No word on any American news source I have seen this week, but reading Germany’s “Der Spiegel” today, I learned that Germany has had three mountaineers from beautiful Bavaria taken hostage in Turkey where they were preparing last week to ascend Mt. Ararat. The historic and legendary mountain has always been a draw, and Germans have many ties to Turkey since many of Germany’s “guest workers” come from there.
And many of the Turkish nationals in Germany are Kurds. Germany has been busy with a domestic battle of sorts with the Kurdish group known as PKK–the same folks Turkey crossed into Iraq to pursue in battle. The kidnappers demanded that Germany cease its ‘anti-PKK activities’ at once if they want their mountain climbing citizens back.
The unrest set into rapid motion by our war in Iraq is spreading alarmingly. Turkey is a major ally of the United States and our airbase there is the supply line to our troops in Iraq. Kurdish unrest in Turkey and even in Northern Iraq is growing, and as they strike out against those they see supporting their enemies, more and more nations are drawn into the fray.
I love Bavaria, I am very fond of all of Germany, in fact. It gives me great sorrow to think of the families and friends of those innocent climbers worrying and being powerless as their loved ones are caught up in the affairs of Washington DC. Because of course, the German government cannot grant what the kidnappers demand, America would never allow that.
More and more of the world is being drawn into conflict. Before all the ‘end of the world, bring on the rapture’ types start singing hallelujahs, let me inject some reality here. Your dear and fluffy lord is NOT coming back because George Bush is drawing the world into war, if fact, if all I have ever read of Him is true, he ought to be very pissed off at the current state of affairs. The world is not going to end with any rapturous transport, it is simply going to be made more miserable by raptORous arms marketeers, fear mongerers, and wrecked economies, blasted cities and broken hopes for peace.
A pox on the all the houses that started this round of revolving hell!
