Germany

Analysis: Victor Davis Hanson: American soldiers leave Germany — and suddenly Germany is upset

President Trump recently ordered a 12,000-troop reduction in American military personnel stationed in Germany. That leaves about 24,000 American soldiers still in the country. A little more than half of the troops being withdrawn will return home. The rest will be redeployed to other NATO member nations such as Belgium, Italy, and perhaps Baltic and Eastern European countries. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is said to be furious. She claims the redeployments will “weaken the (NATO) alliance.” German commercial interests chimed in that the troop withdrawals will hurt their decades-old businesses serving U.S. bases. Perhaps, but Merkel surely cannot be surprised. Six years ago, all NATO members pledged to spend 2 percent of their GDP on defense. Yet only eight of 29 so far have kept their word. Germany spends only about 1.4 percent of its GDP on defense. As NATO’s largest, wealthiest and most powerful European member, it sets the example for the rest of alliance. Merkel’s reneging on her 2014 pledge helps explain why less wealthy and influential NATO members also see no reason to meet their obligations. Germany surely knows that 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the end of the World War II, and the 29th year since the fall of the Berlin Wall — the symbolic end of the Cold War. Will there be any point in the future when Europe is confident enough to be a full defense partner with the U.S. rather than an eight-decade client? NATO, of course, still provides a common European defense, but only by habitually relying inordinately on U.S. military contributions. That dependence seems increasingly odd when the European Union has an aggregate GDP nearly as large as America’s. More important, NATO’s frontline threats are now mostly concerned with rogue member Turkey, especially its bullying of Greece and its increasingly aggressive stance in the Middle East. Russia always poses a threat to Europe. But the likely flashpoints are not on the German border, but more likely eastward in the Baltic states or on the Russian frontier with Poland. Moreover, the Merkel government has concluded, over American objections, a huge natural gas deal with Russia that is currently under some U.S. sanctions and short of cash. Russian energy exports to Germany are said to earn Russia $10 billion a year, with a likely doubling of that income once additional pipelines to Germany are completed. Merkel likes to lecture the world on moral issues, but what is so noble about empowering Russian President Vladimir Putin, who recently reclaimed Crimea and seems now to be eyeing Belarus? Like a modern-day Byzantine emperor Justinian, who recovered much of the lost Western Roman Empire, Putin seems to think he can reabsorb the lost Soviet republics. In recent polling, Germans were more anti-American than any other nation in Europe. And while about 75 percent of Americans believe the U.S. still has a good relationship with Germany, only about a third of Germans feel that way about the U.S. Nearly half the German population in some polls want U.S. troops out. Note that Germany piles up the largest annual trade surplus with the U.S. of any nation in Europe — roughly $55 billion to $70 billion in most years. The Trump administration says the surpluses have grown in large part due to asymmetry in tariffs and duties, with Germany the far more protectionist of the two partners. With Germany now united, rich and often angry, and with the Soviet threat largely over, it’s Germany, not the U.S., that seems to have altered its view of this once-solid relationship. Does Merkel really believe that if her nation cuts huge deals with NATO’s historically greatest threat, polls as the most anti-American country in Europe and still refuses to honor its promises to increase defense spending, Germany still deserves a large American commitment of 36,000 troops to anchor its defense? There is one caveat that the Trump administration and other European countries might consider. According to its founders, NATO was created for three reasons: to keep the always aggressive Russians “out” of Europe, to keep the often isolationist Americans “in” to help protect it, and to keep the supposedly restless Germans “down” in order to avoid a replay of their invasions that ignited both world wars. In other words, the huge defense commitment to an often ungracious Germany over eight decades was not just envisioned to create a central base from which to protect Europe from ancient Russian ambitions, but also to remind Germany itself of its checkered past. That third mission seems ossified and silly now. But it is not entirely forgotten, and it may explain why many in Europe — and some in Germany itself — are worried when any American soldiers leave Germany.

Bottom line..  Germany has not kept its word on it’s commitment to NATO, and Trump isn’t a sucker.   Thanks to Dr. Victor Davis Hanson, PhD. for that excellent analysis and perspective!

Munich’s Oktoberfest celebrations canceled amid coronavirus pandemic: ‘The risk is just too high’

Markus Soeder, the governor of Bavaria, along with Dieter Reiter, the mayor of Munich, announced on Tuesday that the region’s annual Oktoberfest festivities would be canceled due to the health risks posed by the coronavirus pandemic. “Difficult decision with Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter,” Soeder wrote on social media, per a translated tweet. “The Oktoberfest 2020 must be canceled. The risk is just too high. You can neither keep your distance there nor wear a face mask. Living with [coronavirus] means living cautiously until there is a vaccine or medication.” The festivities, which were scheduled to begin on Sept. 19 and run through Oct. 4, would have been the 187th celebration of the beer-themed event. Soeder and Reiter appeared together at a press conference on Thursday morning to announced the news, with Soeder calling it “unbelievably sad,” reports the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA). Reiter said that, in addition to being disappointing for Germans and hopeful visitors, the decision will undoubtedly have a detrimental effect on the economy. Some 6 million people attend Munich’s Oktoberfest celebrations every year, the DPA reported, with many coming from around the globe. Foreign visitors, too, pose further risk for the spreading of the virus, Soeder noted. Germany has already recorded more than 147,000 cases of coronavirus, and over 4,800 deaths as of Tuesday morning, according to John’s Hopkins University. Both leaders said they hope Oktoberfest will celebrations will resume as normal in 2021. “We hope that next year we can make it up together,” Reiter said. Oktoberfest, an annual celebration of beer and Bavarian culture, has only been canceled a handful of times in the history of the event, most notably during WWI and WWII, and amid cholera outbreaks in 1854 and 1873, among a few other years, according to the event’s official website. Click here for more info:

Sad news for those who were hoping to attend.  I was there back in 2009, and it was definitely a crazy fun time.  Hopefully it’ll be back next year.   Prost!!      🙂

9.7-million-year-old teeth discovery in Germany could re-write human history

The great ape teeth found in Eppelsheim last year could topple the understanding of our earliest history. Herbert Lutz, head of the excavation team, tells Deutsche Welle what the find means to him — and how it almost didn’t happen. A little over a year ago, a team of archaeologists in southwestern Germany uncovered two teeth where the Rhine River used to flow, in the town of Eppelsheim near Mainz. The news of the discovery was announced this week, because the team that performed the excavation wanted to make sure that what they had found was as significant as they initially thought. Herbert Lutz heads that team at the Natural History Museum in Mainz.

Fascinating!!  To read the rest of this article, click on the text above.   🙂

Half of German Women Feel Unsafe in Their Own Neighbourhoods

Nearly half of Germany’s women now feel unsafe walking about their local neighbourhood, a survey has revealed, with many taking precautions such as pepper spray with them when out at night. The survey, by Emnid for Bild am Sonntag further found that 58 per cent of women believe that public places have become less safe in recent times, following news of events such as the mass sexual assault attacks on women in Cologne on New Year’s Eve last year. Forty-eight per cent of the women surveyed said they have changed their habits to avoid certain areas in their neighbourhood, while 16 per cent said they carried pepper spray when venturing out after dark. In response to the survey, Focus Online gathered anecdotal statements from women across Germany and found that some were asking male relatives to chaperone them at night, while others had taken to carrying their keys in closed fists in case of attack. One woman, Kerstin, told the paper: “I no longer feel safe as a woman. Harassment, rapes, and raids are happening everywhere. I was particularly concerned by the case of the jogger Carolin [G.], who was killed. I run myself and I find it particularly disturbing that this happened during bright daylight. “I feel very uncomfortable on my own and avoid travelling alone in the evening or at night. I always constantly carry pepper spray with me.” Another, Natalie, said that she “narrowly” avoided being present in Cologne on the night of the attacks, but luckily opted not to go. “[S]ince then [I] have avoided groups in the dark,” she said. She added: “Anyway, I’m not going anywhere in the dark alone. When I arrive by train at our small station, my father is always there to go with me through the solitary underpass. I dare not go alone!

This is what mass immigration of Muslim so-called “refugees” has done to Europe.  And, Obama has been importing this nightmare by the tens of thousands here to America.  Thanks a lot, Obama…you tool.  Unreal..

Underage Syrian Migrant Charged with Plotting Terror Attack in Germany

An underage Syrian migrant has been arrested and charged in Cologne for having links to Islamic State and for plotting a terror attack. The 16-year-old Syrian migrant, who had come into Germany during the course of the migrant crisis, was arrested in September, Austrian paper Kurier reports. Attorney general Ulf Willuhn said that the 16-year-old would officially be charged with preparing serious violence that threatens the wellbeing of the state. Police claim that the migrant was actively plotting to build an explosive device and say that he had contact with Islamic State fighters who were instructing him on building a bomb. Mr. Willuhn noted that despite the migrant being a terrorism suspect, he would be tried as a juvenile because he is underage. If convicted of plotting a terrorist attack, the Syrian can be expected to receive a sentence of community service or possible imprisonment in a juvenile facility. The case reflects growing fears on behalf of the police and security services in Germany of the radicalisation of underage migrants and underage Muslims. Wolfgang Trusheim, head of the Frankfurt state police, has been one of the most vocal members of the German law enforcement community to speak out on the worrying trend of Salafist parents and preachers radicalizing young Muslims. Radical Islamic Salafist preachers have also been caught actively trying to convert and recruit underage migrants in asylum homes.

And this is the threat that Obama has been foolishly importing into America by the THOUSANDS.  How insanely dumb is that?!?

Tensions Rising in German – Citizens clash with Syrian refugees–and each other

Germany is blowing up again over migration. The Saxon town of Bautzen has, like dozens of similar places across Germany, a barracks for some of the million or two Middle Eastern migrants who have been streaming across the Mediterranean for the past year-and-a-half. People in Bautzen aren’t used to foreigners, and now groups of young men have taken to congregating in city’s central square, the Kornmarkt. The migrants say they come there for the free internet. This upsets the locals, 80 of whom waged a pitched battle against 20 teenage migrants on Wednesday evening. Alcohol was involved on both sides. To judge from the video at FAZ.com, accounts differ on who is to blame. The Germans say that the young migrants (whom they refer to as UMAs, the German acronym for unaccompanied minors seeking asylum) are harassing women and smashing things. The UMAs, in turn, say the locals (whom they refer to as “Nazis”) accost them every day with shouts of “Foreigners out!” The confrontations take place against the background of a more general society-wide anger in Germany. Last Saturday, Bautzen’s right-wingers and left-wingers confronted each other on the streets, rather as they did a century ago in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution and Germany’s defeat in World War I. On Thursday night, following the fights, 350 people, most of them natives, were on the streets again. A cordon of police was required to separate the pro-immigrant and anti-immigrant sides—again, much as they once tried to separate the Communists and anti-Communists. More protests are planned for this weekend. The anger overflows in all directions.

No kidding!  Having spent some time in Germany a few years ago, I’m well aware of how the German people like order; not chaos.  And this whole flood of Syrian refugees is tearing that country apart.  To see photos, videos, and read the rest of the article, click on the text above.

‘Like Cologne’: At Least 18 ‘Very Young Women’ Sexually Assaulted At German Music Festival

As many as 26 young women may have been sexually abused at a festival in Germany, with the attackers employing pack tactics to surround and isolate girls before launching their assaults. The method of attack, which separates women from their friends and leaves them vulnerable to sex attacks and theft, has led German newspaper Die Welt to liken the attacks to the mass sexual assaults outside Cologne central station on New Year’s Eve. As of Tuesday morning, there were 18 official complaints made to police about attacks at the annual Schlossgrabenfest music festival in Darmstadt, Germany. That number had risen to 26 victims by Tuesday afternoon, with police still speaking to witnesses and complainants, who have been described as “very young”. Some were so young, their parents reported the crimes to police, rather than the victims themselves. Police have not ruled out the possibility that more may come forward, according to reports. According to a police press statement, three suspects were arrested at the festival after the girls they allegedly attacked went directly to police to complain. The men, who were arrested and released pending further investigations, are Pakistani “asylum seekers” aged between 28 and 31 years old. A police spokesman said: “The perpetrators proceeded in small groups to surround and touch women immorally. The women said they had the impression the men were of the South Asian region. “On Saturday on a completely packed dance floor in the area of HR Disco, [there was] sexual harassment of several women.” The men were said to move in groups of ten. Hans-Jürgen Irmer, member of parliament for pro-mass migration German leader Angela Merkel’s own Christian Democrat party was horrified at the news of the attacks, reports Junge Freiheit. He told the weekly conservative newspaper that the behaviour of immigrants in this case was “totally unacceptable”, and that if found guilty those men responsible had “forefeited his right to hospitability” from European peoples. If convicted, he said the men should find themselves on the “first plane back to Pakistan”. The Cologne sex attacks to which these latest alleged migrant crimes have been likened were an important factor in bringing to prominence in Germany the scale of criminality in the wake of the migrant crisis.

And just think..  Obama is doing everything he can to import this cultural crisis into America.  Instead of learning from the failure of this policy in Germany (i.e. mass immigration of so-called Muslim “refugees” from Syria and elsewhere in the middle east), Obama wants to mirror it.  What a moron..

Muslim Migrants in Germany Chant “Adolf Hitler” and Allahu Akbar” (Video)

Angela Merkel welcomed one million third world migrants to Germany in 2015. Germany is expecting another million this year. Muslims in Germany held a protest recently. The migrants were chanting “Adolf Hitler” and “Allahu Akbar” as they waved the Palestinian flag. They ought to make great citizens.

And to think our idiot President Obama wants to import this here to America..  Click on the text above and take a good look at this video, and keep that in mind..

Muslims March in Germany Chanting “With Allah’s Help, We Shall Conquer You” (VIDEO)

They seem to be assimilating quite well, no? Muslims march down a German street chanting, “With Allah’s help, we shall conquer you!” What lovely citizens.

You really can’t make this stuff up, folks.  To see this video of these Muslim maggots chanting this crap, click on the text above.  And just think..  Obama really wants to import this to America..  Unreal..

Germany says it doesn’t know the whereabouts of 130,000 refugees

German authorities revealed that they do not know the whereabouts of 130,000 people that entered their country last year, according to a parliament document viewed by AFP on Friday. Out of the 1.1 million asylum seekers that flowed through German borders in 2015, “about 13 percent did not turn up at the reception centers to which they had been directed,” the government said in a written reply to a lawmaker’s question. Some of the refugees may have returned to their home countries, have gone on to another country, or went underground, the document said, in addition to the possibility of some repeated registrations of individuals, AFP reports. A spate of New Year’s Eve thefts and assaults on women in the city of Cologne, blamed largely on foreigners, caused public uproar. More than 1,000 criminal complaints were filed, more than 400 of those alleging sexual crimes. Two men were convicted of theft and given suspended sentences Wednesday in the first trials linked to those crimes. New measures approved by parliament Thursday aim to address the issue of tracking asylum seekers by including plans to issue an identity document upon the arrival of a refugee and store personal data under a common database, an interior ministry spokesman said. The German government is also moving to make it easier to deport foreign criminals. The changes would mean that even a suspended prison sentence would be grounds for deportation if someone is found guilty of certain crimes — including bodily harm, sexual assault, violent theft or serial shoplifting.

Wow..  Just think about that..  They lost 130 THOUSAND of these so-called “refugees” from the middle east and northern Africa.  Holy crap!!