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URL: spiegel.de/international/0,1518,344679,00.html
Democracy at the Tip of a Sword
George W. Bush’s Infectious Virus
By Claus Christian Malzahn in Berlin
The US is guilty of war crimes in Iraq and Guantanamo. It’s not the first time. The US also committed war crimes in World War II. But the greater legacy of American involvement in the war against Hitler was democracy in Germany. Could the same thing now be happening in Iraq and the Middle East?
spiegel.de/img/0,1020,307499,00.jpgThe US attacked Iraq against world opinion. But it might have been the right move.
George W. Bush – and he should know – once compared Germany’s abstinence in the Iraq war with a reformed alcoholic: even one glass of beer is too much. After the Nazi Wehrmacht and the SS had left Europe in ruins, murdered nearly all European Jews, and cut a deadly swath through the Soviet Union, war as a political instrument became an unapproachable taboo in Germany. But at the same time, this country is currently flooded by memories of World War II. Sixty years after the end of the war, the bloody winter and spring of 1945 is being relived day by day in the media. In fact, no country in Europe is as obsessed with history as the Germans are. The fascination with Germany’s “Downfall” knows no limits.
But this flood of images from World War II is obscuring some important lessons from that half-decade of murderous violence that still hold true today. The Nazi regime was not brought to an end by sit-ins in front of the Adolf Hitler’s Chancellery. It was the Russians, Americans and British who – through a high price paid in the currency of both military and civilian casualties – brought Hitler’s massive war machinery to its knees. Bombs and grenades brought democracy to us Germans. There was no other option; the Germans didn’t want it any other way. Until the bitter end, many Germans believed and trusted in their Führer and the first steps of re-education were not taken by social workers, rather they were ordered by the US military.
Democracy being born out of violence
Sixty years ago, the brute force of the sword brought peace and democracy to Europe. Two years ago, George W. Bush began the war against Iraq for all the wrong reasons. There were good reasons to protest the war. Now it seems that true freedom of expression and democracy are evolving from that wrongful war. If that’s the case, then there’s good reason to cheer.
spiegel.de/img/0,1020,406575,00.jpgUS President Bush has pursued his agenda of gun-boat democracy with single-mindedness.
The Americans never found the weapons of mass destruction that were allegedly threatening the world – instead, mass graves were discovered. In January, the Iraqis cast their ballots against terrorism. But terror has yet to be stopped. The followers of leading al-Qaida terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi are putting their faith in a dark, religiously fueled promise of fortune. For them, death is the pinnacle of life and only death will stop them. However, the Iraqi voters achieved something else: The virus of democracy, feared by al-Zarqawi and friends, is spreading throughout the Middle East. In February, municipal elections were held in Saudi Arabia. To Westerners, it may seem ridiculous mentioning such an event, but for the local population it was an important warm-up exercise on the road toward freedom of expression. In the past – including recent elections – only men were allowed to vote there. However, in an interview with Time magazine, Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud recently promised that that is set to change soon. Women, he said, were more sensible voters anyway. A brand new tone to the rhetoric coming out of Riyadh.
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Democracy at the Tip of a Sword
George W. Bush’s Infectious Virus
By Claus Christian Malzahn in Berlin
The US is guilty of war crimes in Iraq and Guantanamo. It’s not the first time. The US also committed war crimes in World War II. But the greater legacy of American involvement in the war against Hitler was democracy in Germany. Could the same thing now be happening in Iraq and the Middle East?
spiegel.de/img/0,1020,307499,00.jpgThe US attacked Iraq against world opinion. But it might have been the right move.
George W. Bush – and he should know – once compared Germany’s abstinence in the Iraq war with a reformed alcoholic: even one glass of beer is too much. After the Nazi Wehrmacht and the SS had left Europe in ruins, murdered nearly all European Jews, and cut a deadly swath through the Soviet Union, war as a political instrument became an unapproachable taboo in Germany. But at the same time, this country is currently flooded by memories of World War II. Sixty years after the end of the war, the bloody winter and spring of 1945 is being relived day by day in the media. In fact, no country in Europe is as obsessed with history as the Germans are. The fascination with Germany’s “Downfall” knows no limits.
But this flood of images from World War II is obscuring some important lessons from that half-decade of murderous violence that still hold true today. The Nazi regime was not brought to an end by sit-ins in front of the Adolf Hitler’s Chancellery. It was the Russians, Americans and British who – through a high price paid in the currency of both military and civilian casualties – brought Hitler’s massive war machinery to its knees. Bombs and grenades brought democracy to us Germans. There was no other option; the Germans didn’t want it any other way. Until the bitter end, many Germans believed and trusted in their Führer and the first steps of re-education were not taken by social workers, rather they were ordered by the US military.
Democracy being born out of violence
Sixty years ago, the brute force of the sword brought peace and democracy to Europe. Two years ago, George W. Bush began the war against Iraq for all the wrong reasons. There were good reasons to protest the war. Now it seems that true freedom of expression and democracy are evolving from that wrongful war. If that’s the case, then there’s good reason to cheer.
spiegel.de/img/0,1020,406575,00.jpgUS President Bush has pursued his agenda of gun-boat democracy with single-mindedness.
The Americans never found the weapons of mass destruction that were allegedly threatening the world – instead, mass graves were discovered. In January, the Iraqis cast their ballots against terrorism. But terror has yet to be stopped. The followers of leading al-Qaida terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi are putting their faith in a dark, religiously fueled promise of fortune. For them, death is the pinnacle of life and only death will stop them. However, the Iraqi voters achieved something else: The virus of democracy, feared by al-Zarqawi and friends, is spreading throughout the Middle East. In February, municipal elections were held in Saudi Arabia. To Westerners, it may seem ridiculous mentioning such an event, but for the local population it was an important warm-up exercise on the road toward freedom of expression. In the past – including recent elections – only men were allowed to vote there. However, in an interview with Time magazine, Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud recently promised that that is set to change soon. Women, he said, were more sensible voters anyway. A brand new tone to the rhetoric coming out of Riyadh.
READ THE REST