It’s not about replacing Christine Lambrecht. The Chancellor should not be so modest. It’s about more: saying goodbye to reunification pacifism. Are the Social Democrats ready yet?
If there were any doubts about Christine Lambrecht’s lack of character suitability as Federal Minister of Defense, then with her resignation they have finally been dispelled. The media are to blame for Ms. Lambrecht’s failure. Says Mrs. Lambrecht. What an unworthy departure.
“The media focus on my person for months hardly allows factual reporting and discussion about the soldiers, the Bundeswehr and security policy decisions in the interests of the citizens of Germany.” fears – seriously now?
Reporting was focused on her person because the reporters had no choice. With the difficulties of memorizing ranks and the 5000 helmets for Ukraine, the matter was clear from the start – here a minister simply did not understand her office.
After all, the Chancellor was the first to understand that Lambrecht was not a “first-class” defense minister. If it had been different, Olaf Scholz would not have had to take all the important decisions out of her hands – from the “turn of the century” to the two percent target.
At the same time, Scholz never gave “his” minister the leeway to develop her own Russia and Ukraine strategy. Lambrecht never had the leeway that Annalena Baerbock had or simply took. But she didn’t ask for it either.
But that’s exactly what you have to expect from a Federal Minister of Defense in times of war. Strategic foresight, passion for this important task, loyalty to the troops and leadership skills, these are the most important qualities that a commander-in-chief must have.
Perhaps the most important task is to give the Bundeswehr a completely new status in politics and society – and to bury the comfortable post-reunification pacifism. Ukraine is not far away, but close, and Germany’s security is not being defended in the Hindu Kush, as the last respected commander, Peter Struck, put it: in Kyiv.
Olaf Scholz now has to dare more Helmut Schmidt. Schmidt was the first social democrat to understand that you can only negotiate with the Russians from a position of strength. May we be reminded that Olaf Scholz was one of those social-democratic idiots who, like Oskar Lafontaine, fought the NATO double-track decision-making process?
It was not Willy Brandt’s policy of détente that made German reunification possible in the first place, but rather the NATO double-track decision-making process. The SPD has not found this truth to this day – and as long as this does not happen, it will not find a consistent, strategic defense policy.
That is why it is not just about an exchange of ministers. It’s about much more: a new “mindset” – and there are doubts as to whether the Social Democrats have already understood that. Evidence of this is the most recent paper that they adopted, which essentially promises a return to the old policy towards Russia.
Nothing is as reactionary as that. To use a word from SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil – what is needed now is not: security with Russia, but: security BEFORE Russia. It’s not just that you can’t negotiate with Vladimir Putin; there is no one else in sight to negotiate with either. The misery consists in the fact that the Russians, a society characterized by violence through and through, are supporting the Ukraine war.
The “turning point” proclaimed by the Federal Chancellor must be filled with life. This also applies to the Bundeswehr itself. Didn’t the army commanders willingly watch the gutting of the Bundeswehr? Was there any general who opposed Angela Merkel’s tale of eternal peace that had now broken out? Or Ursula von der Leyen’s statement that the Bundeswehr has an attitude problem? Indeed she has.
Not because too many soldiers are stuck in the old days, but because too few know that the number one task is German national defense. The much-vaunted citizen in uniform should have a gun. That also shoots and with which he also wants to shoot.
Scholz’s decision to make someone defense minister who didn’t want it at all was fatal. Letting oneself be guided by feminist considerations was the same. In the person of Christine Lambrecht, both together added up to a fatal double boom.
Germany had a female chancellor, Germany had three female defense ministers. When it comes to equality, Germany no longer has to prove itself.
In terms of competence, yes.
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