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Exaggerating Anti-AmericanismPosted by Joerg Wolf in Transatlantic Relations on Tuesday, January 1. 2008 Soeren Kern, Senior Fellow for Transatlantic Relations at the Madrid-based Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group, might have something interesting to say in his American Thinker op-ed "Anti-Americanism: It's About American Power, Not Policy," but I am not reading it to the end after this accusation: "They [=The Germans] routinely equate the US invasion of Iraq with the Holocaust." Such nonsense disqualifies him and the "American Thinker" from being taken as serious as their logo and name pretends to be. The American "Thinker" has published such stupidity before (see The Superiority of American Culture and Sports), which might actually increase the popularity of the stereotype that Americans are arrogant and clueless. Welcome! You are reading the ATLANTIC REVIEW -- a Press Digest on Transatlantic Relations combined with commentary and analysis by four young professionals from Germany, the Netherlands and the United States. More about us. The horizontal menu bar at the top helps to navigate this site. Subscribe to one of our RSS-Feeds or to our newsletter, which is emailed twice per month.Trackbacks
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VinceTN
- #1 - 2008-01-01 17:50 - (Reply)
The American Thinker site is pure bias. Although they mirror my views about the Iraq war and the Left in general they have little to contribute to dicussions. You could get as much info from a Southern Baptist Convention news letter.
Joerg - Atlantic Review
- #1.1 - 2008-01-01 18:44 - (Reply)
Bias would be okay. I am biased as well.
Pamela
- #2 - 2008-01-01 19:35 - (Reply)
First of all, Happy New Year everyone! Remarkably, I have no hangover. I think my liver has become immune.
Tuomas
- #3 - 2008-01-01 20:14 - (Reply)
About the author Sören Kern:
Martin
- #3.1 - 2008-01-01 21:56 - (Reply)
"For well known reasons, anything that could be interpreted as relativizing the industrial killing of the European Jewry is a sore point for quite a few Jews."
Pamela
- #3.2 - 2008-01-01 21:56 - (Reply)
Well, just where do I start?
Tuomas
- #3.2.1 - 2008-01-01 23:41 - (Reply)
Why this hostility?
Pamela
- #3.2.1.1 - 2008-01-04 20:45 - (Reply)
Apologies for the delayed reply, Tuomas. Around here, when it rains, it's a damn deluge.
Joerg - Atlantic Review
- #3.3 - 2008-01-01 23:32 - (Reply)
@ Tuomas QUOTE: "They routinely equate the US invasion of Iraq with the Holocaust." a) In the context of his paragraph, "they" refers to either the German elites or the Germans in general. He is certainly not referring to a few dozen "German lunatics" or "German Neo-Nazis" or "German ultra-leftist fringe groups." a) "Equate" means "to make equal". It is a much stronger word than "to compare." c) "Routinely" does not mean once in five years, but means something like consistently, customarily, frequently, generally, habitually, naturally, normally, often, regularly, typically, usually. I think this is not a matter of interpretation, but a matter of fact. He has not presented any evidence for his statement.
Tuomas
- #3.3.1 - 2008-01-02 00:13 - (Reply)
I respectfully disagree.
John in Michigan, USA
- #3.3.2 - 2008-01-06 02:15 - (Reply)
"Routine" can mean that it happens a lot -- a high frequency -- or that when it happens, it is unremarkable -- it doesn't seem a departure from normal.
Joerg - Atlantic Review
- #3.3.2.1 - 2008-01-06 13:58 - (Reply)
@ John
Joerg - Atlantic Review
- #3.3.2.2 - 2008-01-06 14:08 - (Reply)
"are there American views or myths about Europe or Germany that upset Germans as much as routine holocaust-equation upsets Americans?"
Pamela
- #4 - 2008-01-01 21:16 - (Reply)
Soeren Kern has a blog. From the 'about page'
David
- #5 - 2008-01-02 01:43 - (Reply)
Kern makes another ludicrous charge about Germany:
Don S
- #6 - 2008-01-03 10:37 - (Reply)
A few years ago I might have mostly agreed with Kern - excepting the crucial word 'routinely'. I don't think the comparison between the Third Reich and the US was made 'routinely' even in 2003/2004, or when the *second* Abu Ghraib scandal broke (Abu Ghraib I does not seem to have raised any significant concern in Germany. Perhaps for the reason Stalin cited - that a single death is an outrage but a million deaths are a statistic.
John in Michigan, USA
- #7 - 2008-01-04 09:16 - (Reply)
As far as I can tell, The American Thinker (TAT) is just another multi-author blog. I've read their posts a couple of times before this, so far the most memorable part of their site is their logo... QUOTE: TAT really began years ago, as daily email exchanges among a group of friends, who would send each other articles, comment on them, and often end up debating the finer points. Like Powerline's principals, we are all successful, highly educated professionals, who are motivated to participate in public affairs out of the conviction that our ideas are needed. This is a calling for us This is from a post I found on the much more established Conservative blog, Power Line, in which one of the founders of American Thinker announces its debut to Powerline readers. This Powerline post goes into a lot more detail as to their motives and qualifications than American Thinker's "About Us" page. QUOTE Joerg wrote:: "They [=The Germans] routinely equate the US invasion of Iraq with the Holocaust." Such nonsense disqualifies him and the "American Thinker" from being taken as serious as their logo and name pretends to be. Not so fast my friend! If The American Thinker had only said "too often equate" instead of "routinely equate", I'm afraid I would easily agree with them. In support, I cite a 2003 article from the San Francisco Chronicle, a respectable city newspaper that is quite mainstream (for San Francisco, California that is), Germans Across Political Spectrum Tongue-Lash America. I fear that with more research, I would become persuaded that in both 2003 and 2008, routine is a reasonable word to use, in the sense that most of the time it happens, it doesn't make the news and is therefore routine. On the other hand, I think such research would also reinforce the opinion I posted in an earlier comment, "Germany does a much better job at speaking out against this sort of comparison than elsewhere in Europe". To be fair, in the US there are many commentators who suffer a similar problem. It is now called "Bush Derangement Syndrome". These are the sort of people who, if President Bush said it was a sunny day, would say "Liar, it's raining" without even bothering to look out the window. However, I fear that Bush Derangement Syndrome is somewhat more mainstream in Europe. I am interested in everyone's impression of the German blogosphere on this point. When someone casually compares something American to Hitler, is it common to find other blogs who attempt to calm them down, or do such comparisons generally pass without comment?
Joerg - Atlantic Review
- #7.1 - 2008-01-06 14:23 - (Reply)
@ John, QUOTE: A patron in his 30s at a Munich beer hall put it more bluntly: "We are all fed up with Americans looking down at us for the Holocaust -- something that our generation had nothing to do with," he said. "Now, the Americans are all set to start their own holocaust in Iraq." How many beers did he drink? Is it good journalism to interview people in "beer halls"? What would I hear, if I'd interview some drunk folks in Texas about their view of Mexicans? QUOTE: Historian Joerg Friedrich recently shattered a taboo by writing a best- selling book "The Fire -- Germany and the Bombardment 1940-1945" about the destruction of German cities by U.S. and British bombers. The book, which condemns the attacks as war crimes and indirectly suggests that they may be comparable to the Holocaust, inspired a recent series on German TV. The book was heavily criticized because of the war crimes charges, but I doubt that the book compares the fire bombing of Dresden to the Holocaust. Besides, please note that the article states makes an extremely weak statement, which is typical of journalists, who have no clue and want to cover their arse: "indirectly suggests that they may be comparable" Look out at "indirectly" and "suggests" and "may" and "comparable" After all, you can compare bananas with apples: While apples are green, bananas are yellow. That is a comparison. You can make an indirect statement or you can suggest something. "To suggest" is already something very indirect. The article makes it even more vague by saying "indirectly suggests." That's double vague!!!
Joerg - Atlantic Review
- #7.1.1 - 2008-01-06 14:29 - (Reply)
@ John,
Joerg - Atlantic Review
- #7.1.2 - 2008-01-06 14:49 - (Reply)
Sorry, but I can't resist: Here's a picture of what is going on in Munich beer halls like the one mentioned in the SF Chronicle article:
John in Michigan, USA
- #7.1.2.1 - 2008-01-06 15:40 - (Reply)
Such a waste! That's alcohol abuse!
John Brickell
- #8 - 2008-01-04 13:23 - (Reply)
Joerg Wolf undermines his own credibility by using unnecessarily caustic language to lash out at those with whom he does not agree.
Joerg - Atlantic Review
- #8.1 - 2008-01-04 14:42 - (Reply)
"And if Wolf would do a Google search of the words "holocaust" and "iraq" turns up dozens of examples of people, including some Germans, as branding Iraq as America's holocaust."
Pamela
- #9 - 2008-01-05 21:33 - (Reply)
I've canvassed my American expat buddies who have lived or are living in Germany. They agree that anti-Americanism is rampant, but none of the 3 (still waiting to hear from 4 and 5) have ever heard Iraq compared to the Holocaust by Germans. That is a limited sample and it may be that no German would have the nerve to say it to an American.
ADMIN
- #10 - 2008-01-06 14:04 - (Reply)
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