A German Dependence?

From my Writing Room
Copyright © 2022 by Uwe Bahr

The real reasons for the energy crisis in Europe do not lie in the alleged dependence on Russia, which many believe Germany in particular has maneuvered itself into.

For decades, the U.S. has placed itself in a seeming dependence on countries that were and are dictatorships, as in the case of oil, for example. Wherever business beckoned, the U.S. was there, no matter whether human rights have been trampled underfoot or not, no matter whether war or peace. But as soon as there were difficulties, they settled these problems in their own way: By intervening with their intelligence services to replace disagreeable governments with puppet regimes – and when that wasn’t enough, they used their own military to clean up the mess, as in the 1991 Gulf War.

The American people were sold this every time as a fight for freedom to preserve democracy and human rights around the world, and many bought into it, worshiping the main instrument of American imperialism and world control: “We love our military and are proud of it.” If there had been sanctions like the ones against Russia on the current scale every time, half the world would have had to impose sanctions on the USA – no matter whether it was about the murderous war in Vietnam or wars in Afghanistan and Iraq under pretexts like the lie about weapons of mass destruction.

To accuse Germany of having become too dependent on the Soviet Union and now on Russia for energy since the 1950s reveals one thing above all: the boundless hypocrisy of those who, in their immoderate greed, have had their fingers in the pie all over the world for geostrategic advantages and to enrich themselves and secure access to energy resources under the guise of fighting for freedom.

With regard to Russia and the nonsensical sanctions that hurt Germany more than almost any other country, the German government has given in to alliance pressure, especially from the Americans, and is now paying a very high price after initially refusing to supply weapons to Ukraine. It should have stayed that way, because it was the sensible move.

The Biden administration will miscalculate in the belief that it can bring the Russian colossus to its knees with a protracted war in Ukraine and billions in support in the form of war equipment. From the very beginning, since the breakaway from the disintegrated Soviet Union in 1991, the Americans have had their fingers in the game in the Ukraine.

If anyone was going to pay a price, it would have to be them.