Open Letter to the Green Party of Germany.

• Position: Green Party USA seeks condemnation of War on Terrorism - Included reply from Green Party, Germany - Brief Article

November 22, 2001

Green Party USA Urges German Greens to Condemn Bombardment of Afghanistan.

NO Troops!

Dear Greens,

The Green Party USA expresses its support for the 70% of German Greens opposed to the war against Afghanistan and to the 11 of 16 regional Green Party organizations in Germany critical of sending 4,000 combat troops. The GPUSA urges German Greens to stand strong against this war regardless of the political consequences.

"Most Greens worldwide recognize that this is a war for oil and political domination and will do nothing to protect US citizens or any people from terrorism," says Nancy Oden, a recent victim of airport harassment in the United States. She adds, "Joschka Fischer and the minority of Greens who are propping up the German government have put power before principle. Their claim that they must participate in the war effort in order to make it more humane is obscene. They seem to be saying that by keeping themselves part of the government they can make "humanitarian" cluster bombs or "cancer-free" depleted uranium casings. This is nonsense. It is time for rank-and-file Greens in Germany, and everywhere, to promote a different kind of leadership, one that will not sacrifice moral and political principles on the altar of electoral expediency."

The Greens first joined the German government after the 1997 elections. Since then, Green officials have been sharply criticized in Germany as well as throughout the world for failing to uphold Green values. In 1999, Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer provoked a bitter internal brawl when he supported the US-led bombardment of Yugoslavia. By participating in the war, German Greens rationalized the use of depleted uranium and thereby violated several basic Green principles, including nonviolence, and opposition to nuclear power and weapons.

In 2000, Green Party leaders intensified the hostility by supporting the transportation of radioactive nuclear waste through residential communities, even though an accident could poison the countryside. Before participating in the Social Democratic led government, German Greens had strongly argued that such transportation bolstered the nuclear industry and must be opposed. Many Greens participated in and provided leadership for militant anti-nuclear protests. All those years of clear political and moral leadership on the leading questions of our day have now been compromised. What is the point of remaining in government if it means selling out...