Call to Germans: Make War as a Means of Conflict-Resolution Obsolete

Traditional gatherings for peace were held in Germany on Sept. 1, and many more actions are planned until the large demonstrations on Oct. 3, the day of national unity. They take on a special importance this year, as the danger of a NATO war with Russia looms ever larger. A leaflet by Helga Zepp-LaRouche is being distributed at these events, and beyond, calling for an in-depth popular mobilization now.

She first goes through the U.S. decision to station long-range missiles in Germany, duly approved by Chancellor Scholz, but without the slightest public debate, and even without consulting other NATO members, especially those in Europe, whose own security will be severely impacted by such weapons. As Russian leaders, among others, have repeatedly pointed out, in the event of an escalation of NATO’s implication in the war in Ukraine, strategic areas in Germany and other European countries will be considered as legitimate targets for reprisals.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche concludes her leaflet with a warning which applies to citizens everywhere: “All experts who do not support the NATO narrative warn that we have never been as close to the Third World War, this time nuclear and therefore the last, as we are today. In the early 1980s, at the time of the medium-range missile crisis, when the warning time to launch of the SS20 and Pershing II missiles was reduced to a few minutes, many hundreds of thousands of people poured into the streets because they knew how close the world was to total annihilation. Today, although the situation is much more dangerous because all disarmament and arms control treaties have long since been done away with, most of the population is sleepwalking towards the abyss, beyond which there is only a great nothingness. Humanity and all it has ever produced is threatened with being wiped out.

“In the coming weeks and months, we have to wake people up and go demonstrate in millions to make our demand heard clearly and unequivocally. We have to remind politicians of our Constitution’s dictate of peace and vote out of office all those who violate it.

“At the same time, we need a comprehensive, inclusive national debate on Germany’s real security interests, which cannot consist of the annihilation of Germany in the worst-case scenario. We need a new global security and development architecture that takes into account the interests of all nations in this world in the tradition of the Peace of Westphalia.

“We in Germany have a special responsibility to introduce into the international discussion the experience we gained from two world wars on our soil and, in the tradition of our great humanist poets, composers and philosophers, to realize a vision for peace in the world that puts war as a means of conflict-resolution to rest forever.”