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Westerwelle plays down engagement in Libya
Published: 23 Aug 11 09:15 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/national/20110823-37125.html
Although Germany is eager to help Libya after the ousting of dictator Muammar Qaddafi, discussion of any potential engagement in the North African country is premature, said Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on Monday evening.
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“It may be that Libya is developing into the new Somalia,” said Peter Scholl-Latour, a former journalist and one of German's most respected Middle East experts. “The Islamists are waiting.”
Although the German military has not been directly involved in the NATO military campaign to weaken Qaddafi’s regime, it appears possible that peacekeeping soldiers could eventually be sent to the country.
Defence Minister Thomas de Maizière suggested they could be used to maintain peace in Libya and help prop up democratic institutions.
Westerwelle avoided speaking directly about German military involvement and said Libyans must decide their own future.
But he also promised future German assistance to help create a vibrant civil society, independent judiciary and ensure free and fair elections.
As of Tuesday, however, much remained unclear and in flux. Despite reports of his capture, one of Qaddafi’s sons visited journalists overnight and was taking them on tours of the capital city Tripoli.
And in the face of the rebellion’s lightning march into Tripoli, NATO members, including Germany, were mulling what to do next – including the possibility of the transitional government will soon be asking for direct military assistance.
“NATO should consider very carefully how it would react in such a case,” Ruprecht Polenz, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and the chairman of the Bundestag’s foreign affairs committee, told the Passauer Neue Presse newspaper.
The Local/DAPD/mdm
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We in India are desperately suffering from corruption fallen prey to foreign loans and forked tongue preachings of assurance by super powers but pursued with self serving interests of double standard foreign policies. Germany has only been the one western nation who really wished India well right from the inception of freedom struggle though to the development of national construction shown with true empathy. This parallel of spiritual consonance may be because of common sufferings of both people under foreign subjugation and fight for truth and justice as the motto of India declares "Sathyameva Jayathe" (Truth only wins).
For all the greatest service rendered by the Germans to Indian spiritual and cultural heritage let their great nation stand erect to the cause of Truth as a friendly nation and . as deemed necessary, take inspiration from Anna Hazare's peaceful movement for truth and against corruption.
Let it be remembered that Germany withstood the worst embargoes against her industry since 1920's and the Truth of hard and disciplined work with positive spirit of hope in all national reconstruction displayed the mark of people whether under harsh dictatorship or raising from ruins in the aftermath of ww-2 with a hard won freedom kept up under democracy to the present day.
Nazi Germany supported Indian political leader Subhash Chandra Bose's bid for armed struggle against British colonial rule and helped organize the Indian National Army along with Japan.
Many would consider this self-serving,however
Many thanks for bringing out a modicum of fact which bespeaks of greater truth. Right from the inception of Indian freedom struggle participation of two distinct classes of people was apparent,namely, the more outspoken and vehement (Athivad) and the receptive and soft spoken (Mithavad). The former was initiated by Bal Gangadhar Tilak who inspired Subhash Chandra Bose and the latter belonged to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. Many belonged to Mithavad because of Indian philosophical pacifism in general while a far and few Athivad group, however, did possess self serving concerns of vehement armed protest . Many such break away sympathizers formed the Indian National Army led by Netaji(leader) S.C Bose first enrolled in the Axis Army of Nazi Germany but due to strategic difficulties later organized as Azad Hind Fouz (Indian Liberation Army) helped by the nearer Japs.
Worthy of note,however, is that majority Indian regular army fought on side the Allies along with the Australians from far east and the Canadians from far west. Did their human sacrifices find equitable recognition and representation during the war crimes and genocide trials of Nueremberg aganst Nazi atrocities? Even if this is considered major allies' prerogative why did the U.S wantonly dropped Atom Bombs months after the major Axis power Germany surrendered unconditionally and the war was as good as over on larger area. The Japs could be forced to intimidated surrender with a demonstration of destruction under nuclear explosion but many innocent civilians perished under real time phased testing of the A.bombs using the Jap.cities as testbeds. Whose inquisitive self did this atrocious act serve -the nuclear scientists who developed the Bomb or the Politicians to threaten all humanity with their destructive prowess?