DD : Thank you for your civil reply. My post was a response to gmccon, an ex-Vietnam vet, who observed a sick situation re the US military and I was concurring.
I have stated my personal opinion about NATO/Serbia many times so I will not bore you with it yet again. You are right, however, there is a moral dilemma as to what to do with Milosevic & Co. In the circumstances, you might find this article, apparently posted in a German newspaper by Auschwitz survivors, of interest. This may help you to see the situation in a different way.
SS
A whole-page paid announcement on page 4 of German daily „Frankfurter
Rundschau" of April 23, 1999
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Open Letter to the Ministers Fischer and Scharping
Against a new kind of Auschwitz-Lie
Holocaust survivors condemn the statements of the Federal Government on the parallels Auschwitz-Kosovo
The Auschwitz survivors Esther Bejarano, Kurt Goldstein and the Federal spokesman of VVN-BdA Peter Gingold, who is also a member of Auschwitz Comitee, together with other Jewish survivors of holocaust turned themselves against those who think that the postulate „Never more war" should be abandoned in favour of the mandate „Never more Auschwitz". The undersigners, who lost numerous family members in Auschwitz, rejected the statements to this effect made by the Foreign Minister Joseph Fischer and the Minister of Defense Rudolph Scharping. They wrote the following letter to the Ministers:
Very respected Mr. Foreign Minister!
The Defense Minister has, already before the illegitimate NATO agression against Yugoslavia, in which the Federal Armed Forces, Bundeswehr, participate in an anti-constitutional way, on the occasion of a visit of German Army to Auschwitz, said that „the Federal Armed Forces are in Bosnia" in order to prevent a new Auschwitz and that it therefore „may as well go into Kosovo". In his lack of arguments, the Foreign Minister too invoked a new kind of Auschwitz-Lie in order to justify the fatal violation of the UN Charter, which was made precisely on the basis of the lessons drawn from the fascist war and holocaust.
We, the survivors of Auschwitz and other mass destruction camps, condemn the abuse of the deads of Auschwitz, of the genocide against the Jews, Sinti and Roma, and Slavs, organized and perpetrated by Hitler's fascists in the name of German superior race, that you and other politicians are abusing. What you're doing is a kind of down-playing of a crime unique in the history of humanity because you lack arguments for your fatal policy. This action of yours is obviously supposed to justify a heavy and inexcusable violation of the Charter of United Nations. The victor countries against Germany and Japan have bestowed upon themselves this Charter in 1945 in order „to protect the future generations from the scourge of war, which has brought unspeakable sorrow to the humanity in our own life time" and they arose from the German soil, as we all know. They have pledged to „join ranks in order to safeguard the World Piece and International Security".
The World Piece and International Security are now in danger, because a war is being fougt from German soil against a founding member of UNO, a war against a country, which suffered greatest sacrifices in the fight against Hitler and rendered an invaluable service for the liberation of Europe against fascism. To invoke Auschwitz as justification for such a war is infamous.
The actions of Yugoslav leadership against the Albanian minority violate human rights. We condemn it. We condemn it in the same way as we have condemned the actions of Turkish government against the Kurds and the actions of Israeli leadership against the Palestinians. We have always demanded - and we demand it even now - that such actions should be dealt with within the means at the disposal of UNO. He who does not use the anti-fascist role and human-rights dedication of UNO, who neglects and weakens the UNO, loses the right to reference the anti-fascist postulates like „Never more Auschwitz", especially since at the same time he establishes a right to war. The consequences of such actions will be an awakening of those forces which appeared to have been decisively defeated.
Very respected Mrs. Ministers!
In view of your utterances and political practices we are asking you:
Should it be forgotten, that in this century Serbia was twice visited by destruction and devastation from German soil? Should the massacre of a million Serbs be forgotten, which was perpetrated by German nazis and their domestic and foreign executioners in the World War II? Measured on the total populations, the Serbian Slavs are the largest victims, second only to Jews.
Should it be forgotten that the destruction of Serbia between 1914 and
1918 was entrusted to that army commander and hussar with death's head
insignia, August von Mackensen, who, in 1915 and time and again afterwards, ordered „ruthless treatment" of the Serbian population, and who then helped Hitler as propagandist to the last - up to the call to sacrifice the youth as people's storm, and after whom a caserne of Federal Armed Forces is still named in Hildesheim?
Should it be forgotten that it is not only the royal military, the
Reichswehr, and the [nazi military] Wehrmacht, who had experienced
Serb-killers in their ranks, but the [modern] Bundeswehr too? We refer
to the Colonel of Wehrmacht Karl-Wilhelm Thilo, who became the highest
ranking General and Commander of the 1st Alpine Division - the very same division, which is now waving the German flag on the Balkans - he was even Deputy Inspector of the Army. He signed orders for massacres
against the Yugoslavs, and contributed his writings to the books that
made the rounds in Federal Armed Forces praising the genocide, according to H. Lanz (Ed.) „Alpine Riflemen - The 1st Alpine Division 1935/1945".
Should it be forgotten that the war of the Federal Armed Forces against Serbia violates the International Law unequivocally, not only the UN Charter, but also the NATO Pact, the Final Act of Helsinki, the
Constitution and the 2-plus-4 Agreement? The Germany has repeatedly
pledged to respect the UN Charter and now tramples upon it with the
attack on Yugoslavia. The Federal Armed Forces violated the injunctions dictated by the political environment. „In addition the Federal Government has confirmed the injunction not to start an aggression war". (from the 2-plus-4 Agreement of September 12, 1990, quoted after the „White Book 1994" of the Federal Army).
Should it be forgotten that by means of this war Yugoslavia is to be
forced to sign an Agreement, which can only be compared with the Munich Dictate of 1938, with which Czechoslowakian Republic was destroyed, just like today Yugoslavia is to be destroyed? „An Agreement is null and void, if its conclusion was reached under threat or application of force in contravention to the principles of International Law as laid down in the Charter of United Nations." This is written in the Vienna Convention on the Treaties Law, Article 52.
We demand firmly: Stop the war against Jugoslavia, and as immediate
step: Stop the bombings. Negotiations instead of shootings. We demand
the restoration of UN Charter and strengthening of UNO. This as a
contribution to the realization and defense of anti-fascist achievements of the peoples of the world.
Highly respectfully
Esther Bejarano, Hamburg Hand Frankenthal, Dortmund
Peter Gingold, Frankfurt am Main Ruddi Lippmann, Berlin
Kurt Goldstein, Berlin Erhard Deutsch, Berlin
Walter Bloch, Duesseldorf Vera Mitteldorf, Berlin
Henny Dreifuss, Duesseldorf Werner Krich, Berlin
Guenter Haensel, Neuss Irmgard Konrad, Berlin
Werner Stertzenbach, Duesseldorf Maricha & Adi Koenig, Berlin
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Questions and additional signatures: Peter Gingold, Reichstorfststrasse
3, 60528 Frankfurt am Main, Phone & Fax: (+49)69/672-631; as well as
Ulrich Sander, c/o VVN-BdA, Gathe 55, 421007 Wuppertal, Phone & Fax:
(+49)202/450-629
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Contributions towards the financing of this Advertisement, which was
made possible by a friendly circle should please be transferred to this
account: Peter Gingold, Account No. 440-477, Frankfurter Sparkasse, BLZ
500 502 01, Purpose „Letter to the Ministers"
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ViSdP: Peter Gingold, Reichstorfstrasse 3, 60528 Frankfurt am Main
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