Written by Tom Luongo; Originally appeared on tomluongo.me
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has turned the corner on relations with the United States. Her speech at the Munich Security Conference should be considered Germany’s divorce filing from the U.S.-led post-WWII institutional order.
IILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE: EPA/YURI KOCHETKOV / POOL
It’s clear that to me now that Merkel’s priorities for what is left of her term in office are as follows:
- Carve out an independent path for EU foreign policy from the U.S. through the creation of an EU army, obviating the need for NATO and…
- End U.S. occupation of Germany.
- Secure Germany’s energy future, which also secures its political future as the leader of the European Union, by stitching together the continent with Russian energy arteries — Nordstream 2, Turkstream.
- Manage the shift away from NATO as a controlling force in Europe’s relationship with Russia which doesn’t serve Europe’s long term purposes.
Merkel will play both sides of the game for as long as she can but Trump and his merry band of Neocon psychotics are determined to stop Nordstream 2. They realize pipelines like these represent near permanent connections between Europe and Russia which the deadens Trump’s desire to maintain the empire through controlling the flow and price of energy.
For Trump there are three areas he is pushing Merkel. As I noted in my latest piece for Strategic Culture Foundation:
Trump’s pressuring Germany over the Nordstream 2 pipeline, withdrawing from the JCPOA and increasing NATO funding all have a common theme…
… Trump is trying to make Germany’s economy uncompetitive by raising the cost of imported energy.This is obvious when we look at the US’s opposition to Nordstream 2….
… Ending US involvement in the JCPOA was meant to destroy the agreement and end all European investment in Iran’s energy sector, thereby stopping a steady flow of relatively cheap Iranian oil to Europe through its oil majors like Total (France) and Eni (Italy)…
{Increasing NATO funding} — Germany, in particular, would have to raise defense spending to such a degree that it would be unsustainable for them to maintain their current government funding in other areas.
This will pull capital out of the productive part of German society and lower their competitiveness vis a vis US producers.
In my interview with Radio Sputnik Moscow recently I made the point that if Germany were to spend two percent of GDP on defense it would represent spending 20% of the annual government budget on defense.
But the numbers are even worse than that.
The German government’s budget in 2018 was just shy of €143 billion. Nominal German GDP was €3677.44 billion, 2 percent of which is €73.54 billion or nearly 50% of the German budget.
Merkel understands that would grind the German government and its economy to a halt. What Trump wants is for Germany to plough its budget surplus (which stood at €59.2 billion in 2018) wholly into defense spending while also maintaining complete control over NATO’s mission.
We pay the lion’s share of NATO’s costs because we receive the lion’s share of the benefits NATO provides. And those benefits are not protecting Europe from the scourge of the evil Russians contrary to the insane fulminations of the laptop bombardiers on K Street.
No, the benefits of NATO exist wholly to weaken Russia and keep Europe from hooking up with its natural ally to the east. And along this vector, Merkel is, for once, acting in Germany’s best interests, but only because they dovetail with the EU’s.
Guys like John Bolton and all of our top brass at the Pentagon lie awake at night fearful most of a German/Russian economic and political alliance. And everything we do is to force Merkel into difficult choices, especially as an occupied country.
The Silence Heard ‘Round the World at Munich during Mike Pence’s speech should be a wake up call to everyone in D.C. that the world as we’ve known it has changed.
And regardless of the future of the European Union as it stands on the edge of political and economic collapse, Germany will command some transnational bloc of countries in the coming years.
Pipelines outlast presidents. Trump is demanding our allies destroy themselves for no tangible benefit to themselves. The threat of Russia is to U.S. hegemony, not Germany’s.
This is why Bolton, Pence and Pompeo were ignored and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was the toast of the conference. Russia has made it very clear it will look east to China, Iran and the rest of Asia if Europe continues to kowtow to the U.S.
This is why Germany is no longer interested in adding new sanctions on Russia and is now officially looking for new political solutions to the situation. Germany needs new growth opportunities now that a no-deal Brexit is upon them.
This wasn’t that hard to see coming. Last summer’s garden summit between Vladimir Putin and Merkel set the stage for this shift in tone. I said at the time that I felt Trump’s belligerence was pushing Merkel into Putin’s arms.
Merkel, for her part, has been so terminally weakened by her immigration policy and strong-armed approach to dissent that this whirlwind weekender by Putin was as much for her benefit, politically, as his.
The implication being that if Merkel wants to stay in power with her weakening coalition and poll numbers it’s time for her to reverse course. And if that means cozying up to Russia then so be it.
Merkel will continue to talk a good game about Crimea and Ukraine while Putin will speak directly to the German people about ending the humanitarian crisis in Syria as a proxy for ending the threat of further immigration.
Rubber meet road. The times they are a’changin’.
If only we were so lucky.
About Germany still being an occupied country, occupied countries don’t get a say in their future. If Germany still were occupied by the US then the only things coming out of Merkel’s mouth would be yes sir and how high to anything any US president were to say. Germany is not an occupied country. It is however a vassal, Vassals have less say in their foreign policy, as they sworn to their liege lords. Vassals can renege on their liege lords, but they need shrewd diplomacy, a weak liege lord or a very strong rival as a new liege lord. It has happened before, it can happen again.
America Is a colony of Israel as Germany is a colony of America. Through their conquest of America the racist supremacist global Jewish satanic slave empire dictatorship controls what was once the West who are now just slaves of racist supremacist Jews.
See former congress woman and American hero says USSA Congress forced to sign loyalty oath to Racist supremacist global Jewish confederate slave empire dictatorship Israel, above their oaths to America, its Israel not America first. Its not an oath of loyalty to Britain above America. So its the Zionist empire not the Anglo Zionist empire. So its the racist supremacist global Jewish slave empire dictatorship. Congress forced to sign loyalty oath to Racist supremacist global Jewish confederate slave empire Israel https://www.veteranstoday.com/2015/10/29/how-soon-can-we-get-aipac-owned-traitors-out-of-congress/ The only Member of the sitting US Congress we can document so far that has refused to sign the AIPAC Loyalty Oath to put Israel first even before America is Representative Walter Jones. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqzDSrR4L4w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mWR5OaRO8k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_BobWq2sq0&t=8s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOp1b1obC04 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImFMcbF2MYY https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f55865fb69c1ef63394088d6108d0229b9671a10180006effaf42b9e90b875de.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/65272ba33698043a57e8677e4dfb9b290550d79a0d39a7be6eeff14a12a9f86e.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e13b8bb9a5a25fd33bc47742b6f6dd77910dcfca90857294f6eaeb0c3eaa6929.jpg Who rules America?? https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x34eicw
Despite AIPAC’s efforts to get him un-elected he was re-elected Congress anyhow, unlike the great and fearless American Hero former US Representative Cynthia McKinney, a true American Patriot who tells the truth, the whole truth. Representative McKinney refused to sign this AIPAC Loyalty Oath to put Israel first even over America, which of course would be a direct violation of the Oath of Office any Member of Congress takes upon being seated. Why is it such a serious matter to get these signers of the AIPAC Loyalty Oath out of Congress? The reason is obvious, without these Traitors who are sellouts to AIPAC and Israel, America could not have been transformed into a virtual province of Israel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImFMcbF2MYY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImFMcbF2MYY https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f55865fb69c1ef63394088d6108d0229b9671a10180006effaf42b9e90b875de.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/65272ba33698043a57e8677e4dfb9b290550d79a0d39a7be6eeff14a12a9f86e.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e13b8bb9a5a25fd33bc47742b6f6dd77910dcfca90857294f6eaeb0c3eaa6929.jpg Who rules America?? https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x34eicw Proof of the controlled media. Nothing beats the voluntary confession. http://www.businessinsider.com/major-study-finds-that-the-us-is-an-oligarchy-2014-4 See the confession video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TqgQd1cLl8 Reminds me of this Flintstones episode. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqFM9carOgo
Part 2 Nor could America have been transformed into an Israeli slave-state, provider and war-fighter for Israel with an endless supply of American Soldiers to use as Israeli cannon-fodder in their quest to expand and create “greater Israel”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOp1b1obC04 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mWR5OaRO8k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImFMcbF2MYY https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2ba743d3099a50a48552252e6612f90f6010badbb32239d63c34e24fa6f013ba.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/942928e4a2d7f53201f69fd469a245125e1da4dd5e27cae3a20a128041ee71d4.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f1524003ca53343e9fe2a1bebaa2d60329325dc88d3d29bc551dbc771fc32958.jpg Very few Americans know of this treasonous betrayal by all but one Member of Congress. This betrayal is a very serious, grievous violation of their Oath of Office and also American espionage laws and it constitutes Treason. Why do we know for certain this signing the AIPAC Loyalty Oath is Treason? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImFMcbF2MYY We know this for certain because Treason is the capital offense of betraying one’s country and aiding or abetting an enemy of one’s own country, people and one’s government. Yes, but isn’t Israel an important ally of America? Who rules America?? https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x34eicw
part 3 No, quite the contrary. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b3388358879d49f26c655ba0eef38cb4b339280231c5d873b1f1c6eeff8d904b.jpg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2fyROhUxcI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImFMcbF2MYY The only reason the average American does not yet know this is because the Major Mass Media is controlled by six media moguls who answer to run Israeli linked large American investment house that works through Switzerland. Together these six media mogul who are all traitors have essentially created an illegal New Monopoly, a true News Cartel that does little more than feed the American public a continuing stream of USG propaganda, USG big lies and USG false-narratives. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqzDSrR4L4w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_BobWq2sq0&t=8s Who rules America?? https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x34eicw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImFMcbF2MYY It is our job at Veterans Today and the rest of the Alternative media of the Internet to get the truth out to everyone and expose this USG propaganda, these big USG lies and USG false-narratives. Soon unless stopped the Internet, which is the World’s New Gutenberg Press, will bust the Controlled Major Mass media (CMMM) and this truth will dissipate to every America. This will bring an end to the espionage done against America in America by AIPAC, the ADL, the SPLC and other Israeli-linked foreign espionage fronts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImFMcbF2MYY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqzDSrR4L4w Who rules America?? https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x34eicw Proof of the controlled media. Nothing beats the voluntary confession. http://www.businessinsider.com/major-study-finds-that-the-us-is-an-oligarchy-2014-4 See the confession video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TqgQd1cLl8 Reminds me of this Flintstones episode. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqFM9carOgo
Part 4 Right now the traitors inside the beltway are meeting frequently and desperately trying to come up with a sneaky way to censor and restrict the Alternative media of the Internet. It is unlikely that the American people will allow this and such a move could result in a new American revolution fought in the street of America by millions or armed Americans against the USG and its stooges and Traitors. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImFMcbF2MYY But there is another good reason to immediately suspend all aid, monetary and military to Israel. That is the fact that we know with 100% certainty the Israel has a large nuclear bomb arsenal and that such is a violation of American law and international agreements to support any nation that HAS NOT signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Agreement, which Israel HAS NOT signed. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/65272ba33698043a57e8677e4dfb9b290550d79a0d39a7be6eeff14a12a9f86e.jpg jews selling blacks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImFMcbF2MYY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqzDSrR4L4w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_BobWq2sq0&t=8s Who rules America?? https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x34eicw
Current German laws today owe much to the post war laws imposed by the US/UK/France
We have witnessed the lawyers of defendants who have questioned the details of Holo fable , actually being jailed as well.
https://www.quora.com/Is-Germany-an-occupied-country
“They ( the WW2 Allies) removed the existing institutions, and then imposed their own, both in the FRG and GDR. They wrote and imposed the “Basic Law” (not a constitution), and in spite of the so-called “reunification” in 1990, that law remains in effect today, as an entirely foreign construct. There is no “Made in Germany” constitution. That means …. Germany is still an occupied and foreign controlled country! “
There was a real holocaust. The systematic murder of 12 million German people by imposing severe food shortages which led to death by starvation, hypothermia and associated illnesses. From May 45 to Feb 52.
Sccchhhh, its anti semitic to cite real history that can be verified.
After the Soviet troops left West Germany, here was a search of their camps to locate mass graves. As far as I am aware there were non found.
BUT , there have been well founded rumours ( from civilians at the time) that the US bases from 1945 + include mass graves. Is this a reason that the US will not leave Germany after 73 years of occupation? Especially the German soldiers ‘murdered’ in the Rhine Meadow camps who all had their name tags removed and destroyed with their uniforms on their death?
Despite the preposterous analysis of the nature of German vassalage to the US by the troll immediately above, the US will attempt to use its military presence in Germany as an occupation force if the Germans move too close to establishing ties with Russia. There will be a sudden announcement that the drawdown of USAREUR in the 90s was a mistake, and that USAREUR will henceforth host the majority of the US Army’s active force (just as was the case before 1991), along with copious reinforcements by the National Guard. Also, the new US nuclear forward posture will see Germany held hostage to US nuclear blackmail. There isn’t an “ally” of the US anywhere on earth that DC would not screw over in a heartbeat if circumstances warranted it.
“There isn’t an “ally” of the US anywhere on earth that DC would not screw over in a heartbeat if circumstances warranted it.”
I know exactly how they feel. There isn’t a citizen of the US anywhere on earth that DC would not screw over in a heartbeat if circumstances warranted it. It’s all about the Benjamins, baby!
Yes it’s sad the way the American people are little more than cattle in their own country. They think they are Kings, they believe the BS rather than their own eyes.
The US screwed the Netherlands over twice. First during the Indonesian war of independence when they forced us to give in. Oddly enough they supported the French in Vietnam when they tried to squash the Vietnamese independence movement, so go figure. And in 1962 they screwed us over again when they sided with Indonesia and forced us to hand over Dutch New Guinea to Indonesia. And still Dutch politicians bend over backwards to please the US and talk about ‘the special relationship’.
Oh Yeah – poor Dutch having to relinquish their colonies. If America could have had a Vietnam for the French, surely they could have had another genocidal war in Indonesia for the Dutch?
(Actually, the Indonesians conducted their own genocide of “communists” on behalf of America).
All this stuff happened when the US overthrew the Indonesian Government and installed the Suharto regime back in the 1960’s.
Its not about getting to keep your colonies. Indonesia fully deserved independence form the Dutch. Although it can be argued that in this case only Java gained actual independence and gained the rest of Indonesia as its own colonial territory. The rest of that country only exchanged the Dutch for new colonial masters. And its also weird that the US embraced the Indonesian independence movement, which had been nurtured, fostered and armed by the Japanese to be used against the US, whereas in Vietnam the Viet Minh used to allied to the US during WW2.
But I’m getting sidetracked again. The real point is that the US did not side with its own ally in a conflict and that it cannot be trusted. They could have been neutral, but actually sided against us.
Post 1945 European power decolonization was full of contradictions – US rhetoric over colonial independence was window dressing for new paradigm – it was largely about reordering control over the prior European colonial dominions (and their resources) – either by soft or hard power – depending on the situation.
Dutch New Guinea was about gold, the largest goldmine in the world.
Freeport has never paid a cent to the Indonesian Government, and there are no environmental or human rights issues. Cyanide is dumped in the local creeks, killing all wildlife, including the Papuans who live there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grasberg_mine
Oh and New Guinea should be one country, it was divided up by Germany and the Netherlands. I met a guy in Rabaul who could speak German Japanese English Pidgin and his native tongue. He lost an arm, when the hand grenade he stole from the Japanese exploded. Japanese doctors saved his life.
It makes a lot more sense to be one country then to have the Western part be an Indonesian colony.
But as with Turkey’s occupation of Northern Cyprus – Indonesia has been bringing in large numbers of Indonesian nationals, mostly Javanese, into West Papua for decades, with state subsidy incentives to encourage this migration, to boost Indonesia’s ethnic support demographics and political control over West Papau.
https://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/cline/papua/transmigration.htmn
Yup, it became a colony of Java alright. Just like much of Indonesia. they supplanted Dutch colonial rule with Javanese rule.
you don’t make much sense, work it out and be coherent and improve the analytical ability which more or less has zilch penetration of the matter.
yeah that was something to behold and pedo pence stood there agape and little silly donny’s cuddly thing, ivanka, was just quiet – nothing much to say where there is a mutiny being launched and then donny can rail an fatso threaten and bedbugcrazy bolton just looking more insane by the minute. there is some hope for europe after all when matters are threatening the future, like german car exports being hit with 25% taxes. then all hell breaks out. and donny doesn’t stand a chance.
The EU leaders ideology is essentially the same as Trumps and if Hillary had won, the EU leaders would have likely agreed with her doing the same things as Trump.
What Trump has done in to blow away the Democratic mask of the USA, to reveal a very ugly persona.
EU leaders are more concerned with the Trump image, than what Trump does I think, as what he does is no different to what past US presidents have done. With the exception of course that past US Presidents feigned respect for EU leaders, whereas today, Trump treats EU leaders as the craven vassals they have always been since 1945.
As a German, I disagree with nearly everything in that article.
First to mention, Merkel already stepped down from her main party position and will not be part of the next general election. Second it is a journalistic myth that Merkel fought back against Trump, and in no way she ever ever questioned, or would question the NATO, she never doubts any actions of the US or Nato when bombing or ruining countries from Lybia to Syria, Iraq to Serbia. She also never questioned any sanctions against Russia. During her speech she mentioned the Nato as an example of value-based multilateral actions for the benefits of the world….And worth to mention that she is part of the „Atlantik-Brücke“, an organisation of the family around the Council of foreign relations.
I could go on and on and on …
If recent polling of Germans suggesting rising anti-U.S. sentiment is correct, Merkel will be irrelevant anyway. The question is how the U.S. responds to this, and its actions elsewhere to those bucking the self-proclaimed exceptionalists isn’t encouraging.
The US will attempt to send a US AID convoy from Poland to deliver aid to the needy in Germany perhaps?
Elliot Abrams is brushing up his German skills in anticipation.
How dare the Germans refuse to spend 20% of the nations net income on expensive US weapons :)
The circa 12 million ethnic Germans who died in the year or so after May 1945 are a lesson to us all that the US seeks total control of everything. Even the price of US gas.
Good points. The light dawned for me on Merkel’s response to her phone calls being listened to by the NSA, and Eva Morales’ plane being forced down to searched when Snowden was in hiding and in need for asylum (Germany denied Morales’plane German air space).
evo, evo morales
Thanks. Evo Morales.
It is difficult for politicians in most countries. If they criticize the USA they are quickly removed. Even if they resist the US, their country suffers. New Zealand wanted to create a nuclear free South Pacific, so the US threw them out of the ANZUS military alliance and crushed their economy. I was so ashamed that my country sided with the US against the Kiwis, but if we had our economy would also have been crushed.
Should politicians do what is morally right or do the best for the people they serve?
Australia only ever had one PM with the moral backbone to say no the U.S., Gough Whitlam 50+ years ago. The passing years since then have been a sad embarrassment, with the zero tax paying zionist Murdoch in control of Australia’s media and its corrupt govt. No surprise that Australia led the way in following the U.S. dictat to ban Huawei 5g equipment, and its media recently jumping on the blame China wagon when IDF unit 8200 (or the CIA) hacked govt. computers to cause friction between Australia and China. Australia needs to be careful in how far it’s willing to follow the U.S. in its game of confronting China, lest China crushes Australia’s economy.
Oh well, because of the Australia banging the US drum, the Chinese no longer want Australian coal now :)
They are also behind the real estate boom, and now bust. Our leaders think they can play China, that America will protect us, fools.
I read an article probably 10 years ago, and the author made the claim that Russia’s objective was to steal Germany away from the US. That seems to be the way it is working out. Americans don’t see the significance of a Russian German alliance, but the rest of Europe sure does.
Hah! I’m sure the Germans are amused by such a characterization. This is undoubtedly the narrative that NATO is pushing. NATO has no reason to exist if European nations have normal diplomatic and trade relations with Russia. NATO simply being the military arm of the globalist banking cabal.
The US chickenhawks can bribe or beat smaller, weaker European countries into our ‘Russia Haters’ club, but Germany is too big and powerful to force to do anything. FFS, we have to tap Merkel’s cell phone to keep an eye on Germany. In any case, Germany does little more than tolerate irritating and insane US leaders – best not to upset the psychopaths. It’s only the US via the MSM that characterizes our relationship with Germany as ‘Best Friends Forever’.
Nordstream2 is proof enough that the Germans are not totally cucked by the US. And the actual extent of US influence over German is clear in the US leaders reaction: indignation followed by total paralysis. We are stunned and don’t know what to do when someone big enough to punch us in the face won’t ‘obey orders’. Sanctions on Germany? Hah – that only works on… well, mostly it doesn’t work. World Bank? IMF? Nope – Germany doesn’t need our payday loan sheckels. Honestly, we got nothing.
Russia and Germany don’t want to form an alliance or be best friends forever – they simply want NORMAL mutually-beneficial diplomatic and trade relations. The US is like a psycho ex-girlfriend (who was never actually your girlfriend) constantly calling, texting, stalking you, bothering your friends, keeping an eye on you with an RQ-4 Global Hawk, tapping in to your public phone network to listen in on every last German citizens’ conversations. And then there’s the nukes we insist on keeping there.
German and Russia have to be getting pretty damn worried by now. Chimp with a live hand grenade in your house problem – you can’t just throw shoes at it and hope it goes away.
Maybe about gas agreement between Russia and Germany could be a line, but it is impossible to see this line on other matters (military, for example). Rather, it looks like USA has almost total control of Germany.