Chancellor
Angela Merkel has said that the actions of the "Islamic State" in
Iraq can be called "genocide." The German government is about to
break its own rules on sending weapons to conflict zones in response.
Deutsche Welle, 27 Aug 2014
In an
interview with her Christian Democrats' online video channel, CDU.tv,
Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday found unusually strong words to describe
the actions of the self-proclaimed "Islamic State" (IS) group in
Iraq.
Angela
Merkel said that the "awful" treatment of minority groups and
non-Sunni Muslims by "IS" was such that, "one can speak of a
genocide."
Merkel said
that was why "above all else we have first offered humanitarian aid"
for the north of Iraq, before gradually leading towards one of the main points
of debate in Berlin in recent weeks: the sending of military equipment - and
probably some weaponry as well - to a conflict zone. Ordinarily, the German
government opposes this as a point of principle, but Berlin is set to make an
exception in northern Iraq.
German aid deliveries to the Kurdish region of Iraq began last month |
"Considering
the atrocities, the barbarism happening there, I think that it is justified for
us to say that - to a limited extent - we will also help with weapons
deliveries," Merkel said on her Christian Democrats' CDU.tv online
channel. "What exactly? That will be decided in the coming days, and the
Bundestag [the lower house of German parliament] will debate this at the
beginning of next week."
Exceptional
measures
"We
should be helping with certain supplies, according to our capabilities, so they
can fight and prevent ISIS from taking over the whole region and creating a
caliphate," said German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier at a news
conference during a visit to Prague on Wednesday.
"The
German government has not reached a decision yet today but I believe that a
decision should be made on Sunday on concretely what should be supplied,"
the German minister added. On Monday, parliament will debate the government
decision, at the request of the opposition Green and Left parties, both avid
opponents of weapons exports. Some members of Merkel's ruling coalition have
also voiced concerns, mainly concerning the possibility of weapons ending up in
the wrong hands.
Foreign Minister Steinmeier and Defense Minister von der Leyen will be part of the team deciding what to send |
The
parliamentary debate would be primarily symbolic; all German arms exports must
be approved by a special government panel, but not parliament. Domestic news
agency dpa reported on Wednesday that the coaliltion was considering allowing a
symbolic vote - sure to pass with ease - on the break from normal German
policy.
Germany's
decision to provide military aid to the Kurds has been seen by much of the German public to undermine the country's post-war ethos of not sending arms to conflict zones. In a poll conducted by German opinion poll company Forsa last
week, 63 percent of Germans said they were against arming the Kurds.
Ethnic
cleansing
Over recent
months, IS has established control over territory it calls a
"caliphate" across extensive areas of northern Iraq and Syria, where
they have been accused of carrying out ethnic cleansing.
“They are
systematically targeting men, women and children based on their ethnic,
religious or sectarian affiliation and are ruthlessly carrying out widespread
ethnic and religious cleansing in the areas under their control. Such
persecution would amount to crimes against humanity,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Sunday.
Several
other countries have already provided the Kurdish forces with arms to fight
against IS, including Canada, France and the United Kingdom. According to the
president of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, Massud Barsani, Iran was amongst the
first countries to provide military aid.
ksb/msh (dpa, Reuters)
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"... ISIS/ISIL
Let me begin by repeating a part of a reading I had with Archangel Michael on July 11, 2014:
S: What is holding up the Reval now?
AAM: ISIS.
S: ISIS! Are they real?
AAM: Yes, they are real.
S: Is it not a CIA creation?
AAM: No. It is a grassroots organization. It is disgruntled ex-military.
S: Oh. Will they be able to hold it up for a long time?
AAM: No. Their goal is to create stability but it is stability at the price of great pain.
S: Yes, indeed.
AAM: There is no conscience. They believe that they act for Allah and to establish a Muslim state. But they are doing so through great violence.
Now this is part of what the Mother referred to as great chaos coming to the forefront. Will they be able to hold it up indefinitely? No. But the difficulty is that, with this Revaluation, if they were given even more money, that they would use it to buy very dangerous weapons.
S: Right. Does that mean that they’ll be able to hold it up indefinitely?
AAM: No. Not necessarily. [Next statement removed by request.]
S: But it won’t be in July.
AAM: It is more likely to be closer to September.
S: Any progress with the Dragons?
AAM: Oh, yes. There has been a great deal of progress with the Dragons. They are primed and ready to go but they are also not willing to allow a terrorist organization, regardless of their mission and purpose, as human as that is, to take that money and harm human beings.” (1)
Keep in mind what he said as we now turn to look at a news story that concerns ISIS or ISIL (they’re the same). ..."
Keep in mind what he said as we now turn to look at a news story that concerns ISIS or ISIL (they’re the same). ..."
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