The government of Germany is refusing to hand over evidence that might lead to the execution of Zacarias Moussaoui because of their opposition to the death penalty.
If ever there were a body guilty of imperialism, it is the European Union. They want us to adopt their anti-growth tax policiies, so they get the WTO to fine us. They disagree with our use of the death penalty, so they refuse to turn over evidence on a man complicit in the death of 3000 Americans. If those aren’t a sign of a body which wants to force its will on other nations, I don’t know what is.
I believe we should remind the German government that if they do not turn over the requested information we will consider Germany a state sponsor of terror. It seems like the German government is more willing to support Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden than the United States. Here’s hoping that Stoiber wins and presents a better alternative to their idiocy of Gerhardt Schroeder appeasement.
Hmm… a “body that wants to force it’s will on other nations”… like the US? 🙂
Face it, our day in the sun as the world’s only superpower is quickly coming to an end. The 21st century will be dominated by the politics of three superpowers- the USA, the EU, and the PRC.
The idea that Germany is sponsoring terrorism because they don’t want to see a man executed is ludicrous. How many Al-Qaeda training camps have been set up in Germany? Zero. How many of our soldiers are stationed there? I think you get the idea.
The conservatives jingoistic, outraged, kill em’ all act is getting really old. How many more have to suffer, how many fingers have to be pointed, before this lunacy can come to an end?
You may be right about the three superpowers (although I think the EU’s regressive taxation and immense bureaucracy will probably cause it to fall apart, and the PRC’s economic growth comes at such a high cost that it is not possible for it to maintained more than a few decades.)
As for Germany supporting terrorism, that’s more of a tongue-in-cheek suggestion. However, there is no excuse for holding back information to make a political point. It’s not the place of Germany to interfere in that investigation. (This is more likely Gerhardt Schroeder’s way of appeasing the Green members of his coalition government. I’d expect that the material will be quietly handed over once the election is over. I also must note that the al-Qaeda cell that planned the Sept. 11 attacks planned them in Hamburg, Germany.)
As for conservative jingoism, the same charges were leveled against those who wanted to fight rather than appease the Nazi regime prior to 1939. I believe that the same naive forces of appeasement are at work in the EU and elsewhere against a threat that is equally as dangerous as fascism was then.
Ah, raising the spectre of World War II fascism again?
I’ve noticed something extremely funny lately- we’re constantly ragging on the despot in Iraq, but we seem to kowtow to the despots in Beijing on a regular basis- let’s compare for a second:
-China has an estimated 20 million people forced into a prison-industrial complex larger than Stalin’s gulag. That’s nearly the entire population of Iraq.
-China posesses 300 nuclear warheads, and lord knows what sort of chemical and biological capability (not to mention an air force that is coming close to rivaling ours, nearly twice as much armor and artillery as we posess, and over 10 million soldiers (including reserves))
– China executes over a thousand people a day, without due process of law. I’m sure Saddam has a few people executed each day, but it’s nothing to compare to the Chinese “justice system”.
– China is still in posession of a large amount of land that, according to international law does not belong to them. Greater Tibet, Ladahk, portions of Outer Mongolia and Xinjiang, and Amdo province are all regions that the Chinese government has no legitimate historical claim to, that have been taken over since the takeover of the Communists. They’ve performed a virtual cultural genocide, not to mention the slaughter of at least a million (some figures site 2-3 million) non-Chinese, mostly Tibetans. They continue to posess this land, in violation of international law- and the rest of the world sits by and does nothing. At least Iraq’s tyrant is home grown, and has a far less stable hold over his country than the Communists do over Tibet.
Why worry about Saddam when the Chinese are about? We’re going to have to confront them eventually- if they’re growth continues, we’ll be competing with them for energy within a few decades, and the showdown won’t be pretty.
Until then, what sort of people are we to let these atrocities continue?