German citizens have been socialized in such a way that they need the American presence because it provides security. The United States (the Democrats, of course) are the good ones, they protect them and Europe from terrorism and the Russian threat, since they helped them get rid of their (own) Nazis and brought American-style democracy to German soil. Only a few perceive the danger lurking behind them. Writing by historian Irén Rab.
To the west of the Rhine lies the Eifel, a region in Germany reminiscent of the central mountains in Hungary. This is where the Büchel Air Base is located, where American nuclear weapons are stored. Tornado fighter jets are also stationed here so that they can fly to the target area in an emergency and drop the nuclear bombs. Within the framework of the nuclear partnership within NATO, fighter-bomber pilots are trained here to use nuclear weapons. According to leaked news, twenty nuclear bombs are stored at this military base, ones with an explosive power of up to fifty kilotons. This is about thirteen times (!) the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
In addition to Germany, the United States also stores nuclear weapons in the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Turkey, according to experts, a total of another hundred. And let's not forget the two NATO member states with nuclear weapons, France and Great Britain! In the framework of the so-called nuclear association, Europe is loaded with nuclear bombs capable of destroying the enemy.
The North Atlantic Organization, NATO, was created at the beginning of the Cold War to defend the western part of the bipolar world against the supposed expansion of its former wartime ally, the Soviet Union. Protect the freedom and security of member states. The formation of the Warsaw Pact, the military alliance of the vassal countries forced into the Soviet zone, was a response to West Germany's NATO membership. Then came the other countries seeking security, from the twelve founding members the organization now has thirty-one members. NATO grew like a small ball, despite the fact that, with the disintegration of the Warsaw Pact, its existence became obsolete in the apparently unipolar world. The former Soviet soldiers retreated behind their own borders, but NATO - proclaiming itself a peacekeeper - remained alive and the American military presence in Europe was increasing.
The European Union did not consider it necessary to build up its own military force, since the majority of its member states are members of NATO, and in their opinion this is sufficient to protect the community. The naïve, pro-peace European politicians downsized their national armies, abolished the institution of compulsory military service and shaped the youth into globally minded selfish hedonists.
NATO maintains military bases in member states. The United States accounts for almost three quarters of the budget, and they have more active soldiers than all EU member states combined. US soldiers are at every NATO base, but they like Germany the best. Stuttgart has the headquarters of NATO's Allied Commander (SACEUR), the US European Command (EUCOM) and the command center for all US forces present in fifty-one countries. AFRICOM's operational headquarters is located in Germany, after no African state gave America a place on the black continent.
In 2021, there were 119 US military bases in Germany. The largest and best known of these is Ramstein, the European headquarters of the US Air Force. This base is used to carry out tasks in Europe and the Middle East, supplies to Afghanistan and Iraq started from here, and this base is still used to carry out drone attacks. However, we can sense the size and importance of the base: in 2004, 35,000 soldiers were stationed here, more than the number of the entire Hungarian army at the time.
However, the war in Ukraine is not controlled from here, but from the Wiesbaden-Erbenheim logistics base. Here is the headquarters, here they coordinate arms deliveries, which is necessary because forty countries provide various military support to Ukraine. The combat training of Ukrainian soldiers also takes place here, the last 2,000 have already returned to the front. The Pentagon opened a kind of foreign mission at the base, two hundred high-ranking soldiers were sent here. SAGU, the security group supporting Ukraine, is based here. One has the feeling that it is an American strategic goal to drag Germany and thus Europe directly into the war conflict. In Hungarian, this could mean the outbreak of war in Europe.
The majority of German citizens are unaware of this. They have been socialized in such a way that they need the American presence because it provides security. The United States (the Democrats, of course) are the good ones, they protect them and Europe from terrorism and the Russian threat, since they helped them get rid of their (own) Nazis and brought American-style democracy to German soil. Only a few perceive the danger lurking behind them.
It seems that, ignoring the interests of the German population, NATO and the US High Command in Germany are being arranged over the heads of German politicians, as if the so-called occupation law after the Second World War is still in force. As if Germany were not an independent state with its own will. Or maybe their politicians made a back deal, the contents of which we don't know?
Ever since the Greens have been in government, they have forgotten their catchphrases. Frieden schaffen ohne Waffen (Without weapons, only peace!) has turned 180 degrees, now they want to enforce peace with weapons. The Basic Law, whose Article 26 prohibits disturbing the peaceful coexistence of peoples and actions aimed at preparing an aggressive war, no longer matters either. Germany has so far not been hit by an armed attack, but its role in the war conflict in Ukraine will sooner or later make it a war party. The red line has already been crossed, and it's up to the Russians to react.
The GDR hit that protested against the American military presence dates back to the Cold War. "Ami, go home!" sang the East Germans, go home Yankees, listen to the good advice and stay home, because your generals bring us too many war dangers.
It wouldn't hurt to sing this note again.
Author: historian Irén Rab
Cover image: Illustration / Photo: MTI/EPA/PAP/Darek Delmanowicz
Source: Magyar Hírlap
