Re: Message from Moscow
Posted by
Jochen Fromm-5 on
Nov 01, 2013; 9:54pm
URL: http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/Message-from-Moscow-tp7584171p7584182.html
Good question, Pamela. I don't know. Yes, there is a chance.
At the moment probably not, the pressure from the US is too
strong, but the situation is about to change slowly.
The German government already denied asylum to Snowden
a few months ago. Now the situation has changed, though.
The Chancellor has been reelected and a new government is
about to be formed. If the Green party would rule, I think
asylum would be granted immediately. The Green party is like
the political arm of Greenpeace, it is strongly against any
kind of war, environmental pollution or nuclear energy. They
support nonviolence, social justice, sustainable development
and renewable energy. And by the way it is my favorite party.
Unfortunately they are probably not part of the government
this time, although they got 8.4% of the votes in the federal
election. Hans-Christian Ströbele who visited Edward Snowden
is a leading member of this party, and he also is the longest
serving member of the Parliamentary Control Panel, the
part of Germany's parliament which supervises the intelligence
agencies.
The ruling conservative party is tradtionally in favor of strong
trans-atlantic relationships, but the recent revelations
have changed a lot. Until now, the German government seems
to have thought they could trust the American government,
at least to a certain degree. That trust is largely gone.
When she learned that US intelligence agencies tapped and
monitored her cell phone for years and decades, chancellor
Angela Merkel was really upset and angry. She uses her
phone quite frequently, and she is still deeply
disappointed and frustrated.
As a first step, I have heard she is currently preparing
a UN resolution together with Brazilian president Dilma
Rousseff against spying and snooping on the Internet.
But I believe the anger and frustration is still not
strong enough to act against the interests of the US,
which has issued a warrant for Snowden's arrest.
I wonder what will happen if it goes on like this. Will
the European governments finally change their mind about
the US? Or will something change in the US? I am currently
reading "The last train from Berlin" from Howard K. Smith,
where he describes life in Germany at the time of WWII.
He says the Third Reich was like a rotten apple with a
thick, shiny skin. The skin that's the army, the
military, and the secret state police. The core that's the
society, the infrastructure, the cities and the economy.
America under the Bush administration started to look
like this, a rotten apple which looks shiny on the outside,
but bad within. Impressive aircraft carriers in the Persian
Gulf, but rotten cities like Detroit at home. I wonder if
Obama can really change anything/something for the
better. I think he can.
Jochen
On 11/01/2013 03:13 PM, Pamela McCorduck wrote:
Any chance Germany will give Snowden asylum, Jochen?
A high ranking German politician has spoken with
Edward Snowden in Moscow. Here is the letter he brought
back:
-J.
Sent from Android
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