German President Horst Köhler had to resign for telling the truth

Köhler was telling the truth or at least pointing to it:

Former UK ambassador: CIA sent people to Uzbekistan for extreme torture, to be ‘raped with broken bottles,’ ‘boiled alive’ and ‘having their children tortured in front of them’ (Must-read):

Murray asserts that the primary motivation for US and British military involvement in central Asia has to do with large natural gas deposits in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. As evidence, he points to the plans to build a natural gas pipeline through Afghanistan that would allow Western oil companies to avoid Russia and Iran when transporting natural gas out of the region.

Murray alleged that in the late 1990s the Uzbek ambassador to the US met with then-Texas Governor George W. Bush to discuss a pipeline for the region, and out of that meeting came agreements that would see Texas-based Enron gain the rights to Uzbekistan’s natural gas deposits, while oil company Unocal worked on developing the Trans-Afghanistan pipeline.

“The consultant who was organizing this for Unocal was a certain Mr. Karzai, who is now president of Afghanistan,” Murray noted.

“There are designs of this pipeline, and if you look at the deployment of US forces in Afghanistan, as against other NATO country forces in Afghanistan, you’ll see that undoubtedly the US forces are positioned to guard the pipeline route. It’s what it’s about. It’s about money, it’s about oil, it’s not about democracy.”

Köhler under fire for ‘economic war’ remarks:

German President Horst Köhler sparked a political storm on Thursday by suggesting Germany’s military involvement in Afghanistan was partly motivated by its economic interests rather than solely to guarantee its security.

In an interview he gave during his recent visit to the strife-torn country, Köhler appeared to say that the public debate about the war in Afghanistan was gradually facing up to the fact that protecting foreign trade was a legitimate reason for military action.

The remarks from Saturday to broadcaster Deutschlandradio, which have just now been seized on by opposition politicians, have prompted a furious debate about Germany’s military deployment – and whether Köhler has damaged the image of the NATO mission in Afghanistan.


President Köhler resigns

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German President Horst Köhler announced his surprise resignation on Monday after appearing to suggest the country’s unpopular Afghanistan mission was partly motivated by commercial interests.

“I announce my resignation from the office of the federal presidency with immediate affect,” Köhler said in Berlin.

He said the decision came after withering criticism of comments he made connecting Germany’s military deployment in Afghanistan with the country’s economy.

“This criticism had absolutely no justification,” said the 67-year-old former head of the International Monetary Fund.

Looking emotional, Köhler asked for his supporters to understand his surprising resignation. The conservative Christian Democrats was nominated to be the country’s largely ceremonial head of state in 2004 and re-elected in 2009.

“It was an honour for me to serve Germany,” he said.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said she regretted his departure.

“I tried to get the president to change his mind but unfortunately I was unsuccessful,” Merkel told reporters.

“I always worked very well together with Horst Köhler. He was an important adviser, particularly in the financial and economic crisis, with his large international experience. I will miss this advice.”

But his remarks just over a week ago prompted a furious debate about Germany’s military engagement – and whether Köhler had damaged the image of the NATO mission in Afghanistan.

Köhler began by saying that Germany was in the country, alongside its allies, to ensure its security and that it was good and proper for these issues to be openly and robustly discussed.

He then added: “But my estimation is that, on the whole, we are on the way to understanding, even broadly in society, that a country of our size, with this orientation toward foreign trade and therefore also dependence on foreign trade, has to be aware that when in doubt in case of an emergency, military deployment is also necessary to protect our interests.

For example, free trade routes, for example to prevent instability in a whole region, which certainly have an negative impact on our opportunities via trade, jobs and income. All of that ought to be discussed and I believe that we are not doing too badly.”

The remarks appeared to be a major departure from the political orthodoxy on the Afghanistan mission, which says the Bundeswehr is there to protect Germany from terrorist groups who would use the country as a base were it to descend into lawlessness or Islamist theocracy.

Köhler said his comments were “misunderstood” and that he was not referring to the mission in Afghanistan, where Germany has 4,500 troops in a NATO-led force fighting a Taliban-led insurgency.

But Wichard Woyke from the University of Münster told television station N-TV that he deserved the hefty criticism because he had spoken out of turn.

“It is not the president’s job to get mixed up in political affairs but he did. He should not be surprised that the criticism was so severe,” said Woyke.

According to the German constitution, the president of the upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, will temporarily take over Köhler’s duties. Currently that post is held by Bremen Mayor Jens Böhrnsen from the centre-left Social Democrats.

The German president is elected by the Federal Convention comprising members of both houses of parliament. His replacement must now be elected within the next 30 days.

AFP/DDP/The Local ([email protected])

Published: 31 May 10 14:12 CET
Updated: 31 May 10 18:25 CET

Source: The Local

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Murray asserts that the primary motivation for US and British military involvement in central Asia has to do with large natural gas deposits in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. As evidence, he points to the plans to build a natural gas pipeline through Afghanistan that would allow Western oil companies to avoid Russia and Iran when transporting natural gas out of the region.

Murray alleged that in the late 1990s the Uzbek ambassador to the US met with then-Texas Governor George W. Bush to discuss a pipeline for the region, and out of that meeting came agreements that would see Texas-based Enron gain the rights to Uzbekistan’s natural gas deposits, while oil company Unocal worked on developing the Trans-Afghanistan pipeline.

“The consultant who was organizing this for Unocal was a certain Mr. Karzai, who is now president of Afghanistan,” Murray noted.

“There are designs of this pipeline, and if you look at the deployment of US forces in Afghanistan, as against other NATO country forces in Afghanistan, you’ll see that undoubtedly the US forces are positioned to guard the pipeline route. It’s what it’s about. It’s about money, it’s about oil, it’s not about democracy.”

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AFGHANISTAN-OPIUM

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