German Tanks Rolling East. Again.

Obviously, Europeans haven't paid enough attention to the 'Lessons of History', thus we're doomed to repeat the past. Here's another valuable of these lessons: 'Peace to the huts! War on the palaces!'

And here we go. Again.

Friend of these pages Thomas Oysmüller wrote about the histrionics that were on full display once Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared Germany’s consent to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine (my emphases):

---

Around 100 Leopard tanks from various European countries, including Germany, and soon also Abrams tanks from the USA, are to roll into the Donbas. Already, there are said to be the first voices in Berlin's government quarter talking about fighter jets and combat helicopters.

Freed Leopard Leads to Cheers

Not only did the [German coalition] approve the export of German Leopard tanks owned by other countries, but they also take tanks from their own inventory. After the decision was announced, cheers broke out in the ruling class.

Katrin Göring-Eckardt, Vice-President of the German Bundestag and a Green, cheered:

The Leopard is liberated! Now hopefully it can quickly help Ukraine in its fight against the Russian attack and for the freedom of Ukraine and Europe.

The fact that Scholz had put aside his doubts made the political-media complex perform apparent dances of joy.

The FDP armaments lobbyist Agnes Strack-Zimmermann was particularly excited. She responded to a fan letter from Ukraine saying, ‘you are a rock star. We will be eternally grateful to you for all your tremendous efforts to release the leopards and get all the support Ukraine needs’. Strack-Zimmermann replied with, among other things, the Bandera greeting:

Slava Ukraini. The only heroines and heroes are the brave people of Ukraine. Together we are Team Freedom.

Andrej Melnyk is also celebrating, and with German beer:

Andrij Melnyk @MelnykAndrij

Yee-haw! Today I will get drunk. With my favourite German beer🍻Just blissfully happy! Cheers my dear friends in Germany & all over the world! And thanks for all your tremendous help 🐆🐆🐆

Paul Ronzheimer, Bild’s deputy editor-in-chief, is also pleased:

A historic step for Chancellor Scholz to send battle tanks to Ukraine! Ukraine and the people fighting for their lives and for their freedom there will be grateful to Olaf Scholz.

One of the few critical voices is Sahra Wagenknecht:

The [governing] coalition now wants to supply German Leopards as part of a tank coalition for tank battles around the Donbass and Crimea. Against this madness, which could end in disaster, we need a grand coalition of all forces of reason!

Wagenknecht’s ally, Diether Dehm, put it more drastically:

A victory of the CIA media taz, SPEICHEL [it is meant Spiegel] & Co triumphed over the ditherer Scholz: heavy German tanks to Ukrainian Nazi militias. That’s where what belongs together grows together.

Dehm does not say it explicitly, but the criticism goes in the obvious direction: Germany has no autonomy in security matters, but it executes Washington’s will. Sending the Leopard tanks to Ukraine is not only of military but also of economic US interest.

Because sooner or later these tanks will be bombed to smithereens somewhere in the Donbas. The tanks will later be replaced with US Abrams. Financed by billions in taxpayers’ money. In addition to being a big deal for Washington, they are also cementing their security influence in Europe. After all, tanks are the heart of a modern army. The profiteer of the increasingly dramatic military escalation in Europe is probably to be found in Washington.

---

Col. Reisner (Austrian Army) Explains the Problems

If you understand German, do listen to Austrian Army Colonel Markus Reisner over at Der Standard, and marvel at the ignorance of what passes for ‘quality journalism’ these days.

Interestingly, Col. Reisner addresses the logistical implications of handing over three different kinds of heavy tanks (Leopard, Challenger, Abrams) to the Ukrainian troops.

And he quite openly discusses the consequences for the Western countries’ military readiness: apart from these things being a logistical nightmare, unresolved issues—unaddressed by both politicians and media personalities—include spare parts, service and repair support staff, and ammunition.

It will be quite interesting to see how limited the effectiveness of these tanks will be in reality. Given that there’s years of training for Western tank crews before they are actually able to manoeuvre such tanks, there’s no way that poorly-trained and under-supplied Ukrainian troops will be able to achieve much, if anything.

Conversely, it almost looks as if Europeans are, albeit unconsciously, aiding Russia’s (implicit) war aim of disarming NATO.

Bottom Lines

Let’s not talk about high treason here (although that’s certainly something we’ll need to do), but about the consequences:

Virtually all Western militaries are far from combat-ready. All Western economies are ill-prepared to actually produce the hardware, ammunition, and spare parts. Now, Western Europeans are sending no longer old stuff; they’re now sending equipment of active-duty formations.

I think it’s obvious where this is headed: finally, a more peaceful world, mainly because the West is disarming itself by feeding the meat grinder in Ukraine.

In the long run, the main profiteers are US weapons manufacturers, the ultimate merchants of death. Every single weapon system destroyed in the East will be replaced by a US product. Germany already committed 100 billion Euros; the rest of ‘Europe’ will follow suit. Guess where the stock prices for, e.g., Raytheon, Northrop-Grumman, and their ilk will go.

Guess who’ll be paying ‘the ultimate price’ for this second conquest of Europe by the US?

We, the People, better follow Georg Büchner’s call to action, written in 1834:

Peace to the huts! War on the palaces! [Friede den Hütten! Krieg den Palästen!]