German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier sought to defend his nation’s involvement in the ISIS war today, insisting it was necessary for German national security to go abroad and fight, saying it wasn’t possible to just hope ISIS didn’t attack Germany.
At the same time, Steinmeier sought to downplay the significance of Germany’s military involvement, insisting none of the 1,200 troops they are deploying will be “boots on the ground” fighting ISIS directly in Syria or Iraq, nor would any of the planes deployed launch any strikes.
Germany had previously sought to avoid the ISIS war, but parliament approved joining it earlier this month, in the wake of the ISIS attacks in Paris. The vote was quickly passed through with comparatively little debate, despite reservations among opposition figures.
The big concerns weren’t so much the scope of the deployment, however, but rather the lack of any concrete end-game strategy. Some in the German military have also expressed this concern, saying the vague plan is a recipe for escalation.
Essentially, this is EU solidarity. One Member State is attacked, the others come to its aid in whatever way they can and in whatever way the Member State which has been attacked wants. Equally, there is a message for Obama: "we stand with you against ISIS, you stand with us against Putin".
The best way for Germans to be protected from ISIS would be to close their borders to Muslim immigrants and asylum shoppers.
December 25, 2015 Empire of Chaos Preparing For More Fireworks in 2016
In his seminal 'Fall of Rome: And the End of Civilization,' Bryan Ward-Perkins writes, "Romans before the fall were as certain as we are today that their world would continue forever… They were wrong. We would be wise not to repeat their complacency.”
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4…
…too late.
"…the vague plan is a recipe for escalation."
But, that is the plan.