Ooohh... I can see that this comment thread just spun off into the ether far away from the original theme of this post. Germans finding their national pride again and singing their national anthem and waving flags during the WM 2006 was cool, didn't have anything to do with the Nazis. I know, I was here and have been here for a looong time (too long).

On Germany's support for Israel and polls about German public support for the Israelis and so forth, Give Us a Break. There is still PLENTY of negative rhetoric in Germany (in the press, the electronic media, and on the street) directed against the State of Israel and especially re: the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The German media more often-than-not characterizes the Israelis as the main perpetrators of the ongoing violence due to their greed for Palestinian land, religious fanaticism, ominous backing from the U.S. government under heavy influence from a strong American-Jewish lobby, etc. etc. Next to the relentless media bias directed at successive United States government administrations and the people of the U.S.A., the Jews catch total hell here in Germany on-the-air and in the press. My claims can be easily confirmed by doing a little research using various media archives in Germany over the past 2-3 decades.

The statement made in The Economist by Herr Weisskirchen that, "...if Israel were attacked Germany would come to their aid in a heartbeat (or whatever he said)" is totally bogus. Germany will NOT send troops into heavy combat to support their "friends and allies" under (almost) any conditions because the German people will not support such an action AND the political price would be absolutely devastating for any politician or political party that would even attempt to do such a thing. You can save the rhetoric about the Balkan troops (Kosovo, Bosnia, etc.) or Afghanistan (pleeease!) or the EUFOR mission to the Congo (..."we are here only to support MONUC forces in evacuating election observers and foreign nationals in case...") because in each case Berlin has guaranteed the voting public in Germany (on TV) that these are NOT combat missions but are either peacekeeping or reconstruction missions that may be somewhat dangerous. The German public is not ready to deal with a significant number of troop casualties and body bags coming home due to a military combat mission in another country other than Germany. Period.

Lastly, let us not forget that Germany remains the largest trading partner to the regime in Tehran and this has been the case for many, many years. Practically every older Iranian exile that I know here in Germany curses (daily) the German government and business community for the financial support that they have extended to the Islamic regime in Tehran for the past 20 years or so. Explain to us how Germany can be Iran's most important commercial trading partner and at the same time be one of Israel's closest friends and allies? How do you pull that off... with diplomacy?

Sadly, after watching the escalation of combat taking place over the past few days in Lebanon, Israel, and Gaza we may all have the opportunity to see who is going to do what on behalf of whom in the Middle East.

Wow. I'm way off subject here. Sorry.

Well, we're off-subject here Jörg as stated in my comment above, but I will respond to your questions. Actually, this is some good stuff for the next Carnival of German-American Relations IV.

Re: German media and Israel

Media bias is a big problem everywhere, so yes, U.S. news reporting about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (wars) is probably just as bad as it is here in Germany. Why I say that "...the Jews catch total hell here on-the-air and in the press..." is that it is true. The presentation of information about the conflict to the general public here (especially TV news) for many years has clearly favored the "suffering" Palestinians vs. the "greedy and unfair" Jewish state. Ask any Jew living in Germany today, they'll tell you the same thing.

Do I find the results from the polls showing a shift in German public opinion newsworthy? Yes, of course. Remarkable? No. Media coverage of news is powerful stuff, and the world media networks have been focusing on acts of terrorsim, war in the Middle East, radical Islam and Jihadists, etc. for the past 5 years in such a way that there have been shifts of opinion all over the place, all over the planet.

Re: German military expeditions in the Balkans and Afghanistan

Yes, I would say the same thing to any German citizen as I wrote in my comment above, whether they lost a loved one in these conflicts or not. Very few German soldiers have died in Afghanistan or the Balkans due to hostile fire in combat, because Germany is not involved in combat operations. Accidents, equipment failures, and the occassional landmine or IED has been the cause of death for almost all German military casualties in these conflicts. To add to this, the German TV news crews active in Afghanistan (and Iraq) early on were so confident that Germany didn't belong to the group of "bad guys" in the eyes of enemy combatants that they were running around with big signs reading "German Press" or "Don't Shoot, We Are German" taped to their vehicles and clothing. It worked for awhile, until kidnappings and outright murder of civilians really got hot.

Even now, with an increase in attacks by Taliban fighters particularly in southern Afghanistan, your Defense Minister has said that Germany will not be taking part in combat missions in those provinces. In the northern provinces where German troops have been concentrated for the past couple of years, there is little open warfare with the Taliban. That's why Germany was given those sectors, because they posed the least threat (that may be changing soon). Poppy cultivation and raw opium exports have just exploded in the sectors under German military control over the same period, showing that the German presence is always good for business.

Re: the body count problem in Vietnam, Somalia, Iraq

This is just too complicated a subject to deal with here, don't you think? No sane nation likes to see their young men and women (and innocent civilians) die on battlefields (emphasis on the word "sane"). But I will say this, I believe that many people in Germany (and elsewhere around the globe) have become far too comfortable with the idea that the U.S. military is "born to die" in foreign conflicts, while their own military (and citizens) can kick back and watch the action without any physical risk and minimal financial costs for themselves. Iraq is a perfect example of that and this philosophy could backfire rather badly for you guys here in Europe. After all, the U.S. does not share a common border with Iraq and Syria and Iran, but you guys will as soon as Turkey joins the E.U. Good luck, pal.

Re: foreign trading partners

I am neither a supporter of the cozy relationships between Beijing and Washington D.C. nor the unfettered free-wheeling trade between the PRC and the American business community, as you can read in some of my posts about the PR China's love affair with African governments at the moment. I don't even bother commenting on Saudi Arabia and America.

But you're right, Wandel durch Handel (political change through trade) doesn't seem to work with everybody. Does it work with any nation? I guess this means that we are running out of options for peaceful regime change in despotic, dangerous countries like Iran. Of course, we could just kick back and do nothing and see what happens next. Hey, it worked with North Korea...

ENDE - for now.

Well said (er, written) Joe and thanks for your input to my comments Don.

Hey, looks as if the German Bundeswehr (military) may be headed for the Middle East after all (southern Lebanon border with Israel). There has been a flurry of conflicting news reports over here for the past few days. First the German Defence Minister says no way will Germany be sending peacekeeping troops to the region, then he retracted that statement the next day and stated that it might - maybe - could very well happen. Lot's of debate and concern in the media and the public.

But of course, this is way, way off-subject.