The Germany government has stated more than once that:
\u2013 They know about the regime targeting Iranian dissidents inside Germany.
\u2013 They know about plots and threats against Jewish communities.
\u2013 They know about infiltration and intelligence activity on their own soil.\n<\/p>\n
And all this together would have been the perfect evolution for Germany, a country that is supposed to be stepping into a leadership role in Europe to combat threats from Russia. An independent defense posture doesn\u2019t mean anything if it collapses the moment things get real.\n<\/p>\n
And they did, indeed, get real.\n<\/p>\n
Over the course of the war, the tone has flipped:\n<\/p>\n
\u2022 March 1: \u201cTogether with the United States and Israel, we share the interest in ensuring that this regime\u2019s terror ends and that its dangerous nuclear and ballistic program is stopped. The military strikes are intended to end the destructive game of a weakened regime.\u201d From opposing the regime, to questioning the war, to publicly blaming the war as the source of Germany\u2019s economic problems, to then calling it \u201ctotally unnecessary\u201d \u2013 what drove Merz to make such a dramatic U-turn?\n<\/p>\n That\u2019s where Merz has failed to live up to the moment. Merz didn\u2019t justify his shift in a clear strategic critique of how the war was being conducted. Germany\u2019s rhetoric collapsed once the consequences hit, both economic and political.\n<\/p>\n But it\u2019s actually worse than those two causes, because Germany knows exactly what Iran is capable of. The rhetoric shifted, primarily, because Merz thought it was getting dangerous.\n<\/p>\n Germany Fell to Fear<\/p>\n The New York Times<\/a> reported on May 7 just how frustrated German Intelligence is with Merz right now for downplaying the threat from the Islamic Republic. The threat has increased:\n<\/p>\n Within the intelligence community, state-level chiefs have voiced concern that their federal counterparts have grown too close to Mr. Merz\u2019s office, failing to push back against what they see as an inaccurate framing of the Iranian threat. \u2013 NYT<\/a>\n<\/p>\n Merz didn\u2019t just adjust Germany\u2019s tone: He did it under duress. He reduced his rhetoric for fear that Iran might retaliate against Germany for it.\n<\/p>\n His March 12 comment reads less like transparency and more like Berlin trying not to trigger the IRGC.\n<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t German leadership. It\u2019s cowardice.\n<\/p>\n With that shift, Germany passed up a real opportunity to take a stand against the Iranian regime and actually contribute to destabilizing it, to contribute to actually liberating the countrymen of its 400,000-strong Iranian Diaspora community.<\/p>\n
\u2022 March 10: \u201cWe are concerned that there is apparently no joint plan for how this war can be brought quickly to a convincing end\u2026This affects our security, our energy supply and possibly also the situation surrounding migration.\u201d
\u2022 March 12: \u201cAt present, there is no information suggesting that we should assume an increased threat level domestically.\u201d
\u2022 March 27: \u201cI\u2019m just not convinced that what\u2019s happening right now \u2013 what Israel and America are doing \u2013 will actually lead to success.\u201d
\u2022\u00a0April 13: Merz says the war \u201cis the root cause of the problems we face in our own country.\u201d<\/a>
\u2022\u00a0April 25:\u00a0\u201c\u2026with the Iran conflict, with this totally unnecessary war there<\/a> and with many other challenges we are facing\u2026\u201d\n<\/p>\n