Davids Medienkritik has a nice piece on the ver.di, Germany’s largest service-sector union and the largest independent, individual trade union in the world crapping their pants over the US redistribution of military forces.
Ver.di’s chairman, Frank Bsirske, just last year described the American government and military as warmongers and set about major protests against the US military being in Germany.
Well now that the decision has been made to redeploy European based US troops elsewhere it seems he's changed his tune and they realize that without the US influx of income to their socialist systems they will have to make major cut backs in services.
I'm not volunteering to change their diapers.
This wasn't Germany complaining but a German service-sector union. Unions are political machines and shouldn't be suprised if they die from their own political mistakes. The people they represent should abandon the union but of they won't, of course.
Posted by: Tommy on August 22, 2004 11:44 AM
I don't think so, the German people have been complaining and protesting the US and our military for years. This is just a very good example of biting the hand that feeds you.
I, for one, hope we pull out of any country that, after having helped them, actively protests the means by which we helped them to have freedom of choice.
It's like priests who condemn people for promiscuous sex and then retire to their chambers for some hot lovin' from a nun.
Posted by: Digger on August 22, 2004 08:44 PM
I work with a German citizen and he is not opposed to America but this "Saddam Hussien War". I am also opposed to this war against Saddam Hussien but *not* the war against terrorists like Osama Bin Laden. And just a note, terrorism is a tactic of combat not some entity. How do you fight a war against a tactic?
Posted by: Tommy on August 23, 2004 05:22 PM
I'm not going to defend their choice of "War on Terror(ism)" as their slogan. Maybe they should have chosen "War on Terrorists" instead, so that nit-picking foolios can't make weird comments.
"War on Terror" sounds fine to me though, it includes anyone inflicting terror, including the terrorists and their supporters.
I realize your point on the Iraq war. I however think they needed to go.
What's annoying is people who say "there haven't been any WMD's found yet!!!" and have been saying that since day one. It's still only been a year and 5 months since the war started and hasn't really been stable enough for a full country search. I believe they will eventually find some stuff there.
Posted by: Digger on August 24, 2004 04:51 AM
