An influential German legislator has called for the removal of US service members from the country’s borders in a rousing address commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Marshall Plan.
In a March 31 address, Left Party parliamentarian Sevim Dagdelen acknowledged that while "the main burden in the fight against German fascism was shouldered by the Soviet Union… 400,000 US soldiers lost their lives" in the fight as well.
And although "we humbly bow before them" now, Dagdelen explained, "friendship with each other also means breaking with the existing relationship of extreme subservience by Germany on matters of US foreign policy" – a relationship which she noted is "marked by war, breaches of international law, and support of coups."
"And that is why," continued Dagdelen, "we also say: after 78 years, it is now time for US soldiers to go home," adding: "all other allies left Germany a long time ago."
To this day, Dagdelen noted, "the US military bases behave like extraterritorial areas in which the [German] constitution does not apply."
US troops have committed a number of gruesome crimes on Germany soil – many of which have never been formally adjudicated. Just five weeks ago, a former US soldier was charged with the murder of Private Amanda Gonzales at an Army base in Hanau, Germany in November 2001.
But beyond the domestic criminality in Germany, she pointed out that Germany’s relationship with the American government means "assistance is provided in US wars – lethal drone strikes and torture flights in breach of international law."
Recalling the decision in 2010 for the US nuclear weapons to be withdrawn" from the country – a measure which she pointed out "has not been implemented" to this day – Dagdelen said "there was once a time when the Bundestag had more courage."
And while those times are "long gone," the German parliamentarian said she "stands by [her] position [that] the US nuclear weapons must go."
It’s a position that she seemed to acknowledge puts her at odds with the mainstream sentiments in German politics.
"Now, Germany’s federal government allows itself to be pushed directly into the line of fire by the US with supplies of Leopard tanks," Dagdelen stated.
"Now, the federal government is refusing to support the international investigative commission" proposed by countries like China and Brazil which would look into "the terror attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines," she continued.
A recent bombshell report by Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh implicated top Biden functionaries in last September's bombing of the main artery providing Germans with cheap Russian gas. But the American government has appeared to stubbornly resist any efforts to investigate the cause of the blast, including a recent UN motion to probe the attack which was supported by Security Council members Russia, China and Brazil but ignored by the US and Germany.
"The US administration gives the impression that they don’t actually want allies, just loyal vassals," observed Dagdelen.
But the West’s my-way-or-the-highway approach has come at a cost, the legislator noted, and now "fewer and fewer countries around the world are prepared to accept" this arrangement. "And that is good news," she added, because "the foundation for a shared friendship should be respect for human rights and international law."
"Why is the federal government refusing, even after 20 years, to condemn the US war of aggression in Iraq as a violation of international law?" Dagdelen asked.
"Why are you, [German Foreign Minister Annalena] Baerbock, not lobbying for the release of Julian Assange," the parliamentarian continued, noting that the jailed Wikileaks publisher "faces 175 years in prison in the USA for making US war crimes public."
"Why did you not offer asylum to the dissident Edward Snowden?" she concluded.