Trump might just turn out to be the cure to Germans' spinelessnes. Speaking to a German daily earlier this week the man to be sworn in as POTUS this Friday wondered if US' NATO alliance with Western Europeans was not outdated, explained he has no great love of the European Union, and characterized Merkel's immigration policy as a catasthrophic mistake for Germany.
The German leadership must have been quite stung by Trump's unflattering comments seeing how they've reacted in a most uncharacteristic manner -- by growing some teeth themselves.
Their foreign minister went on a counter-offensive dismissing American cars as trash and telling Trump to shut up because it was his nation which caused the damn refugee crisis in the first place:
"There is a link between America's flawed interventionist policy, especially the Iraq war, and the refugee crisis, that's why my advice would be that we shouldn't tell each other what we have done right or wrong, but that we look into establishing peace in that region and do everything to make sure people can find a home there again."So I guess we're no longer hilariously blaming Russia for that one?
In any case it's nice to see US' biggest European satrapy showing signs of growing a backbone.
Not to be outdone by her Social-Democrat foreign minister the Christian-Democrat Merkel oulied an ambitious vision of the future where she fights Trump for principles of liberalism and trade:
"We can't let anyone divide us," she said.In other words, with an eye to this year's elections, German politicians are suddenly competing over who will stand up to Washington more, and even laying out ideological generational struggles they want to fight against Trump's DC.
"We've got to fight this battle, if for no other reason than principle," Merkel said, referring to Germany's commitment to the free trade, and asking German business to "join her in defending liberal democracy and trade", saying "in every generation one has to fight for one's ideals."
"I'm ready for that"
Trump then might be the perfect villain and catalyst to turn these toadies into statesmen worth their salt.
PS.: Of course it was US which created the migrant crisis with its intervention in Syria, Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq. To their credit the Germans, even under the very pro-Washington Merkel, sat out NATO's Libya war (but were very active in Afghanistan for a time).
Also to be fair to the Germans, after promoting unrest in Kiev that eventually snowballed into a civil war, they -- unlike the US whose role was limited solely to pouring gasoline on fire -- also helped negotiate the Minsk peace deals for Ukraine (but then failed to insist Kiev actually implements it).
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