Agreed! Ultimately, we do have the same goals and, hopefully, the same "heart".......

Kissinger is both German and reasonable?

Healthy criticism can be provocative. In terms of military aggression, the US has killed more civilians than Iran these past years. Kissinger's roots are German and I hear a little irony in reason.

No, see, if you count terrorist acts against Iran (and the whole point is that you should), more people died from that than in Iraq thus far. What, do you think Americans killed those civilians? Do you even read the news?

So everyone else is not on the inside? Like.. on the inside that Saddam Hussein had WMDs ? Nice one.

How gullible are you? Do you really think W is out there for doing good? Even most americans now think that he is loosing it. And not doing a good job.

If you think that he is not a good president, then how can he come up with wise decisions? This is a contradiction.

The problem is that the middle east suffers from 50 years of bad american foreign policy. This starts with Israel and ends with Iran. And this hasn't made the world safer. The opposite is true.

The only shame here is that Europe is a lame duck and not standing tall.

Yes, George W. Bush is the first president to lie to the American people, and I don't think a Chancellor ever has. I love that you guys are doing this because you're proving my point.

keyword "intelligence": The US-agency for that issue commited hundreds of serious crimes and violations of human rights from the very day of it's foundation to today, and it still does. And odd: I can't see that any of their deeds resulted in any good. Of course, after cold war they made "good use" of their infrastructure by stealing lots of confidential economy know-how from their "friends" in Europe, selling it to their own companies. If they never had existed, the US would have less problems today and we would be less distrustfull referring to american goals. And this is only one reason for the discomfort the USA often causes at their "friends". "Human rights" "Democracy", "freedom", i. e. are concepts of highest value, for Europe like for the US, it seems. But as the USA thinks they're an good example for such concepts many Europeans have strong qualms about that. And it's cheap to say "Bush is a bad President". Would you ever except the excuse that Hitler was just a bad cancelor or Saddam was just a bad President, too? No, you wouldn't. And you were right. Bush is a mirror of the US-american nation. And that doesn't look trustworthy to us.

Great analysis, Heinz! The US is the equivalent - no sorry, worse - than a Islamic fundamentalist state that has been fomenting terror for almost thirty years and whose president wants to wipe Israel off the map. Maybe you would also like to analyze who is behind terror attacks on civilians in Iraq. And Steini, the problem with the ME is "50 years of bad American foreign policy"? Libya, Syria, Iran, Algeria are all basket cases and they have done a good job of it themselves. But I suppose you have to maintain the integrity of your belief that the Americans are the root of all evil. I suppose that is the central tenet of the new European religion. Oh, you are right about the Europeans being "lame ducks", though. Norbert, most of Europe does not look too trustworthy to many of us Americans so perhaps we are equal on that score. Like the sly equivalence of Bush with Hitler and Saddam. Probably not the best argument for a German to be pushing though. Guantanamo = Belzec, Auschwitz, Treblinka, Sobibor, Dachau and the einsatzgruppen? Yeah, didn't think you wanted to go there, so don't try it.

why is anyone suprised that america is despised around the world. it's impossible to deny iraq was and is a major screw-up. america has a lot of blood on its hands - and is doing an atrocious job at PR.

www.iraqbodycount.org

President Bush's strategy of preemption is controversial in a Europe pledged to non-aggression. Germany has vital economic interests with Iran. Germany is familiar with the strategy of preemtion, it works. A complete explanation of preemption in the Iraq conflict would include Saddam's invasion of Kuwait. Since then, American military forces have been tied to that front. The preemptive invasion of Iraq will lead to a theater where the American military can manuever to victory.

Preemption is aggression. America has a new aggressive foreign policy. The Bush Doctorine is poorly understood, its four pillars: Preemption, Democracratic reform and holding government sponsors as accountable as the terrorists. America will not tolearate more terrorists attacks on American soil. We will take the battle to the enemy.

The enemy is not Islam, the enemy are the terrorists. Terrorists that attack civilians will be hunted down with all the power of the US military. America is sensitive to Islam, when the terrorists use Mosques for sanctuary, the military will use appropriate force. Islam is a great religion, it doesn't get special treatment.

Yes, there is some anti-American sentiment in Germany and that's bad enough - but David's Medienkritik is totally over the top: They are sectarian and deeply anti-German. From their right-wing-view German media are completely leftist and biased, which is complete nonsense. Anyway, it is very strange that anybody who is trying to post critical comments on David's Medienkritik on their site ist being harshely censored - two critical comments and you're out. And when you critisize their point of view they claim you've insulted them and suspend you're account. But mostly they just suspend your account without giving any reason, just because the don't like reading any other opinion than their own. David's Medienkritik is Stalinism from the right. They are indeed completely biased.

The folks who oppossed removing Saddam have even more blood on their hands:

mass graves website

They just never talk about what happened in Iraq before March 2003 like it was all a cake walk. What a bunch of hypocrites. And they also (including Iraqi Body Count) blame America for all of the roadside bombing deaths and suicide terror attacks carried out by fanatical Islamo-Fascist Jihadis and Saddamist nutballs and Shiite extremists. Please explain to me how anyone but those fanatics have that blood on their hands. Again, massive hypocrisy and double-standards.

No need to differentiate anything on the Left. It's all just as simple as Bush Lied and People Died. Brain dead as usual King Friday.

@ Thomas Steiner,

OK. You think Medienkritik is over the top. I just completed interviews with 9 major German America correspondents in Washington on German media coverage in the US. Here is what one of the most important correspondents in the German media had to say, and I quote:

"I have to fight against prejudice. It's an intellectual arrogance that thinks that the American way of life, feeling, taste, thinking is inferior. Most of them (media) grew up with the leftist, socialist dream, and now they look for scapegoats. They went in the streets and cried for Ho Chi Minh. The U.S. is the spoiler of their dreams."

He (and several others) went on to confirm that his editors back home attempted to supress stories that explained the Bush administration's case for war in the run up to Iraq. Davids Medienkritik is simply reflecting the reality that most German journalists themselves admit to. We don't believe the entire media is biased, but we do believe that an influential portion is. Again, many major, mainstream German journalists believe the same thing. Time to get your head out of the sand Thomas. If you don't believe me, go ask someone.

@ Thomas,

BTW: I love how you don't give a single example of our bias. We only delete comments that are clearly in violation of our comment policy, which is clearly posted on our site.

what I don't like is how all those lefties totally believe all those lies about the USA yet at the same time are in complete denial of the repressionist regime in... say... Cuba. They fail to acknowledge that their hero Che Guevara had thousands of people executed for the crime of not supporting Fidel Castro. They all buy into this lie that pre-1948 there was an independent Palestinean state for the people that NOW call themselves 'Palestineans'. They fail to see that all Israel has ever done is self-defense. Which is the side that wants to exterminate the other and brainwashes kids to blow themselves up for a non-existant moongod Allah. They fail to acknowledge that radical islam is far worse than Nazism. And as for the WMD, almost every major country's intelligence did believe Iraq had them. Only AFTER the fact do we find that there were no stockpiles and what was there was likely moved to Syria.

Norbert "...and I can't see that any of their deeds resulted in any good."

Those sort of even-handed observational skills, refusing to think in black and white terms but always looking for the subtlety, the nuance, the long view, are exactly why you will forever wonder why no one takes you seriously.

@RayD

"No need to differentiate anything on the Left. It's all just as simple as Bush Lied and People Died."

Blanket statements about other people's lack of differentiation. That's some wonderful circuitous logic.

@Texan You intepreted that the US is equivalent of Iran. I mentioned the body count and those numbers speak for themselves.

@RayD bottleneck has a point there, you might want to look through your wonderful circuitous logic or take or take a closer look at your comment policy lol

We recognize that the occasional profanity-filled rant can also have tremendous comic value. This will be a judgment call on our part.

@ Heinz,

The comments that we don't allow usually have nothing to do with profanity. As far as bottleneck goes, I'll respond to him when he has something meaningful to say. Still waiting on that example of our "bias."

@ Ass.Vil.Id.: Instead of insulting me you also could give examples for "benefits" of the foreign "works" of the CIA. But don't forget to put that on a scale with the proven downsides. To me the result is negative, and hence finally and after all didn't provide any advantage to the USA.

@ Texan: Maybe I didn't explain myself clearly to you. I didn't compare Bush to Hitler or anybody else, and I didn't compare Guantanamo to any german concentration camp. I just said that excusing the own government as being "not an example for our values and basic concepts" wouldn't be accepted by Americans in case others would pretend that. Hitler and Saddam were only examples. Choose others if you prefere, it doesn't make a difference to my statement. At least every democratic society always has the government that it deserves. Concerning the trustworthyness of Europe: I agree with you. Europe is not a Unit that can stand for certain relyable concepts jet, but a new "thing" that first has to find and define it's identity. It's far from being "one charactor" or "one voice". But I know that it will be a strong unit with positive and relyable concepts not to far in future, it's on the way. Who knows, maybe one day the US will be something like that, too?

Lets face it: this two morons at medienkritik simply can't get the fact that public opinion in Germany and in Europe at all has shifted to EXTREME AMIHASS. We want this AMIHACKFRESSEN out of Germany, out of Europe and out of this planet And we will do EVERYTHING that this will happen.

Excuse me Mr Amihasser, you are one of those undifferentiated people who swipe an entire nation over one card. America is and remains one of the most diverse and open nations in the world and your unreasonable hatred stands by itself. Do you remember what the US did for Germany? Keep thinking.

Aren't we talking about the country of Wanker B. and his Shithead Gang. Where all the media repeated the WMD, BinLaden-connection, uranium bullshit for two years over and over again. Where, if you ever bought a book with your credit card its now filed in the antiterror database. Where the authorities are reading your email and listening to your phone calls without any judicial control. Yes that is open. Open assholes everythere.

@ Amihassser Thank you for your well argued and very well explained understanding of complex matters. Of course, your poetic choice of words and great contribution into the transatlantic debate is a beautiful example of human ignorance and disrespect.

Christy, there is no point in distancing yourself from the current president. I have been around long enough to know that prejudice against and hatred of the US was already intense in the late 1970s, and probably long before that. Germans are basically isolationist. Their indignation does not reflect rational engagement with the real world. Germans don´t march for peace. They do it to feel better about themselves, and America is the most convenient scapegoat precisely because US crimes are mostly imaginary. Real thugs get respect, however. Like American peaceniks, Germans marched to protect the interests of international bullies like the Soviet Union or Slobo Milosevic, they marched for Saddam in 1991, but the fate of the people in North Korea, Darfur, Zimbabwe or Kongo is "none of our business". Just as the fate of the South Vietnamese was none of our business after 1975. Just as we stopped to care about Iraqis about the time they had their first election and not enough people died in the process. Nor will you hear an outcry when Taiwan or Israel are threatened.

Generally speaking, isolationists don´t have a problem with war, or with totalitarians. They want peace and quiet - for themselves. Putin is more popular than Bush although Russia does every bad thing the US are falsely accused of and then some more. Bush after all never threatened to cut off our gas supplies. And that is just one example. Germans certainly were more serious about stopping nuclear power in Germany than about stopping nuclear weapons in Iran.

The transatlanic dabate for us is: Amis, pack your bags and leave our country before we spread the message to all islamists that the primary threat to their countries originates from Spangdahlem and Ramstein. And they are invited to send some of their freedom fighters to close this hellholes. If possible now and forever!

@RayD: You know exactly what I'm talking about. Your so called "comment policy", which is actually just an excuse for censorship, is based on double standards: Whoever critisizes your views is being censored after the second post. That is when you show your very sensitive side and falsely claim that you have been "insulted" by this critic even though he would just have posted views that differ from yours. On the other side you and your friends are of course allowed to insult and badmouth all the "socialist" or "leftist" (what else could they be, critisizing you?) critics who dare say something in your comment section. Nobody would stop your friends from insulting others. And of if somebody is not put off by those lacking manners and continues to discuss things on your site - then his account will be blocked.
This shows very much how sectarian you are. You may love the US, but why don't you start with respecting first amendment rights and allow free speech on your blog?

Two years ago, then this two morons started the German release of their Neocons bog, they predicted that this would change the German media landscape. Instead that they got was a furious rage of AMIHASS. Ami-friendly commentators there insulted, bawled out and theatened until they gave up.

Nowadays this guys are childishly painting around in Spiegel-Online articles:, Unfortunately their brainless admirers can't read less understand any foreign language.

Note DMK have just slammed one leftist poster, arguing that readers have "zero publication rights" on their blog. There's no argument that they censor people on a regular basis, and the reasons for such censorship are quite arbitrary. They will then point to their "commenting policy". Not exactly an open blog forum, but they are in command.

To their detriment (or benefit, maybe), this will put off readers with different opinions than theirs, even though their mission is said to be (among others) to inform German readers about how they are misguided by the German mass media.

This perfectly mirrors the stance of conservative Americans, which translates into "I love you and feed you as long as you agree, I destroy you when you disagree".

Well, usually they don't even announce it to the public, they just put the poster "on hold" and don't publish his comments when they feel they can't put him down or make him leave by insulting him.

Of course the idea of "this is our blog and therefore we control opinion" seems pretty, ehm, chinese to me.

But, on the other hand, both bloggers on DMK are actually german. Unfortunately it is indeed very german to be so sectarian and ideological. It's just as always: They think they're not but the others are.