German Professor Under Fire for Defending Torture

http://www.dw-world.de/dwelle/allgemein/bilder_show/0,3772,87186_1,00.jpg

Controversial comments by a military historian who said torture can be a legitimate instrument in the war on terror have triggered an outcry in Germany. Defense Minister Struck is considering disciplinary action.

German Defense Minister Peter Struck said on Wednesday that statements condoning torture made by Professor Michael Wolffsohn, a military historian, were "unbelievable" and "unacceptable" and said he was considering taking legal and disciplinary steps against the professor.


Wolffsohn -- an instructor in Munich at one of Germany's top two military officer training schools -- attracted controversy earlier this month when he told a German television reporter that "if we attempt to counter terror with gentlemanly methods, we will fail."


Referring to the excesses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, he said, "In the anti-terror fight there are really no effective laws of war. I believe that torture, or the threat of torture, is legitimate as one of the instruments against terror, because terror basically… has nothing to do with our civilized order."
http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1432_A_1201346_1_A,00.html

How happy I am that the only good thing to be said about German soldiers now is that they prefer to run away....

We had a huge scandal in one German prison these days, where attendants wearing masks were mistreating prisoners...

Or in other words: the only differance might be the amount of power and the government you have.


"If you open the window , even just a crack, the cold air of the middle ages will fill the whole room."
Hans Christian Stroebele, Green Party member of the German parliament

Hello from Germany,
Dirk

Gruesse Dirk aus Deutschland


"If you open the window , even just a crack, the cold air of the middle ages will fill the whole room."
Hans Christian Stroebele, Green Party member of the German parliament

What are you reading/hearing in Germany about the torture and the beheading??

It's the number one issue in all newspapers and newscasts here.
Stroebele is about the last green I trust. Really a great guy.
Hi,
Dirk

...und dis ist ein a'lectric vire, und dis ist ein a'plastic hood, und dis ist ein a'zlectric current, yay, yay, yay. Heil Hitler!

"Wolffsohn, who describes himself as a German-Jewish patriot, is no stranger to controversy. In his writings, he has often encouraged more national pride to normalize German-Israeli relations and said that the Holocaust should not be instrumentalized to serve the interests of specific groups."
http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1432_A_1201346_1_A,00.html

The left in Germany use to call him an "alibi-jew"....

Whenever we critizised the attitude of our government and our country towards racism and antisemitism, one thing was sure: Mr. Wolffsohn would be invited into 20 talkshows and would be interviewed by 24 newspapers:-), telling the world, what a wonderfull democracy we have. Just not enough torture happens...
Dirk