Self-Interested Weapons Support

All tendencies, involved in German foreign policy, are of the unanimous opinion that the use of military means will decisively influence the western industrial powers' rivalry over resources in the Middle East. The government advisor, ,,Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik"(SWP) ascertains that with the occupation of Iraq, the USA has in fact, become the strongest regional military power. The US military ,,will be leaving neither Iraq nor the region in the foreseeable future"therefore Berlin and its European allies have to ,,carry out 'independently' their own 'complementary' program to that of the USA". ¹⁾The intended measures complementary to the US military attack, are disguised as ,,promotion of reforms and reform willingness in the Arab world". Behind this nebulous wording is concealed both military and civilian-military activities which also include subversive intrusions into the domestic affairs of the states in question.

Broad Base

An element of the military measures is the support for the regional arms race through extensive arms export. During the German Chancellor's recently terminated state's visits to the Middle East, contracts worth millions of Euros for warfare capable military equipment were either signed or held in prospect. As is heard from the Chancellery, this is an aspect of Berlin's strategy of ,,developing a very broad base"in the energy-rich region. ²⁾

Wide Variety of Goods

The United Arab Emirate (UAE) will receive 32 ,,Fuchs"ABC-protection tanks. The company Rohde & Schwarz (Munich), which specializes in communications and measurement technology, will update the communications systems of the UAE armed forces to the highest standards in war technology. Rheinmetall (Duesseldorf) will deliver a new anti-missile decoy system (MASS). According to Rheinmetall, the Gulf Emirats, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain would also like a large quantity of ,,Fuchs"tanks and have a very keen interest in buying the newly developed German ,,GTK-Boxer"armored trucks. Oman would like nearly a billion Euros worth of multi-role combat helicopters, while Kuwait is interested in German speedboats and armored howitzers. Even Saudi Arabia is interested in German military merchandise such as ,,Leopard"tanks and corvettes. The Luerssen dockyards (Bremen) received the order from poverty stricken Yemen for ten patrol boats (100 million Euro). Also traveling in the entourage with the German chancellor were representatives of Siemens and EADS, who manufacture a wide-range electronic border-surveillance system. Several of the Emirates want to conclude billion dollar contracts for these systems.

Special Interests

Nearly all of the projects preclude a German arms export license, which has been reluctantly obtained for recipients in Arab countries. Among the reasons is that EU guidelines forbid the proliferation of every sort of weapons material, when this material can make its way into ,,zones of conflict."Currently a new ,,trend in the arms export policy"can be discerned, since hardly any criticism to these arms deliveries can be heard. ³⁾The Greens, a government coalition party, has already signaled its accord. The speaker for military matters in the Green Parliamentary Group, Winfried Nachtwei, declared that ,,in principle"arms exports to the UAE are possible. Reasons for refusal, such as systematic violations of human rights or the ,,maintenance or promotion of tension"do not apply to the Emirates, concludes Nachtwei concerning the Arab feudal dictatorships. It is ,,very right"that the German government has entered a ,,strategic partnership"with the Emirates, because Germany has a ,,particular security policy interest." ⁴⁾In so doing, Nachtwei gives the German arms industry their cue, in their quest for exports, by pointing to the elasticity of regulations. The arms export limitations are already conditional to German ,,security interests". The export of war-capable material must be ,,oriented to the security needs and foreign policy interests of the Federal Republic of Germany."Nachtwei is a member of the directorate of the ,,Deutsche Stiftung Friedensforschung"(German Peace Research Foundation), a state organization, financed from the military budget, which researches possibilities for military intervention for German foreign policy.

Participation in Wars

Berlin is giving direct military support to the puppet regime in Baghdad and thereby creating further prerequisites for the armed repression of the Iraqi opposition. In Abu Dhabi Schroeder signed an accord concerning the training of Iraqi army units by German soldiers. Beginning in May 2005, the Bundeswehr (the German army) will train another 250 Iraqi mercenaries, that are destined to protect the members of the illegitimate administration in Baghdad. Germany will send approx. 70 instructors to the Emirate. Medics, experts in the disposal of warfare agents and military leaders will also be trained in Germany. The Bundeskriminalamt (Federal Police Administration), that trained 440 Iraqi deputy police officers, will carry out another training course. ⁵⁾Berlin allows the direct military support provided the war party residing in Baghdad, to take place outside the borders of Iraq proper, because it is aware of the international repercussions of its obvious war participation.

No Colonial Power

Among the measures, Germany is using to try to influence the domestic affairs of the Arab resource states, are educational and media offensives of all sorts. In Bahrain, Chancellor Schroeder laid the cornerstone for an ,,Europe University,"that will cooperate with the University of Hanover. During his visit to Kuwait, Schroeder opened the Arab-language full-time program of Berlin's official radio station, ,,Deutsche Welle"(DW). The radio transmissions are being subsidized from a special ,,project promotion"fund of the foreign ministry and claims to be part of an alleged ,,Dialog of the Cultures."It is, in fact, more a question of unilateral intervention in the Arab states in question, to strengthen the opposition groups and to promote movements of sedition. In contrast to the USA, whose full-time TV program ,,Al Hurra"has been on the air for a year, the Germans have ,,no problem of credibility"and, in relationship to its European rivals, could make a name for itself: ,,unlike England or France, we were no colonial power and entertained traditionally good relations all along. We are liked and appreciated in the Arab world." ⁶⁾

1) ,,Konkret dürfte dies bedeuten, daß die USA erweiterte bilaterale und möglicherweise kollektive Sicherheitsabkommen vor allem mit den kleineren Golfstaaten abschließen, regelmäßige Übungen mit den Militärs dieser Staaten abhalten, dort in größerem Umfang Kriegsmaterial einlagern und eine Reihe nicht voll besetzter, aber jederzeit nutzbarer Basen unterhalten werden."Bewegung im Mittleren Osten. Internationale Geopolitik und regionale Dynamiken nach dem Irak-Krieg, SWP-Studie 2004/S 32, September 2004, www.swp-berlin.org
2) Auch Rüstungsprojekte im Gepäck; Frankfurter Rundschau 25.02.2005
3) Waffen als politische Währung?; www.zeit.de 04.03.2005
4) Grüne stellen Bedingungen für Panzer-Export; Handelsblatt 05.03.2005
5) see also Offer for support
6) Auslandssender Deutsche Welle startet arabisches TV-Programm, Die Welt 01.03.2005

Sources:
Berlin will Golfstaaten auch militärisch helfen; Münchener Merkur 25.02.2005
Golf-Staaten wollen deutsche Rüstungshilfe; dpa 28.02.2005
Schröder redet in Kuweit über Sicherheit; Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 01.03.2005
Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe; Die Welt 05.03.2005
Deutsche Bundeswehr bildet weitere irakische Soldaten aus; Der Standard 05.03.2005
Reiche Ernte am Golf; Berliner Morgenpost 06.03.2005