America's Growing 'Hostility' Toward German Democracy (Frankfurter Rundschau, Germany)

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America's Growing 'Hostility' Toward German Democracy (Frankfurter Rundschau, Germany)

"Surveillance by the Anglo-Saxon super-Stasi is already absolute. In other words, it is excessive. That a German intelligence officer has been found assisting in the targeting of a symbol of every democratic polity, on its regulatory core, yes, on its very embodiment - on its Parliament, is merely a confirmation - the icing on the cake as it were. At this point, the secret services are no longer simply acting outside the sphere of democracy - they are decidedly hostile toward it."

By Christian Schlüter

Translated By Stephanie Martin

July 10, 2014

Germany - Frankfurter Rundschau - Original Article (Germany)

An alliance in which one partner constantly spies on the other is no longer deserving of loyalty. It is time, in our relationship with the United States, to occasionally speak of hostility.

German President Joachim Gauck has finally taken a stand, "Enough is enough." We quite agree. But why has it taken so long for it to be "enough?" An attack by the American secret services on the NSA Committee of Inquiry, i.e.: on an institution of the Bundestag, and therefore on the sovereignty of our democracy, should not have been necessary.

Surveillance by the Anglo-Saxon super-Stasi is already absolute. In other words, it is excessive. That a Bundesnachrichtendienst [BND] officer has been found assisting in the targeting of a symbol of every democratic polity, on its regulatory core, yes, on its very embodiment - on its Parliament, is merely a confirmation - the icing on the cake as it were. At this point, the secret services are no longer simply acting outside the sphere of democracy - they are decidedly hostile toward it.

We've known of this at least since Edward Snowden made his revelations. And yet since Snowden's revelations, the federal government has done - almost nothing. Its continued inaction is becoming a portent for the self-abolition of our democracy. The more pressing question that arises is what the consequences will be for the obvious failure of the government. Here are three observations and three points that should prove thought provoking:

1. Undeterred by all of the espionage-related distortions in the relationship, linguistic acrobats on official government missions have gone to great lengths to characterize German-U.S. relations as a friendship. At most, there was talk of this friendship as having dimmed, of disappointments and burdens, or of lows and cooling. At least rhetorically, one didn't want to risk a more definitive breach, much less an ongoing, more concrete, and therefore truly consequential disassociation. Otherwise, transatlantic ties would then have to be scrutinized with respect to these associated attacks on our constitution, on our civil rights, and our human dignity. The alliance no longer appears to be subject to outside criticism - as if it were an intransigent end in itself.

2. The blatant perversion - that the absolute validity of our fundamental rights has been replaced by absolute loyalty to the alliance - is surprising, frightening, and, at some point, will be irreversible. Our rights as citizens are being sacrificed in the name of the transatlantic alliance, which is not only based on liberal values, but are primarily those of a geopolitical interest group, i.e.: an alliance of power. Experienced Transatlanticists will argue that without a defensive power base there can be no protection for our democratic achievements. While this is a valid objection, it fails to recognize that an ever-eroding basis of values is no longer even worthy of protection: Who wants to defend an empty promise, in other words, a lie, and for what reasons?

3. The complete political failure on the part of our government in this area has had disastrous consequences: Not only are we, the citizens, left alone with an all-powerful intelligence, but we are also being made accostomed to the idea that even our rights are no longer ours, as they may at any time be sacrificed on the altar of higher interests - interests placed beyond democratic control.

Fundamental rights are now up for negotiation

Depending on the political climate, fundamental rights are now negotiable. The transatlantic alliance of values, the community of democracies, seems to mutate along the lines of Disney World or a Potemkin village into one big "let's pretend." But let us remain objective and simply state: A civil polity cannot exist without a guarantee of civil rights.

Against this backdrop, here are three suggestions about what to do now:

1. "Hostile" should be introduced as a political category. Whoever shrinks, because of the so-called "community of values," from describing transatlantic relations in its totality as one of hostility, must at least in the interest of clarity talk about a clearly hostile dimension within this friendship.

2. Put President Joachim Gauck on the microphone. Only recently, Gauck, that champion of freedom, criticized the Turks for their democratic shortcomings. Rightly so. But now he must speak in defense of our liberal order. One "enough is enough" - is not enough. A rousing speech about freedom would do the trick.

3. Asylum for Edward Snowden in Germany. If the federal government no longer wishes to be made a fool of by its "friends," it has to assert its independence by sending a clear signal. Snowden would be our revenge, and above all, an important witness for the NSA Committee of Inquiry's investigation.

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Posted By Worldmeets.US July 10, 2014, 6:49pm