Germany was the latest NATO member to replenish the dwindling arsenal of alliance weapons in the Libya bombing campaign. German political analyst Christoph R. Horstel told RT why the country refuses to participate in direct military engagement.
“Germany has come a long way. Our foreign minister had voted for the withdrawal of all nuclear NATO warheads from German soil previous to the Security Council resolution authorizing the attacks on Libya. And that has obviously angered the Americans,” said Horstel.In March Germany broke ranks with the US, France and the UK, joining China, Russia, India and Brazil in abstaining in a UN vote that authorized the use of force to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya to protect civilians. It was the only European Union or NATO member to do so.“So when Germany came out and did not support the war on Libya, that in a way put our foreign minister out of his job as the German Liberal Party head. This happened seven days after Germany voted together with Russia and China,” said Horstel. “Now Germany tries to make up for their flaw, as it is seen here. It has replenished the empty arsenals of some of the NATO allies, which is usually a normal thing to do. But in this case it has a certain smear on it. The media in Germany is under obvious US influence. America is accusing Germany of being in bad company because of voting with Russia,” explained the analyst.Christoph R. Horstel said it is possible that Germany gets further involved in the conflict only if other NATO allies express the need for it, which is not likely to happen.“Our foreign minister asked NATO not to go into Libya, considering it dirty business. That’s why he voted with Russia and China. But now the backlash from Washington is so tough that we are under pressure to do something to make up for this decision”.