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Achtung!
Instapundit had an excellent link earlier today. I wanted to pass it along in case GWH readers missed it. It is an interesting, and I think surprising editorial in Der Spiegel. I imagine the youth of Germany must be very grateful for the US House and Senate.
You can find the editorial here:
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Germans as a rule, don't
Germans as a rule, don't like America as a country, and it's been a long time since they did. They may like travelling to America, and they may like the individual Americans they know or are related to, but it has been a long, long, time since they really liked America as a country.
Germans have politely put up with us for the last 60 years because of three reasons: 1) we defeated them in WWII, 2) we still occupy their country, and 3) they needed us to protect them from the Soviet Union. (Now that 3 is gone, we have seen public opinion in Germany sway against us. The recent rift over Iraq has severely exacerbated the problem.)
But make no mistake, they don't like us. Our presence in their country is a daily reminder of WWII and the younger generation especially resents this.
UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL
Troubling
timothy,
When I read this on Saturday morning, I mulled over posting a comment, and thought the better of it. It has been troubling me since.
The problem that i have with the post (not your post, but the authors article) is twofold: First, through selective examples, the author is able to convey the sense that Germans were wrong in the past, so they must be wrong on this point as well. If I took the time, I could write a similar piece, complete with examples of where past beliefs would suggest that the current German sentiment is correct, but where will that get us? Me saying 'I am right and you are wrong' and the author saying the same thing?
To paraphrase Soren Kierkagaard, 'life can only be understood by looking backward, but it must be lived by looking forward.' Our beliefs are not static. There is a fundamental difference between looking forward to what we believe in the future, and looking back at the past with 20-20 hindsight. The author dances between this dichotomy, using selective examples as if to offer some 'proof' that these forward looking beliefs (or at least present tense) are "wrong". They are beliefs, looking forward into the future. (And no, time will not tell whether they are 'right' or 'wrong' because life is not a Frank Capra movie, where we get to see what life would be like if a different course of events occurred.) Glenn Ryenolds should know better.
It is a clever frame of an argument- Karl Rove does it with political issues, Michael Moore does it as well- but an invalid one nonetheless. Maybe instead of trying to prove that people are "wrong" when they believe that America poses a bigger threat than Iran we should recognize the obvious: right or wrong, a significant number, even among our allies, think that we pose a greater threat than Iran. If we seek to understand why, instead of simply saying 'you are wrong', we may be better able to alleviate any 'wrongly' held beliefs.
regards,
r.johnson
anectodal evidence
My sister and brother-in-law have lived Europe [Switzerland, now Germany] for most of the last decade. From what she tells me, people she lives near don't quite understand why we invaded Afghanistan and now Iraq. They think these are bad actions showing our bad character.
Must echo r.j. in his point that those living in a country whose former citizens allowed the holocaust to happen are NOT necessarily wrong about everything in politics. They may be wrong, but not b.c. of former Nazism.
Right or Wrong
Curt, r.johnson, Jim,
Thanks for your comments.
I should say that my (vague) statement regarding the surprising nature of the article was not in reference to the anti-American sentiment in Germany (it is pervasive throughout Old Europe, elsewhere too, and has been for some time!). It was in reference to the fact that this editorial appeared in Der Spiegel (ok, the online international edition, but still). It has been a while since I paid attention to Der Spiegel editorials, and I don’t recall any that had this kind of pro-American bent—but, my memory could be faulty. It appears that Malzahn has been around for a several years, maybe he is Der Spiegel’s token conservative.
I agree on the Holocaust point. A significant share of my ancestors probably spent the better part of the 9th-11th centuries (roughly?) raping and pillaging in Europe—I would not be convinced by those who argued that my beliefs today are better understood by the beliefs of my distant ancestors, at least not with regard to the raping and the pillaging. But I think his point is to shame, not to provide rigorous proof of German “wrongness”. It is an editorial, not a dissertation. I do agree though, if your intention is to prove someone wrong, cherry-picking the past is probably poor strategy.
r.johnson, your Kierkegaard argument is interesting, not least because it significantly cripples the most prolific retrospective critique of the Iraq war. Namely, that there were no weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq and therefore those who led us into war on the basis of this belief, were wrong (and immoral, incompetent, etc.). (I should add that I don’t believe this was the only reason.)
Indeed, life is not a Frank Capra movie.
p.s.: r.johnson, belated thanks for the references regarding the US Attorney firings, they were very informative, even if I do not follow all of the legal arguments.
about the Iraq war
I agree that the Kierkagaard quote undercuts the current argument some are now offering on the Iraq war. I, for one, criticize it when I hear it being repeated. Hindsight will always be 'perfect'. However, that is not to say that Bush et. al. cannot be criticized for their professed belief by looking at the facts that were known at the time. I could fill volumes (I have) with why, looking at nothing more than objective evidence available at the time that anyone could research, combined with the 'behind the scenes' reports of the UN weapons inspectors, a professed belief that Saddam possessed WMD was not credible at the time it was made.
So what do you know- my relatives and your relatives may have gone 'raping and pillaging' together a couple hundred years ago! (I have a dark sense of humor.)
r.johnson
Vikings
Ah, the good ole days...my how times have changed...
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