AN OPEN LETTER TO THE GREEN PARTY OF GERMANY:

Green Party USA Urges German Greens to Condemn Bombardment of Afghanistan.
NO Troops!

Dear Greens,

The Green Party USA expresses its support for the 70% of German Greens opposed to the war against Afghanistan and to the 11 of 16 regional Green Party organizations in Germany critical of sending 4,000 combat troops. The GPUSA urges German Greens to stand strong against this war regardless of the political consequences.

"Most Greens worldwide recognize that this is a war for oil and political domination and will do nothing to protect US citizens or any people from terrorism," says Nancy Oden, a recent victim of airport harassment in the United States. She adds, "Joschka Fischer and the minority of Greens who are propping up the German government have put power before principle. Their claim that they must participate in the war effort in order to make it more humane is obscene. They seem to be saying that by keeping themselves part of the government they can make "humanitarian" cluster bombs or "cancer-free" depleted uranium casings. This is nonsense. It is time for rank and file Greens in Germany, and everywhere, to promote a different kind of leadership, one that will not sacrifice moral and political principles on the altar of electoral expediency."

The Greens first joined the German government after the 1997 elections. Since then, Green officials have been sharply criticized in Germany as well as throughout the world. In 1999, Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer provoked a bitter internal brawl when he supported the US-led bombardment of Yugoslavia. By participating in the war, German Greens rationalized the use of depleted uranium and thereby violated several of our basic principles:
nonviolence, and opposition to nuclear power and weapons.

In 2000, Green Party leaders intensified the hostility by supporting the transportation of radioactive nuclear waste through residential communities. An accident could poison the countryside. Before participating in the Social Democratic led government, German Greens had strongly argued that such transportation bolstered the nuclear industry and must be opposed. Many Greens participated in and provided leadership for militant anti-nuclear protests. All those years of clear political and moral leadership on the leading questions of our day has now been compromised. What is the point of remaining in government if it means selling out one's principles on such vital issues?

Germany's support for the US war on Afghanistan is another such critical issue. We understand that this could result in a major split in the Green Party in Germany, or the bringing down of the Coalition government. On the other hand, the Coalition government COULD decide, under pressure, to take the antiwar route and WITHDRAW its support for the US war. That would preserve the government coalition as well as heal some of the rift in the Germany Green Party - IF today's proponents of war truly cared about
such concerns.

Mitchel Cohen, a representative from New York to the Green National Committee of GPUSA, argues that "should German troops be sent to Afghanistan, it would be the first time since the Hitler era that they are used beyond Europe. This has an ominous ring for many of us. History is, if nothing else, the power of memory against forgetting. Once again we are seeing what theorist Fredy Perlman described as that 'rationally planned extermination of human beings, the central experience of so many people in an age of highly developed science and productive forces,' although they are not calling the victims 'Jews' this time. They are much more sophisticated, but just as
power-hungry and just as deadly."

On November 17, Greens parliamentarians who supported Chancellor Schroeder in one of that country's rare votes of confidence kept him in power by the narrow margin of two votes more than the simple majority he needed. Greens could have set an antiwar example for the entire world, but failed to do so. This weekend's meetings present the rank-and-file of the Green Party of Germany with the opportunity to rectify those serious errors, and reclaim the moral high ground.

Lisa Thurman, a member of the Coordinating Committee of the GPUSA, emphasizes that her organization does not believe that the current war is a result of the September 11 attacks and should be halted. "We express our deepest
condolences for all those who have suffered from the events of September 11," notes Thurman, a Green Party candidate for the US Senate in North Carolina. "Greens in New York City joined everyone else in helping to dig people out of the rubble, provide blood, food and supplies, and save lives. But we understand that killing innocent people in Afghanistan will not bring anyone back to life. If anything, it will only enrage more hostility against the US. The war is being carried out to ensure control by US companies of oil from the middle east."

According to Thurman, "The Green Party wants to protect all of us from mass violence. We believe that one of the ways to accomplish this is to stop using the US military to protect corporate interests. Germany must not be complicit in that power-grab. This means immediately ending the US military presence in the Middle East, and a cessation of all arms shipments abroad. On behalf of the Green Party USA, we hope that members of the German Green Party can return to basic Green values and register our opposition to the killing of innocent people to insure the interests (and profits) of the oil companies."

Greens throughout the world have an historic opportunity this weekend to SAY NO TO WAR. The future will be what we the people struggle to make it.

Signed,
The Greens/Green Party USA

back to top