Germany's Schaeuble Asks U.S. to Help Ukraine

by John M. Curtis
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Copyright April 15, 2015
All Rights Reserved.

              European Union foreign ministers have evolved a consensus that the Russian invasion of Ukraine must be resolved peacefully.  German Chancellor Angel Merkel has warned that any attempt by the U.S. or European Union to arm Ukraine in response to Russia’s March 1, 2014 invasion of Crimea and Southeastern Ukraine would backfire.  With some 30% of the EU energy imports coming from Russia, there’s no stomach in the EU—certainly not in Germany—to confront Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.  Germany’s Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble echoed Merkel’s Ukraine views, asking the U.S. to find a non-military solution to Russia’s violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.  “We will not fall back into history of 100 years ago that you can change with military force,” said Schaeuble, showing astonishing denial Germany’s burden in WWI and WWII.

             Germany’s longstanding militarism, de-fanged twice once after WWI with the Treaty of Versailles and after the fall of Hitler’s Third Reich after WWII, doesn’t bode well in the face of Putin’s aggression.  Germany lined up like ducks behind their past leaders like Kaiser Wilhelm II and Adolf Hitler, committing the worst atrocities in world history.  Schaeuble takes no responsibility for Germany causing WWI and WWII, ultimately responsible for over 100 million deaths.  Speaking the Council of Foreign Relations in Washington, Schaeuble insisted war can’t solve problems.  While there’s some truth to platitudes, Schaeuble doesn’t come close to admitting Germany’s complicity with the Ottoman Empire in WWI and Imperial Japan in WWII, seeking world domination.  Without the U.S. willing to make the sacrifices, Europe and the world would look very different today.

             Had it not been for the military sacrifices made by the U.S. and allied powers in both WWI and WWII, the world would be controlled by the most repressive and brutal regimes in history.  “We know that we need the United States.  We know that we have to care as Europeans on this matter, better that most have expected that Europeans would do, but it is difficult to get it.  A difficult job,” Schaeuble told the Council on Foreign Relations.  Schaeuble admits the EU needs the U.S. but not, as he suggests, to capitulate to implacable enemies like Putin.  If Germans showed less capitulation to Hitler, they wouldn’t carry the permanent taint of aligning with the most brutal and fascist regime ever seen.  Schaeuble knows that U.S. military sacrifices and WWI and WWII made the world a more habitable place.  Germany doesn’t want to face that Putin has become the next threat to European and world peace.

              Watching Putin run roughshod over Georgia in 2008—annexing South Ossetia and Abkhazia—paved the way for the Kremlin’s audacity in Ukraine.  No matter how much the Kremlin despised the Feb. 22, 2014 pro-Western coup that toppled Kremlin puppet Viktor Yanukovich, Putin has no right to violate Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.  No European power, especially Germany, has shown anything other than passivity in confronting Putin.  President Barack Obama hasn’t shown much spine in determining a proper course of action to deal with Putin’s recent aggression.  Former Soviet satellites, like Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Moldova, etc., have all begged NATO for more protection in the face of Putin’s aggression.  Schaeuble’s audacity telling the Council on Foreign Relations that military force is no answer invalidates U.S. sacrifices in WWI and WWII.

             As the Kremlin continues to run Russian tanks over Ukrainian territory, Merkel and the EU are only concerned about ending the EU’s recession.  Merkel’s logic indicates that any military response to Russia, whatever kind, would only add to the EU economic woes.  Instead of standing up to Putin’s aggression, Merkel did what other Germans did in the run-up to WWII:  Acquiesce to Hitler’s threats of more force.  Despite over 6,000 deaths in Ukraine, the EU lets Putin continue supplying arms and unmarked soldiers to help pro-Russian separatists continue to eviscerate Ukraine’s territory.  Ukrainian officials led by President Petro Poroshenko, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and National Security Chief Oleksandr Turchynov, all kid themselves that eventual NATO or EU membership would stop Putin’s aggression   Germany avoids any confrontation to save the Eurozone.

             EU officials led by Germany must come to grips with growing Russian aggression on the Continent.  Continuing to buy petroleum and natural gas from Putin won’t stop him from running roughshod over any EU country or former Soviet satellite that gets in his way.  Signing a ceasefire agreement in Minsk, Belarus, Feb. 12 hasn’t stopped Putin from fighting a proxy war using pro-Russian separatists and unmarked Russian troops in Southeastern Ukraine.  “We know that we need the United States . . . “ said Schaeuble, admitting that current EU policy toward Russia and its aggression toward Ukraine isn’t working.  When former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called the EU “old Europe” Jan. 23, 2003 in response to Germany and France’s opposition to the Iraq War, he raised concerns about EU pacifism.  Rumsfeld’s “old Europe” remarks ring more true today in the EU’s defeated response to Putin.

 About The Author

John M. Curtis neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma


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