I didn’t want to let these observations by the editors of the Wall Street Journal to pass without remark:
Mr. Scholz is dragging his feet on new tanks as Kyiv begs the West for the weapons to build on the momentum of its recent advances against Russia’s invaders. Berlin in April promised to provide Cheetah anti-aircraft tanks, and then waited until July to start delivering them. As of this week, Berlin’s defense ministry says 24 have been sent.
Germany could also send its Marten infantry and Leopard battle tanks, and a growing chorus of German leaders and foreign allies says Mr. Scholz should. That includes Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock of the Green Party and chairwoman of Parliament’s defense committee Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, a Free Democrat. Both parties are part of the coalition government with Mr. Scholz’s Social Democrats. The opposition Christian Democrats also support sending more tanks.
Even Mr. Scholz’s party, long a bastion of pro-Russian pacifism, is changing. Social Democrat Michael Roth, chairman of the Parliament’s foreign-affairs committee, is a vocal advocate for more weapons deliveries.
I don’t find the Germans’ action as baffling as the editors seem to. I think that
- The Germans are extremely reluctant to do anything which bears costs for Germany.
- But they want to remain in the U. S.’s good graces
Basically, they’re trying to have it both ways. I suspect the Germans’ strategy depended on the war having been concluded before winter and they’re very disappointed with how it has dragged on.
Russia’s ambassador to Germany noted publicly that Germany was becoming an active participant in the Ukrainian war, and Medvedev has also made some ominous comments regarding possible reprisals against US/NATO countries aiding Ukraine. Similar implied threats were made last winter when Russia was trying to open negotiations regarding security arrangements in Europe. We are on the verge of a disaster, and Scholz knows it even if Washington and Brussels are clueless.
Would add C. Distaste for anything smacking of militarism.
Can’t imagine that both A and B are not correct, A in the general sense. But energy dependence must figure in. That clip of the Germans laughing at Trump’s warning on energy dependence is, now, a classic. Good to know, I guess, that German politicians are just as stupid as American pols when it comes to green, and the importance of virtue signaling vs rational policymaking.
And now, we have realpolitik.