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The "Friend“ Who Was Never One

  • Manuel Ochsenreiter Manuel Ochsenreiter
  • Source: Al Mayadeen
  • 30 Jun 2021 12:13
  • 4 Shares
6 Min Read

For Washington´s global agenda, the domination and control in Europe are overly crucial. The continent is the base for literally any geopolitical operation in Africa, the Middle East – and of course, for any anti-Russian push.

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Sometimes it is good to start a story by the end. For example, the end of the following story is – silence, nothing, business as usual. Of course, the “normal” end of that story would have been a scandal, diplomatic mayhem, harsh criticism, maybe even summoning ambassadors and expelling diplomats. But the end is, in this case, important: It tells a lot about the state of today´s Europe, especially about Europe´s economic power plant Germany.

But let´s start with the beginning: In May this year, the Danish media suddenly reported a strange case of espionage in Europe. From 2012 to 2014 – maybe even longer – a bizarre secret service operation in the Danish intel base in Sandagergård close to the capital Copenhagen. Specialists were wiretapping the phones of leading politicians in Germany, France, and some other European countries, mainly NATO members, just as Denmark itself.

Among many others, German chancellor Angela Merkel and foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier – today he is German president – were aimed by this hostile intel operation.

But why should the Danish military intel service "Forsvarets Efterretningstjeneste" check on the German neighbors? The relations between Denmark and Germany are boringly fine, and we are in NATO and EU together. The answer: The espionage operation didn´t take place on Danish behalf but on behalf of Washington. The US government abused one NATO-partner to spy on other NATO-partners. What a twisted setting. 

Today´s president of the US is newly elected Joe Biden. In the time of the Danish spying operation, Biden was vice president under Barack Obama. It was the pre-Trump era when everything “was fine”, the liberal elites in North America and Europe when US-European “partnership” was almost perfect while Obama conducted maybe one of the most aggressive foreign policies ever at the same time.

While Obama´s successor might have been a rude and very vocal verbal bully, who always saw the economic potential of Europe as a competition to the US, Obama visited the “old continent” viewed as a potential geopolitical danger, maybe even an enemy for the US agenda. He just never said that, and smiled and spoke about values and global democracy in interviews while he bombarded Libya and armed head-chopping terrorists in Syria. 

Obama was never a “friend” of Europe, and the treacherous intel operation by abusing Denmark against other US allies in Europe is one of many proofs for that. And today´s president Joseph Biden shares this attitude – the attitude of a High Commissioner to occupied territory. It is all about control and nothing about trust or even “partnership” or “friendship.”

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For Washington´s global agenda, the domination and control in Europe are overly crucial. The continent is the base for literally any geopolitical operation in Africa, the Middle East – and of course, for any anti-Russian push. Germany is the biggest and most important “aircraft carrier” of Washington´s military. The United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) is located close to the city of Stuttgart, where the Western aggression against Libya in 2011 started.

The US operations from European soil are, at the same time, highly beneficial to Washington. While Washington internalizes the benefits of their geopolitical aggressions (such as control on resources), the US externalizes the main risks to the European “partners.” For example, refugee and migration waves come and destabilize Europe, not North America. In short: Europe has to pay the price for Washington´s ambitions. And of course, US presidents such as Obama and today Biden find sweet and nice words to make the Europeans feel like philanthropists and not as valuable idiots under the complete control of external power.

Needless to say that the “European interests” are quite different from the US interests. While the US is benefiting from chaos and violence in the neighboring regions of Europe, the European countries have an interest in stability, order, and functioning markets. Neither the chaos of the so-call “Arab Spring” nor the US-fueled war in Ukraine brought anything good to the Europeans, even when the European liberal elites are parroting the American narratives of “bringing democracy” and “liberal values.” In the end, there is no democracy, no values – just chaos, violence, and some pro-American warlords with golden teeth and Europe, which is ready to pay the price over and over again.

Any sovereigntist tendency in Germany and other NATO-“partners” in Europe is identified as an obstacle by the strategists in Washington. For this, the continent needs to be occupied, watched, monitored, controlled and diversified by the US-American hegemon.

But here again is the end of this story: European leadership – mainly the Germans – don´t seem to feel bothered by American domination. Instead of protesting against the US espionage activities on German politicians, there was just silence in Berlin. But this is not an acceptable situation and not a problem that disappears by itself just over time.

Maybe the leaders in Europe are afraid of the consequences of a policy objecting to US domination. Perhaps they understand that it is not just about sending home US troops or shutting down US intel bases all over Europe. And maybe they realize that a de-Americanization of Europe means automatically not just a physical liberation from US military and political assets all over the continent, but also a political change – a type of full braking and doing a political u-turn.

Nobody ever said that it is easy to get rid of a hegemon and to become independent. On the contrary, a complete, proper, and total de-Americanization of Europe would make Europeans perfectly arrange their lives with the US domination; although upset and angry, yet it is a necessity.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Al Mayadeen’s editorial stance.
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Manuel Ochsenreiter

Manuel Ochsenreiter

journalist, author and publisher.

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