gunter grass and mob journalism

GERMAN WRITER GRASS STICKS TO WARNING OF NUCLEAR WAR, WHILE WITCHHUNT INTENSIFIES

As could be expected, there is a witchhunt against German writer Günter Grass, who attacked Israel for planning a preventive strike against Iran and warned of the danger of nuclear war in his poem "What Had To Be Said."


Now, Netanyahu's government has declared him {persona non grata} and de facto issued a prohibition against his ever entering Israel again! 


In Germany, many of his so-called literary colleagues and the "pope" of literary criticism, Reich Ranicki, are attacking him as anti-Semitic, expressing their "shame" over him, and similar crap, while none is addressing the issue.



Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle is putting out the line that Israel's right to exist is being threatened, but not Iran's.


There are a few voices defending Grass, including {Spiegel} journalists Jakob Augstein and Gideon Levy; Swiss writer Adolf Mugsch, who expressed his astonishment at the way Grass is being treated; and former German Protestant Church (EKD) head Manfred Kock. 


Kock said that any German critique of Israel's policy predictably leads to the accusation of "anti-Semitism," and therefore, one has to be very "differentiated" in what one says. However, the debate cannot be stopped, and the attack dogs certainly do not reflect the view of the majority of the population.


Meanwhile, Grass himself has given several TV and press interviews, and is sticking to his guns. The only "correction" he makes, is that he should have specified that it is Netanyahu and the present government, which are a danger to peace, not Israel as such. The most interesting interview is again in {Süddeutsche Zeitung} in the Easter edition yesterday, conducted by prominent SDZ journalist and writer on social matters, Heribert Prantl. It carries the headline: "I Am Criticizing a Policy That Creates Ever More Enemies of Israel."


Grass underlines that in the poem, while he could have spoken about the settlers policy, he chose to concentrate on the "so far denied fact that Israel is a nuclear weapons power."  


At several points in the interview he comes back to that: "Israel always was able to secure a dominant military role in the region, through several wars. But what is threatening now is an unprecedented threat -- a preventive attack, a first strike against Iran [which] would have monstrous consequences." 


Prantl says that Israel is not exercising for a nuclear first strike, but a conventional elimination of the Iranian nuclear threat potential. Grass answers: "But if you attack nuclear reactors in Iran with bombs and rockets, that will create a meltdown. Fukushima was just one year ago! If you destroy a nuclear reactor with a military strike, you obviously don't want to face that danger of a nuclear meltdown -- it is completely incomprehensible to me, why that is not coming up in the discussion."


Grass makes a strong personal point in saying, "I am a realist, I am in my 85th year of life. You sense that you are mortal. This poem is a commitment to deal with silence and the challenge that themes be discussed that so far have been taboo in Germany, for example the fact that Israel is a nuclear weapons power."


Asked whether he is "disturbing the peace," Grass replied: "I have not spoken in general terms, but trenchantly and gotten to the heart of the matter. Those disturbing the peace, are others: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and his Defense and Foreign Minister are among them. Why? With Iran and the speculation that a nuclear bomb is being built there, they are setting up a bogeyman. 


I have often said that Iran is still weakened after the more than nine years of war with Iraq -- that war was supported by Western weapons deliveries. The moral insensitivity and hypocrisy of the West, which has time and again supported dictatorships, just as it sees fit, is horrible. That was the case under the Shah of Iran, and that's the case today with Saudi Arabia."


On the "coordination" of the media, Grass first refers to some "peculiarities" in the handling of his poem, like the fact that a first version, not yet containing his call for control of both countries, which he had given to {Die Zeit}, suddenly appeared in {Die Welt}. 


Then he says that he does not mean literally that somebody is being dictated exactly what to write by someone else: "I am not talking about {Gleichschaltung} as in a totalitarian state. But if in a democracy this impression comes up, it is even worse. 


I miss the whole spectrum of opinions, controversial discussion, which belongs to democracy. There is mob journalism against me, down to the formulations. Democracy does give you the opportunity to use freedom really." And "Mob journalism is not an expression of freedom."


On the recurring attacks on his Waffen-SS membership, Grass says, "I am horrified how 30-, 35-, and 40-year-old journalists, who were fortunate enough to grow up in a long period of peace, are judging a man, who was drawn into the Waffen-SS at age 17, who did not do so voluntarily. This comes from a generation which in my opinion does not use enough those rights of freedom that it has today."


Grass refers to other Israeli authors, who also see the danger of war: Amos Oz, David Grossmann, and in France, Alfred Grosser "who because of this, is being isolated." 


He does not want to present himself as a "lone fighter," but "because of the increased war danger, I decided it is time to say what I said. I have proposed to put both countries, Israel and Iran, under nuclear control; that is not being discussed. I consider this a possibility to decrease the danger of war."


Interestingly, in the beginning of the interview, Prantl refers to the warnings of war by German Defense Minister Thomas de Maizière and Hillary Clinton, saying that Grass is not "the only one." 


De Maizière has a long interview in that edition of SDZ on politics and morality, with the headline "Just Wars Do Not Exist." Asked about the discrepancy between the Fifth Commandment "Thou shall not kill," and his decisions to send young soldiers into war, he says: "Of course, I feel that contradiction. Especially, when I stand at the coffin of dead soldiers and face their relatives. 


Therefore it is hardly surprising that a defense minister would hesitate more than some intellectuals or activists, who are understandably morally upset about the most heavy human rights violations and demand humanitarian intervention."  


Asked whether there are "just wars," he says: "No. They do not exist. However, wars can be justified. The use of force leads into a moral dilemma, but it can be necessary to prevent worse from happening." When asked about the need for "an elite," he says that you need especially "functional elites," who have a special place and task in society for a certain time, in a democratic society. "And you need an intellectual elite, people who have to say something and are heard, troublemakers in the best sense of the word." In the present context, many will read that as a reference to Grass.

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EXPANDED INTELLIGENCE EFFORT TARGETING IRAN PART OF INSTITUTIONAL WAR AVOIDANCE EFFORT; PROVES THERE IS NO IRANIAN ATOM-BOMB PROGRAM


An expanded intelligence effort, led by the CIA but including the National Security Agency (NSA) and the National Geo-spatial Intelligence Agency (NGA), has given the White House confidence that it will have early warning of any move by Iran to assemble a nuclear bomb, say unnamed officials. 


Not reported by the Washington Post, but implicit in this is that since the U.S. knows Iran doesn't have a military program, and the U.S. will have plenty of warning if it decides to start one, there is no reason to go to war. 


The effort includes stealth reconnaissance drones, increased intercepts by the NSA, increased satellite scanning, and a large informant network. "There is confidence that we would see activity indicating that a decision had been made," a senior U.S. official involved in high-level discussions about Iran policy told the Washington Post. "Across the board, our access has been significantly improved." He added that "Even in the absolute worst case -- six months -- there is time for the president to have options." 


The effort began in 2006, under George W. Bush, who told then-CIA director Michael Hayden that he didn't want to be caught with his pants down with respect to Iran's nuclear program. It began in the CIA with a few dozen analysts and has grown to several hundred, led by a veteran case officer since that time. The effort has also confirmed the view expressed in the 2007 and 2010 NIEs that Iran has not decided to build a bomb. 


"It isn't the absence of evidence, it's the evidence of an absence," said one former intelligence official briefed on the findings. "Certain things are not being done."