THAT TROUBLESOME HANDELSBLATT ARTICLE IN GERMANY…

Recently I talked about an article in the German newspaper Handelsblatt, which occupies, if one were to draw an analogy, a position within the German media rather similar to the London Times in Great Britain, a centrist-right newspaper. You'll recall, that the Handelsblatt broke - rather dramatically at that - with the subservient Merkel-Obama scripting that apparently has become the norm for the German media in the wake of Washington's all-but-brainless call for sanctions on Russia, and its even more brainless attempt to punish European corporations and banks - BNP Paribas comes to mind - for continuing to deal with Russia. Indeed, as I've pointed out, Berlin, Rome, Paris, and now even the center of Perfide Albion, London itself, plan to bring up the issue of Washington's unipolar hamfistedness(see Splendid Isolation: The Revolt Against Unpolarism has Now Spread to France).

Well, it so happens that the folks at Zero Hedge have kindly posted the entire Handelsblatt article, and it's a no-punches-pulled, no-holds-barred condemnation of the West's policy, and Chancellorin Merkel's apparent lap-poodle status in submission to it:

German Handelsblatt Releases Stunning Anti-West Op-Ed, Asks If "West Rabble-Rousers Are On The Payroll Of The KGB"

Most telling is the Handelsblatt article clearly knows who is behind what, and that it is the West that is the instigator of aggression, not Russia, rather an interesting take on things for a paper like the Handelsblatt:

"Who deceived who first?

Did it all start with the Russian invasion of the Crimean or did the West first promote the destabilization of the Ukraine? Does Russia want to expand into the West or NATO into the East? Or did maybe two world-powers meet at the same door in the middle of the night, driven by very similar intentions towards a defenseless third that now pays for the resulting quagmire with the first phases of a civil war?"

And it leaves no doubt who is driving the demonization of Russia:

"Angela Merkel can hardly claim these mitigating circumstances for herself. Geography forces every German Chancellor to be a bit more serious. As neighbors of Russia, as part of the European community bound in destiny, as recipient of energy and supplier of this and that, we Germans have a clearly more vital interest in stability and communication. We cannot afford to look at Russia through the eyes of the American Tea Party.

"Every mistake starts with a mistake in thinking. And we are making this mistake if we believe that only the other party profits from our economic relationship and thus will suffer when this relationship stops. If economic ties were maintained for mutual profit, then severing them will lead to mutual loss. Punishment and self-punishment are the same thing in this case.

"Even the idea that economic pressure and political isolation would bring Russia to its knees was not really thought all the way through. Even if we could succeed: what good would Russia be on its knees? How can you want to live together in the European house with a humiliated people whose elected leadership is treated like a pariah and whose citizens you might have to support in the coming winter."

Drawing on the example of the former mayor of West Berlin, and later Chancellor of West Germany, Willi Brandt, the article makes what I think is a very significant statement:

"Following this lead – even if calculatingly and somewhat reluctantly as in the case of Merkel – does not protect the German people, but may well endanger it. This fact remains a fact even if it was not the American but the Russians who were responsible for the original damage in the Crimean and in eastern Ukraine."

In other words, the Handelsblatt wants a German foreign policy that is best for Germany, not Washington, and if that means seeking a reconciliation with Russia, so be it. This, I suspect, is thus a message, occurring as it does amid rumors of private talks between President Putin and Chancellorin Merkel, in which, it is alleged, Germany would recognize Russia's absorption of the Crimea back into the Russian Federation, in return for stabilized relations and energy guarantees. And there's a reminder about what American military strength has really accomplished:

"The American tendency to verbal and then also military escalation, the isolation, demonization, and attacking of enemies has not proven effective. The last successful major military action the US conducted was the Normandy landing. Everything else – Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan – was a clear failure. Moving NATO units towards the Polish border and thinking about arming Ukraine is a continuation of a lack of diplomacy by the military means."

And finally, the Handelsblatt is implying the same question that has been on many of your minds, as well as mine: why the counter-intuitive foreign policy coming out of Washington?:

"Brandt and Bahr have never reached for the tool of economic sanctions. They knew why: there are no recorded cases in which countries under sanctions apologized for their behavior and were obedient ever after. On the contrary: collective movements start in support of the sanctioned, as is the case today in Russia. The country was hardly ever more unified behind their president than now. This could almost lead you to think that the rabble-rousers of the West are on the payroll of the Russian secret service."

Indeed.

One thing seems clear, however, and that is the subservient media relationship to the Merkel government is either being broken, or perhaps, just perhaps, this is a more subtle way of that government stating what its true convictions and intentions may ultimately be.

See you on the flip side.

Posted in

Joseph P. Farrell

Joseph P. Farrell has a doctorate in patristics from the University of Oxford, and pursues research in physics, alternative history and science, and "strange stuff". His book The Giza DeathStar, for which the Giza Community is named, was published in the spring of 2002, and was his first venture into "alternative history and science".

12 Comments

  1. Nidster - on August 28, 2014 at 11:54 am

    The idea the Tea Party is directing foreign policy in American, or any policy of any substance, is ludicrous.

    Gabor Steingart’s essay noted above is otherwise taking the right path to discourage Germans from following the misguided, dangerous path being promoted by the American Regime, aka the Establishment. I agree with Steingart’s thinking, “It does not make sense to just follow the strategically idea-less Obama.” So, maybe his essay really is saying what Angela Merkel can not say in public.

    Steingart also writes a thought provoking sentence, “This could almost lead you to think that the rabble-rousers of the West are on the payroll of the Russian secret service.”

    Can we identify the “rabble-rousers”? First, consider the Trilateral Commission only admits ‘respectable’ thugs into their membership ranks. Americans such as Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski, aka Z’Biggy, David Rockefeller, Henry Kissinger, Walter Mondale, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Dick Cheney to name a few of the ‘old guard’. While Obama is a first class Chicago ‘street thug’ he will probably never be offered membership, but his Regime has a slew of ‘respectable’ thugs appointed to positions of power.

    I can not seem to find any Russians who are members of the Trilateral Commission. That could be a clue that perhaps the ‘rabble rousers’ are not on the Russian’s payroll.



  2. Solfeggio on August 24, 2014 at 1:57 am

    Russian penetration of western policies or a different entity with representation in both East and West governments, each pulling toward a mutual goal?



  3. marcos toledo on August 22, 2014 at 10:25 am

    While the United Knuckle Heads of America wander into their fantasy world. Germany is trying to figure out how to put out the raging fire before it too late. They have had enough of seeing Europe put to the torch over the last several centuries. I hope they can find enough allies in the heart of the beast to help them or we all over done roast if they fail.



    • marcos toledo on August 22, 2014 at 11:30 am

      Belly of the Beast is more accurate the Beast has no Heart and had one to begin with.



  4. loisg on August 22, 2014 at 9:01 am

    The author states that they cannot afford to look at Russia through the eyes of the American Tea Party, which I would wholeheartedly agree with. But is the Tea Party directing foreign relations pertaining to the Ukraine? I get frustrated with associations being made without evidence to support it, simply because, IMO, they want to demonize the US. The facts can speak for themselves without superfluous allegations.

    And in that vein, I also wonder why Putin is given the pass card on his actions pertaining to the Ukraine. He is being treated as if he were an innocent victim of the West, while at the same time hailed as a fearless leader. It’s rather unbelievable. As to his high regard inside Russia, well of course he has high ratings…if you disagree with him or show disapproval, you end up in jail. There’s your fearless leader.



    • basta on August 22, 2014 at 11:28 am

      ” is the Tea Party directing foreign relations pertaining to the Ukraine?”

      Actually, Lois, it’s much worse. A band of Zionist neocons are running the show while the POTUS works on his golf game.

      And your whole premise, which is essentially, “Where does Putin get off meddling in Ukraine?” is a product of US and western propaganda. Ukraine is virtually a part of Russia, It’s in their backyard, the US has destabalized it using the old Order out of Chaos playbook, and you sit there and think that somehow the US should run the show.

      Really now, why? Who exactly elected the US the arbiter of events in Ukraine? Other than the aforesaid neocon psychopaths?

      Honestly, get off your high horse and check your indignation at the door. The rest of the world did not, repeat, did not elect itself the world’s policeman and arbiter of truth. There are 6.3 billion souls on this earth that are not US citizens, and Ukraine sure is far from Des Moines, and I doubt 95% of the US population could even find Ukraine on a map.



      • marcos toledo on August 22, 2014 at 11:41 am

        Yes basta but Ukraine is more than Russia backyard she especially Kiev is Russia Father-Mother turning on it’s child. As Japan should honor and acknowledge the parents Korea so should Ukraine honor it’s children beginning with Russia.



      • loisg on August 22, 2014 at 2:21 pm

        Actually, my premise was NOT “where does Putin get off meddling in the Ukraine”, nor do I think the US should run the show. So your rant has nothing to do with my post. My points were these:
        1. Baseless associations do not make for a good argument, stick with the facts. There are plenty of them to make the case.
        2. We don’t live in a black/white world, but one of endless shades of gray. Painting the players as good/evil does nothing to help understanding, it only furthers the kinds of rants you displayed.

        Now, you can say the Ukraine is part of Russia, but I personally know a few people who came here from the Ukraine, and they do not in any way associate themselves with Russia. Even if the Ukraine was part of the USSR, that does not give Russia the right to invade (the US has no right to interfere in their affairs either). The Greek Empire stretched to India, does that mean that Greece should invade all those lands and claim them as their own again? England once claimed the Americas, should they claim it again? No, and time is not the issue. Ukraine is independent now, and it does not matter in the least that Russia once claimed it.



  5. basta on August 22, 2014 at 8:45 am

    When I read this at ZH I thought that it was a trial baloon — or perhaps better, a shot across the bow — being sent out by the German government signaling how close the US is to seeing Germany walk.

    It’s signed by the top editor a center-right Berlin paper. That’s pretty much as plain as day, even for the knuckle-draggers in Washington.



  6. Robert Barricklow on August 22, 2014 at 8:18 am

    Again it’s appropriate to quote Kissinger:

    “To be an enemy of the United States is dangerous.
    To be a friend is fatal”.



  7. DEBRA on August 22, 2014 at 7:29 am

    Jim Willie’s most trusted source on German affairs made this comment to Jim, now posted in Jim’s paid subscriber blog. When asked if the German industrialists will go along with Obama sanctions, or will they ally with BRICS[A], his source replied:

    “The plan [to sink the US, London and European banks] is soon to be triggered to work with Eastern superpowers on the Gold Standard. They will force heavy bank system losses, instead of enduring great economic core damage. Germany will protect its economy, as they always have done. [Recall Germany did not allow out-sourcing of industry to Asia in the last three decades.] There is not much more to destroy in Ukraine. However, they work hard at it to convert Ukraine into something like the Gaza Strip. The United States is totally clueless what is brewing in Western Europe, as a major concerted defection is in progress behind the scenes. The US is going to be totally isolated and then ignored.”

    From:
    http://www.goldenjackass.com/members/aug2014_e1.htm



  8. Joanna on August 22, 2014 at 6:40 am

    It has been a long time my opinion that Germany is not willing to take a tumble for US.
    Merkel somewhat plays the role of obidient persona but many of her ministers voice much more different, common sense aproach.
    Not to mention business people who are totally against rolling in American mud puddle.



Help the Community Grow

Please understand a donation is a gift and does not confer membership or license to audiobooks. To become a paid member, visit member registration.

Upcoming Events