(By Ray D.)
Only 30 Demonstrators Protest Chechnya As Putin And Schroeder Sign Billion Dollar Deals
Few places symbolize the moral bankruptcy and hypocrisy of the German left more clearly than Chechnya. When US President George W. Bush visited Germany last February, tens-of-thousands of angry demonstrators turned out in Mainz and all across Germany to vent their outrage at the Iraq war and the abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. Now, less than two months later, Russian President Vladimir Putin is in Germany. And a whopping 30 protesters showed up to demonstrate against the bloody Russian war and widespread human rights violations in Chechnya. Putin and Schroeder were all smiles as they tipped champagne glasses and signed multi-billion dollar business deals for everything from Russian natural gas imports to German bullet train exports in Schroeder’s hometown of Hannover. Naturally, with the cash registers busily ringing away, Chechnya never came up and the German media has all but ignored the topic.
Don’t Worry Vladimir, Germans Only Protest Wars Involving America
For one, Chechnya offers a perfect example of asymmetric journalism. Since Russia is a relatively closed society, it is far more difficult for the international media to report on the widespread death and suffering taking place in the Caucuses. And atrocities that aren’t seen and reported on are rarely cause for widespread outrage and demonstration in the West. How could they be if no one has heard about them? Iraq, on the other hand, is largely open to journalists because of the open nature of American democracy. Because of that fact, abuses are normally made public and discussed in the media. When a bomb goes off in Iraq, it is usually an international story. When a bomb goes off in Chechnya, it is usually never even reported on unless it is a mass casualty event. When a group of prisoners are abused in Iraq, it is a scandal that lingers for months and a source of worldwide anger. When thousands of people, many of them innocent, simply disappear in Russia, it is barely mentioned anywhere.
The German Left: Thousands of Dead in Chechnya War Not Even Worth Protesting For
This highlights the massive double-standard and hypocrisy that plague the German left. No one cares whether the thousands missing in Chechnya were treated in accordance with international law, were tortured in dark prisons, were raped or abused. Many missing Chechnyans likely were. But, for the most part, the German left simply doesn’t care. Apparently, the so-called “peace movement” thinks that this just isn’t cause to disrupt Gerhard Schroeder’s caviar and champagne party with Männerfreund and former KGB agent Putin, who picked up his German by helping the Stasi beat down democratic forces in East Germany during the Cold War.
The entire charade clearly demonstrates how the so-called German “peace movement” has changed little since the days of the Cold War when thousands protested in outrage over US involvement in Vietnam, but gave the Russians a free pass during the brutal Soviet war of occupation in Afghanistan. The movement’s unending attempts to seize the moral high ground have been repeatedly undercut and exposed by the same sort of left-leaning Doppelmoral time and again.
As a society, we have to ask ourselves: What has really happened to the thousands of people missing in Chechnya? What have they been subjected to? What is their legal status? Are they even alive? Is the media coverage in Germany and around the world fair and balanced when we compare coverage of Iraq and Bush to coverage of Chechnya and Putin? If so many people around the world are so outraged by the military liberation of Iraqis from Saddam’s Fascist reign of terror, why isn’t there far more outrage at the horrific war of suppression going on in the Caucuses where oil is indeed an obvious factor behind the conflict?
Once again: Where are the hoards of angry anti-war protesters now that Vladimir Putin is in Germany? Why aren’t they out waving rainbow PACE flags, beating drums, burning Putin effigies and pounding the pavement in mass protest by the thousands? Where are the shrill cries of “no blood for oil?” Where are the concerned friends of oppressed Muslims with their Palestinian flags? Where is the outrage at the violation of the Geneva Conventions and international human rights? Where are the mock funeral processions and empty coffins? Where are the candle-light vigils and the portraits of the dead and missing? Why has the German left sold out in the interest of selling trains and securing the rights to import oil and gas?
Clearly: As long as this double standard in the handling of Iraq vs. Chechnya remains, the German left will continue to suffer a massive credibility gap. It is hard to lend any credibility to a movement that is so obviously biased and motivated by a one-sided hatred of America.
Note: Check out our latest article on an absolutely crazy anti-American conspiracy theory recently voiced by one of Germany’s most powerful politicians.
Update: Despite intense coalition negotiations in Germany, Gerhard Schroeder found the time to fly to Russia to party with Vladimir Putin on the Russian President’s 53rd birthday. More here…
