"Returning German veterans neglected" May 13, 2012
BERLIN
- For decades, Germany shied away from celebrating its military,
ashamed of the jingoism that helped spark two world wars.
Not a bad quality. The EUSraeli empire could use a dose.
But as thousands of the country’s troops return home from Afghanistan, many here are saying that old ghosts are causing new neglect.
One fix, Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere said recently, would be to bring back a veterans day, a commemoration that Germany shunned after World War II. The suggestion is a major departure for a country where, until recently, officials did not call the conflict in Afghanistan a war or refer to “fallen soldiers,’’ fearful of stirring swastika-studded memories.
That's the excuse and remedy for not caring for vets?
But soldiers themselves say far more is needed.
As the international mission in Afghanistan winds down, Germany and other NATO countries are confronting the homecoming of forces who have seen some of the toughest fighting in decades. In a time of uncertainty about the future of Europe’s militaries, with spending slashed and capabilities diminished, how governments handle the Afghanistan transition could have deep repercussions on societal support for future conflicts.
Therein lies your problem.
In Germany, military topics are so undigested that de Maiziere’s first step was to ask whether the word “veteran’’ means someone who has served in combat or instead applies to anyone who has been in the military.
“German society is not really prepared for these issues, because there is no tradition of it,’’ said Ulrich Schlie, director of policy planning at the German Defense Ministry. “Our main concern is that there is not enough interest in our society in the armed forces.’’
To join or.... sigh.
But the question remains an open one, in a country that has neither an equivalent to the US Department of Veterans Affairs nor a centralized apparatus to deal with the challenges that men and women face after combat. Germany suspended its draft last year, and some worry that the switch to an all-volunteer army could further erode ties between society and its military.
“In Germany, we are not proud of our veterans,’’ said Roderich Kiesewetter, the head of the German Military Reserve Association and a member of Parliament for the ruling Christian Democrats.
Considering the atrocities western forces have engaged in on the basis of damnable lies, that is understandable.
Few discussions about the military’s status in society can avoid Germany’s Nazi past.
I'm sorry, but those are not the ghosts that scare me anymore.
But the conflicts of the past 20 years - in the Balkans, Somalia, and Afghanistan - have slowly changed the primary focus. Germany is the third-largest contributor of troops in Afghanistan - 5,350 troops were stationed there at the beginning of the year, before the drawdown started, and more than 300,000 German troops have served in foreign operations since reunification in 1990. Since then, more than 100 have died.
Yes, now WE -- I include myself because it's my s*** government in the lead over there -- are the INVADERS, folks!
The simple passage of time has made discussions about veterans less fraught. Few members of the World War II generation are around to raise awkward questions about how they fit into the broader plans. De Maiziere - the son of a prominent general who was active in World War II and post-war West Germany - has said that he intends honors to go only to members of post-war Germany’s military, which was established in 1955 and whose size is still limited to an internationally agreed upon maximum.
Like after WWI -- which led to Hitler's build-up of the German military-industrial complex.
Among regular Germans, the discussion has not provoked the heated debate that might have occurred a decade ago. Instead, many seem ready to accept the plans for more recognition for the military. Still, no one is suggesting military parades down Unter den Linden, the broad Berlin boulevard that was built to accommodate that purpose.
“There’s a need for peace and peacefulness,’’ said David Habedank, 31, a chef who was visiting the New Guard House on Unter den Linden on a recent afternoon. Once a monument to the German military, it is now a memorial “to the victims of war and tyranny.’’
Planet-wide, yeah. Hard thing to do when war-profiteering globe-kickers are calling the shots.
But soldiers who have served in Afghanistan say that there remains a stark divide between how their country treats them and the reception that their American, British, and other counterparts get upon returning home.
“If you look at the US guys, you look at the day they return from Afghanistan or Iraq. In Germany, there’s no one who is greeting them at the airport. There’s no comparison,’’ said Andreas Timmermann-Levanas, head of the Association of German Veterans, who served in Bosnia and Afghanistan and has pushed for a veterans day.
Are you denied health care and disability pay like our guys?
“I lost everything: house, car, family,’’ said Martin Jaeger, 41, who was driving a German military bus in Kabul in 2003 when a suicide bomber in a taxi drove up alongside him and detonated his explosives, killing four soldiers and injuring dozens. Jaeger walked away from the blast, but the devastation left a deep psychological impact.
That has happened to a lot of our guys, too.
For years, Jaeger battled with the German military to have his post-traumatic stress disorder recognized so that he could receive benefits and treatment. He only recently won his fight.
Answered my question.
--more--"
What else was floating around my Globe:
"Berlin police announced Tuesday that they had found three improvised pipe bombs near a huge May 1 protest march in what a prominent German lawmaker called an act of terrorism....
Probably, you know....
--more--"
And before continuing let me just note how strange it is that the entire Nazi image has been distorted into a misnomer seeing as they actually fought the private banking cartel behind the push for global fascism.
Of course, considering the source of the information it is not surprising.
Meet the "Nazis" of today.
"Austerity rebukes don’t move Germany; French, Greek voters support altering direction" by Alan Cowell and Nicholas Kulish | New York Times, May 08, 2012
PARIS — Hours after voters in France and Greece delivered sharp rebuttals to advocates of austerity as the antidote to Europe’s financial crisis, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany on Monday pointedly insisted that neither she nor her government favored a renegotiation of a fiscal pact underpinning the continent’s belt-tightening.
Merkel’s remarks at a news conference in Berlin came as the victorious, socialist Francois Hollande prepared to succeed Nicolas Sarkozy as president of France. Her remarks underscored both the abiding significance of the axis between Paris and Berlin that drives European decision-making and the competing visions of austerity and stimulus as ways to combat crushing debt.
Related: Fallout of French Election
The balance between reducing borrowing and addressing popular anger at austerity measures is proving complicated for Europeans....
In Rome, Prime Minister Mario Monti, a technocrat appointed last November as the euro crisis deepened and who is regarded as a leading proponent of stimulus to nurture recovery, said the outcome of the French vote was a “call for a reflection on European policies.’’
See: Monti the New Mussolini
Amazing how little times change. Italians were always wishy-washy allies.
“Responsible public finances are a necessary condition but certainly not sufficient for the key objective: sustainable growth that creates employment and is orientated toward social equality,’’ he said. “For this reason it is fundamentally important that Europe urgently adopts concrete policies for growth.’’
China said it was “ready to work’’ with the new French administration, news reports said.
But in Russia, violent street protests and the inauguration of
Vladimir Putin for a third term as president Monday eclipsed news of the
French election.
Related: Protesting Putin
--more--"
Someone had a scare!
"Social Democrats rebuff Merkel" by Nicholas Kulish | New York Times, May 14, 2012
BERLIN - The strong showing for Hannelore Kraft, the Social Democratic state premier, and the Social Democrats as well as what the German news media described as a debacle and a disaster for the conservatives, sends a clear signal that Chancellor Angela Merkel could face a difficult road to reelection....
Voters across Europe have expressed their displeasure with Merkel’s path....
--more--"
Related: Nazis Then and Now
Not a bad quality. The EUSraeli empire could use a dose.
But as thousands of the country’s troops return home from Afghanistan, many here are saying that old ghosts are causing new neglect.
One fix, Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere said recently, would be to bring back a veterans day, a commemoration that Germany shunned after World War II. The suggestion is a major departure for a country where, until recently, officials did not call the conflict in Afghanistan a war or refer to “fallen soldiers,’’ fearful of stirring swastika-studded memories.
That's the excuse and remedy for not caring for vets?
But soldiers themselves say far more is needed.
As the international mission in Afghanistan winds down, Germany and other NATO countries are confronting the homecoming of forces who have seen some of the toughest fighting in decades. In a time of uncertainty about the future of Europe’s militaries, with spending slashed and capabilities diminished, how governments handle the Afghanistan transition could have deep repercussions on societal support for future conflicts.
Therein lies your problem.
In Germany, military topics are so undigested that de Maiziere’s first step was to ask whether the word “veteran’’ means someone who has served in combat or instead applies to anyone who has been in the military.
“German society is not really prepared for these issues, because there is no tradition of it,’’ said Ulrich Schlie, director of policy planning at the German Defense Ministry. “Our main concern is that there is not enough interest in our society in the armed forces.’’
To join or.... sigh.
But the question remains an open one, in a country that has neither an equivalent to the US Department of Veterans Affairs nor a centralized apparatus to deal with the challenges that men and women face after combat. Germany suspended its draft last year, and some worry that the switch to an all-volunteer army could further erode ties between society and its military.
“In Germany, we are not proud of our veterans,’’ said Roderich Kiesewetter, the head of the German Military Reserve Association and a member of Parliament for the ruling Christian Democrats.
Considering the atrocities western forces have engaged in on the basis of damnable lies, that is understandable.
Few discussions about the military’s status in society can avoid Germany’s Nazi past.
I'm sorry, but those are not the ghosts that scare me anymore.
But the conflicts of the past 20 years - in the Balkans, Somalia, and Afghanistan - have slowly changed the primary focus. Germany is the third-largest contributor of troops in Afghanistan - 5,350 troops were stationed there at the beginning of the year, before the drawdown started, and more than 300,000 German troops have served in foreign operations since reunification in 1990. Since then, more than 100 have died.
Yes, now WE -- I include myself because it's my s*** government in the lead over there -- are the INVADERS, folks!
The simple passage of time has made discussions about veterans less fraught. Few members of the World War II generation are around to raise awkward questions about how they fit into the broader plans. De Maiziere - the son of a prominent general who was active in World War II and post-war West Germany - has said that he intends honors to go only to members of post-war Germany’s military, which was established in 1955 and whose size is still limited to an internationally agreed upon maximum.
Like after WWI -- which led to Hitler's build-up of the German military-industrial complex.
Among regular Germans, the discussion has not provoked the heated debate that might have occurred a decade ago. Instead, many seem ready to accept the plans for more recognition for the military. Still, no one is suggesting military parades down Unter den Linden, the broad Berlin boulevard that was built to accommodate that purpose.
“There’s a need for peace and peacefulness,’’ said David Habedank, 31, a chef who was visiting the New Guard House on Unter den Linden on a recent afternoon. Once a monument to the German military, it is now a memorial “to the victims of war and tyranny.’’
Planet-wide, yeah. Hard thing to do when war-profiteering globe-kickers are calling the shots.
But soldiers who have served in Afghanistan say that there remains a stark divide between how their country treats them and the reception that their American, British, and other counterparts get upon returning home.
“If you look at the US guys, you look at the day they return from Afghanistan or Iraq. In Germany, there’s no one who is greeting them at the airport. There’s no comparison,’’ said Andreas Timmermann-Levanas, head of the Association of German Veterans, who served in Bosnia and Afghanistan and has pushed for a veterans day.
Are you denied health care and disability pay like our guys?
“I lost everything: house, car, family,’’ said Martin Jaeger, 41, who was driving a German military bus in Kabul in 2003 when a suicide bomber in a taxi drove up alongside him and detonated his explosives, killing four soldiers and injuring dozens. Jaeger walked away from the blast, but the devastation left a deep psychological impact.
That has happened to a lot of our guys, too.
For years, Jaeger battled with the German military to have his post-traumatic stress disorder recognized so that he could receive benefits and treatment. He only recently won his fight.
Answered my question.
--more--"
What else was floating around my Globe:
"Berlin police announced Tuesday that they had found three improvised pipe bombs near a huge May 1 protest march in what a prominent German lawmaker called an act of terrorism....
Probably, you know....
--more--"
And before continuing let me just note how strange it is that the entire Nazi image has been distorted into a misnomer seeing as they actually fought the private banking cartel behind the push for global fascism.
Of course, considering the source of the information it is not surprising.
Meet the "Nazis" of today.
"Austerity rebukes don’t move Germany; French, Greek voters support altering direction" by Alan Cowell and Nicholas Kulish | New York Times, May 08, 2012
PARIS — Hours after voters in France and Greece delivered sharp rebuttals to advocates of austerity as the antidote to Europe’s financial crisis, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany on Monday pointedly insisted that neither she nor her government favored a renegotiation of a fiscal pact underpinning the continent’s belt-tightening.
Merkel’s remarks at a news conference in Berlin came as the victorious, socialist Francois Hollande prepared to succeed Nicolas Sarkozy as president of France. Her remarks underscored both the abiding significance of the axis between Paris and Berlin that drives European decision-making and the competing visions of austerity and stimulus as ways to combat crushing debt.
Related: Fallout of French Election
The balance between reducing borrowing and addressing popular anger at austerity measures is proving complicated for Europeans....
In Rome, Prime Minister Mario Monti, a technocrat appointed last November as the euro crisis deepened and who is regarded as a leading proponent of stimulus to nurture recovery, said the outcome of the French vote was a “call for a reflection on European policies.’’
See: Monti the New Mussolini
Amazing how little times change. Italians were always wishy-washy allies.
“Responsible public finances are a necessary condition but certainly not sufficient for the key objective: sustainable growth that creates employment and is orientated toward social equality,’’ he said. “For this reason it is fundamentally important that Europe urgently adopts concrete policies for growth.’’
China said it was “ready to work’’ with the new French administration, news reports said.
Related: Protesting Putin
--more--"
Someone had a scare!
"Social Democrats rebuff Merkel" by Nicholas Kulish | New York Times, May 14, 2012
BERLIN - The strong showing for Hannelore Kraft, the Social Democratic state premier, and the Social Democrats as well as what the German news media described as a debacle and a disaster for the conservatives, sends a clear signal that Chancellor Angela Merkel could face a difficult road to reelection....
Voters across Europe have expressed their displeasure with Merkel’s path....
--more--"
Related: Nazis Then and Now
