From the mass war-mongering cheers coming from the European crowd, a conscious and thoughtful voice of rationality came forward.
Seit mehr als einem Jahr versucht der ehemalige Bundeswehrgeneral Gerd Schultze-Rhonhof vergebens, auf die Bundesregierung einzuwirken, den Irrweg der
ansage.org
“SENSELESS AND FOREIGN WAR IN UKRAINE”: OPEN LETTER FROM RETIRED MAJOR GENERAL GERD SCHULTZE-RHONHOF
“I did not serve as a soldier for 37 years to keep Germany at peace, to now watch without comment or action as Germany slowly but probably moves towards active participation in a foreign and senseless war”: Major General Gerd-Schultze (ret.). -Rhonhof (Photo:ScreenshotYoutube)
For more than a year, former Bundeswehr general Gerd Schultze-Rhonhof has been trying in vain to influence the federal government to abandon the wrong path of military build-up in Ukraine and escalation with Russia, and instead to initiate an active German peace policy for the Ukraine conflict. Schultze-Rhonhof repeatedly addressed German politicians and MPs across party lines with letters, writings and concrete suggestions, drawing on his professional expertise and military competence - unfortunately without being heard there. The general had the same frustrating experiences as many of his colleagues who have left the service or are still active up to the highest ranks, who only acknowledge the extremely dangerous development with disbelief and growing incomprehension, even if they (have to) exercise public restraint. Schultze-Rhonhof's most recent open letter dates from February 14th. Announcement! documents it verbatim below.
I did not serve as a soldier for 37 years to keep Germany at peace and now watch without comment or action as Germany slowly but probably moves towards active participation in a foreign and senseless war. Our “Three Kings”,
Mr. Chancellor Scholz, Mr. Minister Lindner and Mr. Minister Dr. Habeck, in their younger years, initially all refused military service for Germany's rights and freedom and the preservation of our democracy. They now spend well over 10 billion euros of tax money per year on “ law ”, “ freedom ”, “ democracy ” and “ Western values ” in a foreign state that is neither a democracy nor represents Western values. They are using our tax money and the blood of foreign conscripts to prolong a war that has now become pointless.
Ukraine is not a democracy and its values are not ours
Ukraine is by no means a democracy and its values are not ours.
11 opposition parties are banned in Ukraine. Zelensky has banned the presidential elections scheduled for March 2024. In Ukraine all media are aligned. No reports by German journalists critical of Ukraine are permitted from Ukraine (comments critical of Russia by German journalists from Moscow are quite common). In Ukraine, political murders are the order of the day (according to the
Federal Agency for Political Education's 3-week logs up to the start of the war). Ukraine and Russia are jointly the two most corrupt states in Europe (according to
Transparency International ). Buying freedom from military service is just as common in Ukraine as it is in Russia. With its record of breaches of state treaties and violations of UN conventions and international charters, Ukraine is in no way inferior to the Russian record in terms of frequency and severity.
The type and frequency of Ukrainian war crimes are the same as those committed by the Russian side; only the misuse of humanitarian facilities protected under international war law as protective shields for fighting troops occurs only on the Ukrainian side (according to the OSCE report of June 29, 2022).
This Ukraine is neither a democracy nor does it represent our values, as the German media and the majority of our parties lead us to believe. The interpretation presented to us by officials that Ukraine would help defend our values is as foolish as Struck's “
Germany Defense in the Hindu Kush ” was. I expect the former conscientious objectors in the Bundestag and the Federal Government to actively work for an end to the war in Ukraine as quickly as possible and to break away from their unrealistic phantom ideas of a Ukrainian victory - true to their former peace mentality. I expect the same from all other rulers and parliamentarians. The idea of a possible reunification of two quarreling and now hating parts of a nation, which had already waged war against each other for eight years before the Russian invasion, into a future Ukraine of old dimensions is the dream dance of fools. Regarding the eagerness of the majority of the German parties to help the Ukrainians win with money and arms supplies, I am reminded of a statement by the Russian Lieutenant General Alexander Lebed, who said in the first Chechen war: “Let me have a company made
up of the sons of the Recruit elite and the war will be over the next day. (Lebed was an unsuccessful presidential candidate in Russia in 1996.)
The Germans are tired of it
The second question at issue here is whether the Russian Federation has actually threatened the West since its withdrawal from Central Europe or even a NATO country or another neighboring country after the end of the Soviet disintegration process. I will answer this question in detail in the justification for the following letter to the politicians (
see below ).
Since August 15, 2022, I have tried to educate hundreds of MPs about the history of the Russian invasion and what is happening inside Ukraine. Then I suggested to the Federal Chancellor and former chancellors and top politicians who still had open communication channels with Moscow a German initiative to end the war quickly. I sent my last attempt at Christmas 2023 with the following letter to members of the federal government, the parliamentary group leaders of all parties in the Bundestag, to all party leaders and general secretaries and to all state prime ministers. Only two party leaders on the side terraces of the plenary hall responded with approval and at all, but with the message that they couldn't do anything. I have just received a polite but negative response from the chairman of the largest opposition party, whose silence and disregard of the long history of the war I cannot accept and whose allegations against Putin I cannot largely confirm. Supposedly proven but unjustified allegations were also often fueled by the two world wars. Despite all politeness, the answer gives the impression that its author has not read the reasons for my suggestion (
see below ) at all.
A part of the German people is now tired of not being informed about the background of the war in Ukraine and of investing 10 to 15 billion euros every year in a senseless, foreign war and the further deaths of tens of thousands of Ukrainians and Russians when their own household budgets are tight . If the German government, disregarding German interests, risks that the war in Ukraine - as Chancellor Scholz originally feared - escalates into a conflagration and also involves Germany, the people themselves must remind the government of its first duty. So far, the vast majority of German politicians are primarily interested in a victory for the Ukrainians and a defeat for the Russians and only secondarily in peace. Please read my Christmas letter to “politics” (
see below ) and pass my thoughts on to other interested parties. And try to convince your representatives of the possibility of an early end to the war.
Yours, Gerd Schultze-Rhonhof
We wrote to all top politicians in December
Attached to this open letter from Schultze-Rhonhof was the following circular, which Schultze-Rhonhof had sent seven weeks earlier, on Christmas Eve 2023, to all party leaders, general secretaries of the parties, parliamentary group leaders in the German Bundestag and the prime ministers of the federal states:
Ladies and Gentlemen (…),
The war in Ukraine has been raging for almost two years and there is no end in sight, nor is there any practical impetus from Germany that could bring about an early end to the war. After I unsuccessfully and without a response addressed a proposal to Chancellor Scholz and the SPD parliamentary group leader in the German Bundestag, I am now writing this letter to all German party leaders, the parliamentary group and group leaders in the German Bundestag General secretaries of the parties and the prime ministers of the states with the request to urge the federal government to mediate a quick peace solution (…).
With sober calculation and consideration, the war in Ukraine cannot be won by either of the two warring parties, unless it escalates into a “Third World War”. Nevertheless, the USA, NATO, the EU and, within the above-mentioned communities of states, first and foremost the Federal Republic of Germany, are supporting the war as if it could be won by Ukraine. This is aiding and abetting Ukraine's military bankruptcy and consciously accepting the continuation of mass killings and destruction in the war zone. It seems as if the leading political forces in Germany still believe they are faced with the military choice of “
Russia or Ukraine ”. We should consciously face the political choice of “
war or peace ”. It is not possible to have both together, a military victory for just one warring party and a long-lasting peace that creates reconciliation.
If we look at it soberly and objectively, Germany and our European allies are currently facing eight (now nine) theoretically possible developments. All options open so far promise a bad result. None ends with anything better than a frozen ceasefire. Neither option leads to real peace. NATO, the EU and both Germany are at a dead end with their current Ukraine policy.
Nine theoretical possibilities
The eight (now nine) theoretical possibilities mentioned are:
- Russia wins in the sense that it takes control of Ukraine. Then Germany and the West on the one hand and Russia on the other will again find themselves in a cold war against each other for a very long time, to the detriment of both sides.
- Ukraine wins in the sense that it retakes all the territories previously occupied by Russia. Then the approximately eight million Russian citizens in Ukraine face terrible persecution and punishment. President Zelensky has announced this several times. And Germany is threatened with the next wave of refugees.
- There is a military stalemate on the battlefield with no subsequent amicable peace solution. Then we will be faced with a European “Korea solution” with a Cold War and a permanent source of danger in Europe.
- The war continues endlessly without stalemate or victory. Then hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians and Russians will die senselessly and be mutilated. Ukraine will continue to be destroyed and Germany will continue to pay and supply weapons to Ukraine without end.
- Negotiations are underway. Then, given the mutual preconditions put forward so far by both warring parties and the hardening of positions and hatred that has now occurred, as well as the certainly expected interference from NATO, the EU and the USA, there will be months, if not years, of wrangling. Accordingly, the destruction and human sacrifices continue. Given the current Ukrainian and Russian negotiating conditions, it is foreseeable that negotiations will not even take place.
- There is a ceasefire. Armistices are not a solution to the problem of war but merely a procedural step. There must then be a reconciliation of interests between the hostile neighboring states of Ukraine and the Russian Federation. There are currently no signs of willingness or signs of a reconciliation of interests among the warring parties, nor in NATO, nor in the EU, nor in the USA, nor in the “political world” of Germany.
- Ukraine is clearly approaching defeat. Then there is a risk that NATO and thus also the USA and Germany will intervene in the war. All previous promises of support from NATO and EU countries indicate this, despite claims to the contrary.
- NATO intervenes in the Ukraine war with its own troops. Then there is a risk that Russia will reach the limits of its defense capabilities and use tactical nuclear weapons in Europe at the risk of its own defeat. Russia will not dare use strategic nuclear weapons against the USA, and the war will be fought in our Europe. Obvious targets for Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Europe would be the US command centers from which American support for Ukraine is already being delivered and controlled, Ramstein and Wiesbaden. (Addition from February 6th, 2024 from the Tucker Carlson-Putin interview, 69th min and 40th sec: Carlson quotes US Senator from February 5th, 2024 from the US debate about US aid to Ukraine: “ Either we now support Ukraine or US soldiers will march and fight in Ukraine.” )
- 9. The USA will withdraw completely from financial and material support to Ukraine after the next presidential election. Then the EU and with it its main financier Germany will continue to support Ukraine with greatly increased contributions as unsuccessfully as before and keep the war “simmering”. All promises of loyalty and support from Brussels and Berlin suggest this. This would mean that Germany would be drawn further and more deeply into Ukraine's debt swamp than before.
Way out with a new approach
Since all solutions attempted so far have led to nothing but further prolongation of the war, a way out must be found through a different approach. The approach to an early end to the war can be an arbitration award in the form of a completely and comprehensively formulated peace treaty that is negotiable for both warring parties. The proposal must satisfy the vital interests (not demands) of the two belligerent peoples - Ukrainians and Russians -, require both sides to make reasonable sacrifices, satisfy the right of self-determination of the affected residents and present a result that can be expected from a sober perspective anyway as the war continues . The arbitration process prevented the outbreak of “airborne” wars twice in the last century. By proposing such a treaty text, both warring parties could assess whether they could approach each other on its basis and negotiate and agree without “non-negotiable” preconditions or whether they would prefer to continue the blood and sacrifice of the war. The arbitration award was to be submitted by Germany, France and Italy - and for good reasons only by these - to the two warring parties.
All previous requests for negotiations from NATO and EU circles were linked exclusively to Russia with unilateral waiver conditions and were therefore unsuitable. Almost all previous requests have lacked a concrete offer to Russia. I have researched and written books about the causes of war, peace efforts and peace treaties for 20 years. (…)
I ask you to support a German peace initiative within the federal government. With the sign of my respect
Gerd Schultze-Rhonhof
arrived in Kazan today and took the helm of the TU160 strategic bomber. It will launch rockets. Agree, he's not funny at all 
has announced a new military aid package for Ukraine, totalling $247 million usd. The package will consist of the following.
, Germany 
, Sweden 
and Canada 
as countries who have committed to joining the coalition to source artillery shells from third parties outside of Europe. One can only hope that a portion of the $4.7 Billion usd Japan 
is giving Ukraine at the end of this month will also be directed towards the purchase of shells from that stockpile of 800,000.
kyivindependent.com
has announced a further military aid package for Ukraine consisting of...
news.sky.com
has started a new fundraising iniative for additional sea drones, the like of which have been responsible for the sinking of 1/3 of the Black Sea Fleet. Ukraine is seeking to purchase 35 additional drones. The total amount they intend to raise is $7.7 million usd. Already, on day one, they're seeing significant support.
t.me
www.dailysabah.com
, Greece 
, or Cyprus 
.
, because of the long history of dispute between those nations.
, both of whom also do business with Russia 
, are two countries that have been mentioned by name. South Korea 
, and several Middle Eastern countries are also suspected of being players involved, willing to sell shells at an inflated price, but one that is better than the 8000 Euro price tag in Europe. Furthermore, these shells are designed as a short term solution, while the European Union 
and Britain 
works to pass more aid funding. 800,000 shells would be as much as 6 months worth of inventory for Ukraine, at a usage rate of approximately 4500 per day.
and Italy 
, might do so while keeping the transfers quiet, as they have since the outset of the war.
