Me too. I really like it. Read it over and over again. Thanks.
Dzigbodi.
-----Original Message-----
From: AAM (African Association of Madison)
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Amakobe, Peter
Sent: Friday, April 11, 2003 10:34 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: THE MORAL DECLINE OF A SUPERPOWER
Aggo--
What a nice post. I look forward to the next.
Peter
-----Original Message-----
From: Aggo Akyea [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, April 11, 2003 10:21 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: THE MORAL DECLINE OF A SUPERPOWER
Copyright © 2003 The International Herald Tribune
http://www.iht.com/articles/92876.htm
The moral decline of a superpower
Günter Grass Tribune Media Services International
Friday, April 11, 2003
Preemptive war
BEHLENDORF, Germany A war long sought and planned is now under way. All
deliberations and warnings of the United Nations notwithstanding, an
overpowering military apparatus has attacked preemptively in violation of
international law. No objections were heeded. The Security Council was
disdained and scorned as irrelevant. As the bombs fall and the battle for
Baghdad continues, the law of might prevails.
Based on this injustice, the mighty have the power to buy and reward those
who might be willing and to disdain and even punish the unwilling. The words
of the current American president - "Those who are not with us are against
us" - weigh on current events with the resonance of barbaric times.
It is hardly surprising that the rhetoric of the aggressor increasingly
resembles that of his enemy. Religious fundamentalism leads both sides to
abuse what belongs to all religions, taking the notion of God hostage in
accordance with their own fanatical understanding. Even the passionate
warnings of the Pope, who knows how lasting and devastating the disasters
wrought by the mentality and actions of Christian crusaders have been, were
unsuccessful.
Disturbed and powerless, but also filled with anger, we are witnessing the
moral decline of the world's only superpower, burdened by the knowledge that
only one consequence of this organized madness is certain: Motivation for
more terrorism is being provided, for more violence and counterviolence. Is
this really the United States of America, the country we fondly remember?
The generous benefactor of the Marshall Plan? The forbearing instructor in
the lessons of democracy? The candid self-critic? The country that once made
use of the teachings of the European Enlightenment to throw off its colonial
masters and to provide itself with an exemplary constitution? Is this the
country that made freedom of speech an incontrovertible human right?
It is not just foreigners who cringe as this ideal pales to the point where
it is now a caricature of itself. There are many Americans who love their
country too, people who are horrified by the betrayal of their founding
values and by the hubris of those holding the power. I stand with them. By
their side, I declare myself pro-American. I protest with them against the
brutalities brought about by the injustice of the mighty, against all
restrictions of the freedom of expression, against information control
reminiscent of the practices of totalitarian states and against the cynical
equations that make the deaths of so many innocents acceptable so long as
economic and political interests are protected.
No, it is not anti-Americanism that is damaging the image of the United
States; nor do the dictator Saddam Hussein and his extensively disarmed
country endanger the most powerful country in the world. It is President
Bush and his government that are diminishing democratic values, bringing
sure disaster to their own country, ignoring the United Nations, and that
are now terrifying the world with a war in violation of international law.
We Germans are often asked if we are proud of our country. To answer this
question has always been a burden. There were reasons for our doubts. But
now I can say that the rejection of this preemptive war by a majority in my
country has made me proud of Germany. After having been largely responsible
for two world wars and their criminal consequences, we have made a difficult
step. We seem to have learned from history.
The Federal Republic of Germany has been a sovereign country since 1990. Our
government made use of this sovereignty by having the courage to object to
those allied in this cause, the courage to protect Germany from a step back
to a kind of adolescent behavior. I thank Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and
his foreign minister, Joschka Fischer, for their fortitude in spite of all
the attacks and accusations.
Many people find themselves in a state of despair these days, and with good
reason. Yet we must not let our voices, our No to war and Yes to peace, be
silenced. What has happened? The stone that we pushed to the peak is once
again at the foot of the mountain. But we must push it back up, even with
the knowledge that we can expect it to roll back down again.
Günter Grass was awarded the 1999 Nobel Prize for literature. This comment
was translated from German by Daniel Slager and distributed by Global
Viewpoint for Tribune Media Services International.
Aggo Akyea
608-274-7409
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