Gerade lese ich, dass Horst Köhler zurückgetreten ist. Diesen Post hatte ich gestern schon vorbereitet und wollte ihn nochmal überarbeiten. Aus aktuellem Anlass veröffentliche ich ihn jetzt unverändert.
Unser Bundespräsident, Horst Köhler hat in der letzten Maiwoche kurz vor seinem Abflug aus Afghanistan ein Interview gegeben. Da hat er Stellung genommen zum Einsatz der Bundeswehr im Ausland.
Und gesagt, dass Auslandseinsätze der Bundeswehr notwendig wären, da
… für ein Land unserer Größe mit dieser Aussenhandelsorientierung auch militärische Einsätze für freie Handelswege notwendig seien …
und auch um
… regionale Instabilität zu verhindern, die negativ auf unsere Chancen zurückschlagen, um dadurch Handel Arbeitsplätze und Einkommen zu sichern …
Jetzt wird er von Opposition und Medien deswegen kritisiert. Und die Regierung hat behauptet, dass er vom Einsatz der Bundeswehr vor Somalia gesprochen hat, obwohl er zweifelsfrei zu Afghanistan befragt wurde.
Ich glaube, dass Horst Köhler einen Anfall von Zivilcourage hatte und einfach die Wahrheit gesagt hat.
Und die ist wohl, dass der militärische Einsatz der Bundeswehr in Afghanistan natürlich nur vordergründig dazu dient, humanistische Ideale und Menschen- bzw. Frauenrechte zu verteidigen (das wird in diesem Land eh zumindest in diesem Jahrhundert nicht möglich sein) oder den Terrorismus auszurotten (Auch das ist so wie es gemacht wird, garantiert nicht erfolgreich, es wird eher das Gegenteil bewirkt).
Afghanistan dürfte nur ein Schauplatz von vielen in einem hochkomplexen Wirtschaftskrieg sein, mit dem der privilegierte Teil dieser Welt mir einer sehr eigenartigen Aufgabenteilung versucht, mit allen Mitteln seine Vormachtstellung zu bewahren.
Mein Kommentar: Da sagt er einmal die Wahrheit – und wird er so angegriffen, dass er zurücktritt …
RMD
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3 Antworten
Of course Horst’s resignation was a surprise. But the wording was also surprising; „criticism unworthy of the post of President“. At first I thought this must mean that people should not so criticise the President. I was shocked. Could he really think that he should not be criticised just because he is President? Then I realised that he probably meant it the other way round. He accepted the criticism and took this as indicating that he was the wrong man for the job.
Great respect is due to him for such humility. But there is a further difficulty. He must realise that he has blundered with careless wording about Afghanistan, so how can his short resignation speech be so carelessly constructed that it has two opposite meanings? He should know that each commentator will choose whatever meaning is easiest to criticise. He looked suddenly very old on TV. Perhaps his age has caught up with him.
Käßmann would be less boring than recent presidents, and she would have a chaufeur.
Things should not be seen too black or white. We live in a complex world.
The original excuse for the invasion of Afghanistan was that the World Trade Centre attack and others were prepared and directed from there.
Of course there were good humanitarian reasons too. USA had used the Mujahideen to get the Russian Communists out of the country. Then, as chaos developed they supported the Taliban, to bring order. This only made things worse. Islamic fanaticism, with education reduced to learning the Koran in a language that is not understood, is not a good basis for government. At least the latest attempt is better than the Taliban. Yes, there are other terrible governments, but I can understand the Americans first trying to clean up where they had got things wrong. Things seem to be getting better in Iraq too, and maybe even in Pakistan.
The great American successes in spreading democracy and trade, (Germany, Japan, Taiwan, and S. Korea) were some time ago, unless one includes the Iron Curtain countries. But let us not forget their importance. As well as the obvious contribution to our present wellbeing, I see our best chance to escape from the Malthusian trap as a rapid spreading of education and democratic values. (Perhaps spreading the Chinese government system is the next best chance, but we don’t want that).
Democratic countries have the right and even the duty to protect their interests, also at some cost. Less desirable organisations will try to compete, and will prevail unless resisted. Cultures are involved in neo-Darwinist evolution. The world has been changed by cinema and TV showing the Western way of life, which has generally been recognised as desirable.
A dozen or so German deaths, a few hundred deaths among Americans and British, a few thousand among Afghanis (and Iraqis) are a small price to pay in the global context.
I am sure our politicians realise this, but they dare not say it, for fear of the voters. Horst briefly forgot that he has become a politician. Probably he has resigned fearing that he may break a more serious taboo.
I retract my previous comment about Käßmann. Even sober, she is probably too honest for the job.