German Politics Thread

As the article above points out, it was originally a Swedish investigation, but since Nintendo's European headquarters are located in Frankfurt, it makes sense Germany would take over the case.

Some people might already have heard about it, Germany's most respected news outlet Der Spiegel is hit by a big scandal:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/20/world/europe/der-spiegel-claas-relotius.html

A highly decorated journalist has confessed to having invented/changed/forged most of his (often award-winning) articles. He did it so insidious that it is still unclear how much he faked. Basically he is known to have inventes little details to make the story sound better up to completely inventing whole documentaries ans interviews. This is of course devastating for the press that is already fighting against the insult "lying press". The Af D of course is overjoyed for this gift. Imagine the New York Times being caught in something similar, and Trump's reaction to it.

As someone who has read most of his articles and as a regular Spiegel reader, this is of course devastating. I do not want to sound too dramatic, but I do feel emotionally betrayed after I read many of his stories with so much interest.

Yeah, me too. At least Spiegel seems determined to work this up as thoroughly as possible.

It sounds like Germany is a little unhappy regarding Trump’s sudden decision to pull out of Syria and reduce forces in Afghanistan. Here’s part of the official statement:

Considering they’re the second largest contributor of personnel in Afghanistan and have just recently decided to commit to Syria I can understand the frustration.

A lot of Syria Refugees also ended up here, I'd add.

Germany also recently send more troops to Afghanistan because Trump complained that their allies were not contributing enough. Honestly, what a scumbag move. Not only does he screw over local allies, he also failed to consult his closest military allies.

Edit: Anyone else getting some Saigon-Visions here?

Edited by Zarastro on Dec 21st 2018 at 5:11:35 PM

And for the record, Germany did this because actually wanting to leave Afghanistan for years and not actually wanting to get involved in Syria at all.

The Spiegel Scandal is naturally a gift for the Af D, especially since Der Spiegel is a very left-wing paper. Some of the stories involved were about refugees. So, thanks for nothing to this guy.

Thankfully another reporter working for the Spiegel figured out what was going on. This would have been so much worse is some sort of right-wing paper had revealed it. Now one can at least point to the fact that the left wing press was put on the hot seat by the left wing press.

The Guardian article I read looked at it from Moreno's angle, which sounds like he was subjected to full-blown, extended bullying — because people just couldn't fathom the possibility of it being true. Hopefully, he gets proper recompense for sticking to his guns until the truth came out.

But, hey, it's a good thing the paper seems to be taking this so seriously. I can only wish this happened in the UK.

Edited by Wyldchyld on Dec 21st 2018 at 7:16:04 PM

Der Spiegel admitted as much. They claimed in their defence that nobody wanted to believe that Relotius of all people would do something like this. He was popular among the staff, had already won several awards and he was also smart enough to convincingly deflect initial suspicions.

Suffice to say, the owe the guy who discovered the truth a huge apology.

He wrote an article on SPON earlier about how atm the entire House was *terribly* sorry about it and he even admits that he can understand their viewpoint because apparently the perp was the type of guy you'd never expect it from.

They always seemed pretty neutral on getting involved in Syria, but the US building up there convinced them to jump in. Of course, now that the US is gone they’re basically left out to dry.

They’re saying they’re going to stay there indefinitely even without the US but who knows.

As a general rule, Germany doesn't want to get involved ANYWHERE. There has to be at least some backing by the UN for starters, and some really, really good reasons.

The Spiegel might have reacted badly at the start, but now they will do a long special about it.

And let's be honest here: While I hate the Lügenpresse chant, our media really, really needs to do some soul searching. Though not in the direction the alt-right thinks. They need to go a little less emotional and a little less "both sides", and instead go back to focussing on facts and on questioning what they get over the news ticker. They have all become kind of lazy.

Germany got involved in Syria after the Paris attacks when France officially called its' European allies for help. This was deemed as good enough instead of a UN mandate. We shall see how things develop from here on. While I remember that the Bundeswehr mission against the IS was supposed to end next year, it does not seem like a good idea to leave the Kurds unprotected. Due to the large Turkish and Kurdish community in Germany, things could get emreally ugly here if/when Erdogan attacks them.

Eh, I wouldn’t say that’s true. Germany has shown some will to get involved in things overseas without mandate, but it’s very selective.

Every Bundeswehr mission so far has had either a) an UN mandate b) the permission of the host country or c) something like the collective decision after the Paris attacks. Only the Kosovo war probably violated this.

Well, the Kosovo War happened directly at the doorstep of the EU and there certainly was a need to get involved.

Yeah I agree, but it was also (probably) in violation of international law.

Edited by Zarastro on Dec 22nd 2018 at 12:28:55 PM

Maybe....okay, Germany would do it without a mandate, but only if there is a broad support for it even outside Germany and if it happens in the direct neighbourhood.

Frankly, I think German involvement increasing internationally would be a good thing. Mostly because unlike the insanely loopy British or American Governments, German Policy tends to be very stable and far more focused on long-term calculations in comparison to Anglosphere politics.

Merkel had a pretty good point to make when she said that the days of depending on someone else were over.

That said, the German Government should be careful of wading into a mess with no idea of what's going on.

For now, I'd rather it keep back. We're about to head into a Post Merkel Government which after all those years will mean some upheaval.

Which of course that could be a reason german poicy is so stable, because they focus way more in internal things, after all the result of Iraq play into the Trump as whole.

A rather interesting article from a British Jew who's considering returning to Germany, where his father fled from before World War II.

https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-46635052

Despite the fact that he's reluctant to leave Britain, which he considers his true home, Brexit has rattled him. I suppose he speaks in more ways than one for a lot of people when they talk of Brexit.

It's a sad state of affair that Jews always have to think of an exit strategy. I wish they could feel save in Germany, but apparently they don't, and I can't blame them.

BTW, Nuhr's look on the year has apparently resonated with a lot of people. Not sure how I feel about it. On the one hand: I completely agree with him that we maybe should be a little bit less pessimistic about our own country and appreciate the good aspects in it once a while.

On the other hand: Some of what he dismisses are problems you better tackle at the roots, before they spread.

News just in - Germany considers opening up Army Recruitment to all EU Citizens.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46692176

Eh, this is deflection. Von der Leyen wants to distract from all the scandals over her administration recently.