot about the history of Berlin, about the city laying in ruins, about it being divided for almost 40 years, about the day the Wall was torn down and about the support given to Germany and Berlin in those times, namely the support given by the United States.
Of course Berlin is a particularly well-made choice: not only is it one of the eldest cities in Germany, it also has a rather moved history. And ever since Kennedy, Berlin is a city which holds the United States in particular high regard. More so than other cities, is my feeling.
But Obama's speech was not addressed to the German people or the people of Berlin in particular. It was addressed to the people of the world: it's a promise, it's a pledge and it's a plea for help.
Obama has said many things, that are true. That terrorism can only be stopped if all Nations stand together, that there are still many walls that need to be torn down (like the one that used to stand in Berlin), that all nations have to invest into the future (politically, military, financially and environmentally) in equal parts and that we need to build bridges like the Luftbrücke the U.S. Air Force used to have established over Berlin: an air route spanning the city, where soldiers from the United States dropped care packages rather than bombs over the destroyed town -- food, clothes and hope.
Still, I am disappointed. Although all that has been said was true (and briefly felt like a summary of world history and special events taking place in Berlin), although I agree with what Obama says, I am disappointed. Because obviously, Obama -- like so many other U.S. politicians -- did not bother to do some research where German war politics are concerned. And I really wish he would have, I really wish he would have addressed that point because it would have meant that this trip was not another electional campaign, but that he was already laying the foundation for the foreign politics of the future. The kind of foreign politics that he intends to be pursuing.
He's said very clearly that it is Germany's duty to send more soldiers to Afghanistan, to put more personnel into the global fight against terrorism and to return the aid it received from the United States not to the States themselves but to other states who are now in the situation Germany was in 50 years ago. And this, really, shows that he did not do his research and this is what upsets me so.
The Federal Republic of Germany, for one, does not have an army -- it has a Bundeswehr. The Bundeswehr's sole purpose is to defend the Federal Republic. This is 1) laid down in our constitution and 2) the condition under which the allied forces of WW II, that is France, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, allowed the Federal Republic of Germany to form any kind of military force. Only within the scope of the republic's duties as a member state of the NATO (or the United Nations) may soldiers of the Bundeswehr be dispatched to foreign crisis zones. The only other legitimate reason (ackording to German law) for the republic to send out soldiers is, if the republic were to be attacked directly, which has not happened so far. Sending German soldiers to international crisis zones when none of the above mentioned conditions are met is illegal and means that the Federal Republic of Germany violates its constitution.
Barrack Obama is not stupid but if he'd done his research, he'd known these things and he would have addressed them.
I'm all for building bridges and for returning the good that was done to us, the people of the Federal Republic of Germany.
But I am against breaking our own constitution and I am against people who abuse my people to make good weather with THEIR people.
All in all, Obama's visit was just that: it was another appearance in his electional campaign to become president of the United States, packed with a brief history of the relationship of the USA and Berlin, with the wish to lay a foundation for a better world, with reasoning of why the United States require European support to achieve this and with an attempt the guilt trip the current German government into dispatching more soldiers.
All in all, I am very disappointed in Barrack Obama - I would have expected more than a charismatic smile and demagogic skill from a man, who has set so many things in motion in his own country.
Of course Berlin is a particularly well-made choice: not only is it one of the eldest cities in Germany, it also has a rather moved history. And ever since Kennedy, Berlin is a city which holds the United States in particular high regard. More so than other cities, is my feeling.
But Obama's speech was not addressed to the German people or the people of Berlin in particular. It was addressed to the people of the world: it's a promise, it's a pledge and it's a plea for help.
Obama has said many things, that are true. That terrorism can only be stopped if all Nations stand together, that there are still many walls that need to be torn down (like the one that used to stand in Berlin), that all nations have to invest into the future (politically, military, financially and environmentally) in equal parts and that we need to build bridges like the Luftbrücke the U.S. Air Force used to have established over Berlin: an air route spanning the city, where soldiers from the United States dropped care packages rather than bombs over the destroyed town -- food, clothes and hope.
Still, I am disappointed. Although all that has been said was true (and briefly felt like a summary of world history and special events taking place in Berlin), although I agree with what Obama says, I am disappointed. Because obviously, Obama -- like so many other U.S. politicians -- did not bother to do some research where German war politics are concerned. And I really wish he would have, I really wish he would have addressed that point because it would have meant that this trip was not another electional campaign, but that he was already laying the foundation for the foreign politics of the future. The kind of foreign politics that he intends to be pursuing.
He's said very clearly that it is Germany's duty to send more soldiers to Afghanistan, to put more personnel into the global fight against terrorism and to return the aid it received from the United States not to the States themselves but to other states who are now in the situation Germany was in 50 years ago. And this, really, shows that he did not do his research and this is what upsets me so.
The Federal Republic of Germany, for one, does not have an army -- it has a Bundeswehr. The Bundeswehr's sole purpose is to defend the Federal Republic. This is 1) laid down in our constitution and 2) the condition under which the allied forces of WW II, that is France, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, allowed the Federal Republic of Germany to form any kind of military force. Only within the scope of the republic's duties as a member state of the NATO (or the United Nations) may soldiers of the Bundeswehr be dispatched to foreign crisis zones. The only other legitimate reason (ackording to German law) for the republic to send out soldiers is, if the republic were to be attacked directly, which has not happened so far. Sending German soldiers to international crisis zones when none of the above mentioned conditions are met is illegal and means that the Federal Republic of Germany violates its constitution.
Barrack Obama is not stupid but if he'd done his research, he'd known these things and he would have addressed them.
I'm all for building bridges and for returning the good that was done to us, the people of the Federal Republic of Germany.
But I am against breaking our own constitution and I am against people who abuse my people to make good weather with THEIR people.
All in all, Obama's visit was just that: it was another appearance in his electional campaign to become president of the United States, packed with a brief history of the relationship of the USA and Berlin, with the wish to lay a foundation for a better world, with reasoning of why the United States require European support to achieve this and with an attempt the guilt trip the current German government into dispatching more soldiers.
All in all, I am very disappointed in Barrack Obama - I would have expected more than a charismatic smile and demagogic skill from a man, who has set so many things in motion in his own country.