When Will They Ever Learn...

On 1^st of September 1939 German soldiers attacked Poland and started the Second World War. In the end, millions of people had died; Europe and the rest of the world were facing inexplicable sufferings and terrible destruction.

The International Day of Peace on the 1^st of September marks the annual date of admonition and commemoration of the victims. The images of remembrance show one thing painfully: War always means human suffering, social affliction and the damage of the environment. The hope at the end of World War II, that this would never happen again, that humanity would eventually understand and learn, was not fulfilled.

Sadly, war is in many places of the world considered a legitimate means of politics to enforce imperialistic and geostrategic interests or to solve religious, ethnical or social conflicts – with horrible consequences. DIE LINKE therefore says: We must not even think of war as an ultima ratio.

This year the 1^st of September is much influenced by current conflicts and humanitarian disasters: The German Bundestag at this day will deal with the question of exporting arms into the war zone of Northern Iraq. For us it is not acceptable if the new and more active role, that both President Gauck and Minister of Defense Ursula von der Leyen want Germany to play in the world, is expressed in arms exports into war zones. The opposite – to do anything to ease the suffering, to take in refugees and to reinforce civil structures like the UN – would be much more important and reasonable.

After the Second World War all sides agreed that there must never be another war emanating from Germany. This consensus needs to be maintained instead of watered down. Because of our history we are asked to first try everything to solve conflicts peacefully. This means also to stand up for an immediate ban of exporting arms or military know-how.