Silent no more: former German Finance Minister Oskar Lafontaine on Sy Hersh's Nord Stream article

Or: a parable of speaking truth to power

A few days ago, former SPD politician Oskar Lafontaine—partner of prominent Left politician Sahra Wagenknecht—wrote a scathing piece commenting on Sy Hersh’s piece about the Nord Stream bombings.

Before I’ll post a translation of his short piece, one or two words about Lafontaine: he was one of Gerhard Schröder’s closest allies when the latter managed to win the 1998 federal elections, thereby ushering in the first red-green government in Germany.

Lafontaine, SPD party chairman from 1995-99, took over the Finance Ministry after the elections, but he resigned half a year later—because the SPD under Schröder and the Greens under Joschka Fischer were in favour of the US-led aggression against Yugoslavia over the breakaway province of Kosovo.

If you’d read. Lafontaine’s English or German Wikipedia entries, you’d not really read it. While the German version mentions him as a ‘strong critic of Schröder’s policies upon his resignation’, the English version is mum about Lafontaine’s reasons.

I almost ‘wonder’ why.

Long story short, Mr. Lafontaine is a true Old Labour successor of those SPD politicians who, after initially supporting Imperial Germany’s war plans in 1914, changed course and became strong proponents of peace. (For extensive background, please refer to my two-part account of the German Revolution of 1918/19 here and here.)

Without much further ado, here’s Mr. Lafontaine’s op-ed, courtesy of the Nachdenkseiten, run by Old Labour hand Albrecht Müller. Translation and emphases mine.

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Vassals Don’t Resist

The renowned US reporter Seymour Hersh has investigated and revealed that the USA is behind the terrorist attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines. This comes as no surprise to anyone who can count to three. After all, US President Biden himself announced the destruction of the gas pipeline in the presence of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The only remarkable thing is the pathetic reaction in the German public. [line break added]

The destruction of the infrastructure in Ukraine by the Russian army rightly led to great indignation in politics and the legacy media. These war criminals must be brought before the International Criminal Court or a special tribunal, they said. It is only embarrassing that Germany, together with its allies, did the same thing in the Yugoslav war [of 1999]. Why did no one demand at that time that these criminals be brought before a court? [hear, hear!]

Now it has been confirmed again: Our most important ally has perpetrated a terrorist [I’d call this an act of war] attack on our infrastructure. But: the cowards in politics and legacy media duck away and remain silent. We are a vassal republic whose leading representatives are incapable and too afraid to represent the interests of their own people. [line break added]

Germany needs cheap energy, but the US wants to sell its polluting fracking gas at high prices to Germany and Europe. The German vassal obeys and remains silent, allowing itself to be dragged deeper and deeper into the USA’s war with Russia. And the so-called elites in politics and legacy media have no morals: Germany should never supply weapons that kill people in countries where millions have already been killed by Hitler’s war of extermination.

And at the least, after the US sabotage of German infrastructure, the German government should show Washington the door. Maybe one day we will realise that those who do not respect themselves, who lose self-respect, will be despised.

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Bottom Lines

There’s no two ways about it, Mr. Lafontaine is right, both politically and morally.

I don’t think that the odds of a break-up of NATO have ever been higher than they are today.

Legacy media will go to great lengths to conceal this for as long as it will be possible.

Just remember what Lenin said: ‘There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.’

Mr. Sikorski has since deleted his tweet.

One of these days before too long, this entire house of lies will come crashing down.

Remember the Greek Debt Crisis of a decade ago?

Greece experienced an economic decline of about 1/3 of GDP, which is about the same contraction of manufacturing output experienced by Germany in WW1.

To their great credit, the Greek people voted in an alt-left party (Syriza) that soon cracked under the pressures exerted by the international creditors (the ‘Troika’).

Germany after WW1 went in a very different direction, politically and morally.

Remember, remember, lest we’re doomed to repeat history.