I'm honestly split on this one. I'm an American who spent three years in Iraq and now lives in Germany since 2009. I have experienced this crises from three different perspectives.
Our stupidity and hubris broke Iraq. But I suspect the Sunni Moslem Middle East would have broken itself, given enough time. Pressure from globalism on the one side, and the loss of backing from a cold-war benefactor on the other has made most of these countries ticking time bombs.
I was in Iraq from 2006 through 2008, both pre- and post "surge". What we did was used a temporary mutuality of interest with the Sunni tribes to buy time for a political solution. But the American administration at the time only understood tactics, not political solutions or strategic thinking. So we "kicked the can down the road". The following administration had even less interest in a political solution and continued on the trajectory set by the GWB administration.
About 1.5 million Moslems are expected to arrive in Germany this year, apply for asylum and possibly resettle permanently. On the one hand, I think people have a fundamental right to better their lives. OTOH, when the educated people leave Iraq, Syria, etc. who will remain? Only the combatants. How will we ever find political solutions to these problems if the population that could force a solution leaves en masse? Taking in all comers may be humane for those arriving, but it doesn't address the underlying cause of instability and ensures that more people will die in these wars. A political solution requires a population, because only the people can tell the combatants to lay down their arms. The notion from some elites here that Germany needs skilled doctors and engineers is self- serving and utopian. Most arrivals cannot be integrated into the German economy and will likely fall into the growing moslem parallel societies that are forming on the outskirts of most major industrial cities. The educated Syrians, or Iraqis will probably choose a different country where the wages are better, and where they have fewer bureaucratic hurdles to get their qualifications recognized.
Germany once was a country of law and order. We paid taxes and the German government provided order and security. By allowing unlimited immigration, the government is changing the social contract without a mandate from the people. The future is unpredictable and a lot of people are legitimately concerned about the masses arriving. If it's 1.5 million this year, how many come here next year? The German elite won't have to compete against new arrivals for apartments, wages, etc. It's easy to help out at the train station in Munich and go back to your million-Euro villa after your shift. Labeling anti-immigrant protesters as "right-wing extremists" or using the "Nazi"-word only makes the situation more extreme and plays into the hands of the right-wing political parties such as the NPD.
The one lesson I left Iraq with is that a government is only viable when it's accepted by its population as legitimate. Iraqi unraveled because the Sunnis and Kurds would never accept a Shiite government as their own. The Shiites OTOH would never accept the Sunnis or Kurds as equal citizens. Since the breakup of the Ottoman Empire, the Middle East has always had a legitimacy in governance problem.
By changing the social contract in Germany without a clear mandate from the people, Mrs. Merkel is betting the fragile legitimacy of the German Government on a positive outcome. In this regard, Mrs. Merkel is the one who is changing Germany more than the million or so new arrivals. I don't want to live in a Germany with a legitimacy-of-governance problem.
Sorry for the long post that has nothing to do with B&O.
Location: Los Angeles, CA
