From Roter Morgen
Newspaper of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD)
February 2005

Bush and Schroeder
A Dangerous Alliance!

The Rhein-Main region is in state of emergency, Mainz is a fortress. A whole section of the city is cordoned off, garages are sealed, sewer drains are welded shut, exit-are sealed off, highways are off and trains are stopped, hundreds of thousands of commuters do not know how to get to work, – US President Bush, the self-proclaimed "defender of human rights" and "freedom" is coming to visit. And this means the end of freedom; it is the rule of the police state. So "beloved" and "respected" is this representative of US imperialism that he had to be concealed like a gangster and had to be driven to his meeting with Chancellor Schroeder.

Together with the peace movement and hundreds of thousands of people we say:

It was the Bush regime that, in the name of and in the service of US imperialism after September 11, 2001, had ordered the war of aggression against Afghanistan.

It was the Bush regime that, in the name of and in the service of US imperialism, had ordered the invasion of Iraq.

It was the Bush regime that had shamelessly lied to the world to justify the invasion of Iraq to the world.

It is the Bush regime that now is occupying Iraq, leading a war against the Iraqi people and has absolutely no plans to withdraw its troops from that country.

It is the Bush regime whose war minister Rumsfeld openly declared that with the invasion of Iraq "an insufficient number" of Sunnis would be killed (Frankfurter Rundschau, February 5).

It was and is the Bush regime that has imprisoned hundreds of prisoners in Guantanamo with complete disregard of human rights.

It was and is the Bush regime that had ordered and carried out the torture of prisoners in Guantanamo, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Now this regime is provoking a war against Syria and Iran. The scenario is like that of the preparation for the war against Iraq. Even when Bush calmly declared that a war against Iran was not "now" on the agenda, that only means that even "tomorrow" it will be on the agenda.

That is the history of the Bush regime, which is managing the affairs of US imperialism. US imperialism is today the greatest danger to peace. The wars that it is carrying out and preparing are wars for raw materials, for markets, for spheres of influence, for a redivision of the world to its advantage against its imperialist rivals. And one of the chief rivals of US imperialism is German imperialism.

The federal government [of Germany] has declared that it is expecting "increased cooperation" between Germany and the USA to come out of Bush’s visit. In this connection it has already offered to increase German occupation troops in Afghanistan. It has already declared its readiness to take part more fully in the training of Iraqi "security forces." Thereby it is continuing the support that that it already provided to US imperialism the whole time by allowing US imperialism to use its strong points and military bases in Germany – such as the airport in Frankfurt on the Main – as a logistical base for the war in Iraq. From the increased cooperation with US imperialism the federal expects an increased share in the plunder of Afghanistan and Iraq. The offer of the increased cooperation is at the same time a challenge to US imperialism.

Schroeder proclaimed this challenge in a speech to the so-called security conference in Munich. "Germany," he said, "sees itself today in the European alliance as sharing responsibility for international stability and order. And we Germans demonstrate our responsibility through active engagement in numerous regions of crisis in the world…. But with this shared responsibility also comes shared participation."

NATO, declared Schroeder, "is no longer the primary sphere in which the transatlantic partners consult and coordinate their strategic conceptions. The same goes for the dialogue between the European Union and the United States, which in its current form corresponds neither to the growing importance of the Union nor to the new requirements of transatlantic cooperation."

We, German imperialism, are again someone. We will, when it comes to the redivision of the world, have more to say than before. We want the cards to be re-shuffled. We do not want US imperialism to go it alone in invading other countries. In the next war we, German imperialism, want to be there too.

That is the message of German imperialism to its US rivals before Bush’s visit.

The meeting between Bush and Schroeder is the meeting of two imperialist politicians. The disputes that will be there contain within them the danger of a new war.

Therefore, we are fighting for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all occupation troops from Afghanistan and Iraq!

• We demand the withdrawal of all German troops from abroad!
• We demand the immediate cessation of any support by the federal republic for the aggressions of US imperialism!
• We are fighting against the rearmament of the German Army!
• We say NO to the constitution of the European Union with its commitment to rearmament and to the leadership of wars of aggression against other peoples!
• We support the just struggle that the Afghani, Iraqi and Palestinian people are waging for their freedom!

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