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Anti-Americanism in Germany

Whoever said the Germans had no sense of humour? This piece entitled: Evil Americans, Poor Mullahs deconstructs the dark heart of German Anti-Americanism ...

Anti-Americanism is hypocrisy at its finest. You can spend your evening catching the latest episode of "24" and then complain about Guantanamo the next morning. You can claim that the Americans have themselves to blame for terrorism, while at the same time calling for tougher restrictions on Muslim immigration to Germany. You can call the American president a mass murderer and book a flight to New York the next day. You can lament the average American's supposed lack of culture and savvy and meanwhile send off for the documents for the Green Card lottery.
What? Anti-Americanism in Europe - I would never have noticed - but some Germans have apparently ...

Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, the American historian who in his 1996 book "Hitler's Willing Executioners" deprived the Germans of the belief that they didn't know what was going on back in the day, is currently studying the history of genocides in the 20th century. One of the things he has noticed is that the politicians or military leaders who planned genocides and had them carried out rarely concealed their intentions in advance. Whether the victims were Hereros, Armenians, kulaks, Jews or later Bosnians, the perpetrators generally believed that they were justified and had no reason to hide their murderous intentions.

Today, when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad talks about a world without Israel while dreaming of an atom bomb, it seems obvious that we -- as Germans of all people -- should be putting two and two together. Why shouldn't Ahmadinejad mean what he says? But we Germans only know what we believe.


Of course this would not be the same Ahmadinejad who is busy trying to convince us that he is "a man we can do business with" and that any agreement with him will lead to "peace in our time" - and not a bit like Hitler ... I guess I should trust him to have his nukes then - after all Iran is running out of energy and oil and needs nuclear power to save itself from the energy crunch ...

Perhaps we should take the approach of Harold Nicolson who was heard to opine ...

All we can do is lie on our backs with our paws in the air and hope that no one will stamp on our tummies.

Or maybe not ....

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Comments

I have the belly full of
good americans and bad germans and
bad americans and good german
steuben was a brave german an a good american

peace love and weed