Germany and Gulf War

Like Sabine Reichel (“A Nation’s Redemption Rebuffed,” Commentary, Jan. 30), I am one of the generation of postwar Germans. Unlike Reichel, I am not proud of Germany’s position in the current crisis. Where were the protesters when Iraq invaded Kuwait in August? No doubt they are more concerned about the sad photos of dead sea birds than the outrages committed against the Kuwaitis.

The vast street protests and the inaction of the German government in the face of war are evidence that the nation is not redeemed. If the sound of jackboots once struck terror, the current tread of sneakers on the pavement of protest also inspires a kind of revulsion in the West.

The new Germany is a very different land than the one which unleashed the dogs of war earlier in this century. Now that Germany has taken a place in the councils of nations, and become a partner instead of a pariah, it has the responsibilities of a partner. These responsibilities do not allow for the anguished wringing of hands in difficult times, however uncomfortable the Germans may be about war. Instead, the German government and people should swallow their adolescent misgivings and set about helping the nations to which they are allied. They should do this wholeheartedly, to the limits of the constitutional restraints.

Germany may be said to be redeemed only when it begins to behave like the mature and democratic partner of the West that it has become. In the harsh realities of world politics, an excessive love of peace can be as damning as the propensity towards war.

THOMAS ROEDL

Downey