The German Bundestag has repeatedly spoken out against the deployment of US nuclear weapons in Germany, but the United States is continuing its activities despite criticism from the Parliament.
In order to change the negative development, a number of German activists decided to promote civil resistance on the issue. The new initiative is designed to urge German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the German government to implement the Bundestag’s decisions.
“The Ramstein Airbase is the main base of the US Armed Forces outside the United States. Germany supports these and other bases logistically and financially,” said the initiative’s spokesman Pedram Shahyar. “Every day a war is being started from German soil,” he added.
Ramstein is a major US Army hub, especially for its operations in the Middle East. During the Iraqi war, the base served as a crucial pit-stop for the US Army. It is also a center for US military drone operations, which have claimed lives of about 5,000 to 10,000 civilians.
“NATO has not lost on its importance. It is an aggressive military alliance, which wants to militarily enforce the West’s strategy of global dominance,” Shahyar said.
Shahyar argued that NATO’s main goal is to gain as many resources as possible and enable access to various markets for Western companies worldwide. In particular, it seeks to diminish the influence of its economic and geopolitical competitors — China and Russia — and therefore continues its aggressive expansion to the East, Shahyar said.