When they bombed Afghanistan,
I kept silent, I wasn't Afghan, I wasn't Afghan,
I encouraged them by my silence to attack more countries,
when they bombed Iraq, I kept silent, I was not an Iraqi.
and by my silence I encouraged them to attack more countries,
when they bombed Libya, I kept silent, I was not a Libyan.
and by my silence I encouraged them to attack more countries,
when they bombed Somalia, I kept silent, I was not Somali,
When they realized we were going to swallow it all, they attacked Syria.
Syria, I kept silent, I was not Syrian, when they realized that we were looking the other way and we were not going to stop their plans (see below Wesley Clark and Dumas)
they also attacked Mali, I kept silent, I was not Malian,
when they now attack Mozambique and Congo and supported militias and soldiers to get their gas, coltan, cobalt, I still keep silent, I am not Mozambican, nor Congolese, after all....
and when they had to leave Afghanistan beaten, I wanted to believe that now they stop killing,
I remain silent that they continue to use or support violence in 80 countries and approve politicians to buy even more weapons and employ soldiers,
then when groups come up in the countries that are being attacked that want to stop it and attack our countries, it becomes harder and harder for us to fight back now,
and I wonder why they do that...
when young people in many countries are being recruited by violent groups because I didn't care that our states are using the money for wars that could be used to give everybody a chance to live in dignity, now it's also getting harder and harder to keep my security,
our states are using this to say we need more war and armaments to respond to this and plan to kill even more people
when Covid hit me because the funds that could have financed a good global health system and timely development of vaccines were missing because they were used for armament and war, it didn't help me anymore
when climate destruction now hit me, because the public funds that could have stopped it have been put into war and rearmament that accelerated it, it was too late to react,
as they encouraged by our silence to their rearmament for war and then challenged China and Russia militarily and it escalated to nuclear world war, I now find no one who still defends the human right to life now that it affects all of us - and thus also me
Only now I ask myself:
- Why did I actually remain silent when my state or its military alliance attacked their countries and used public funds for armament and war, instead of for life?
- Why I elected or did not prevent politicians who started and continued this murderous-suicidal path of violence,
- Why we have allowed them to finance these wars with our taxes, to use weapons produced by us, to let them fight these wars with our children (men, women, parents), to understand the people fleeing from these wars still as perpetrators and not as victims of the actions of our states, why we have allowed them to break international law, because the UN Charter forbids violence and war to the states and also to NATO states
why we have nevertheless elected and reelected or not prevented parties and politicians who are responsible for that
why, in spite of all this, I do not oppose them and do not become active myself, do not join forces with others to build up political forces that will ensure that international law is respected
why I do not help to produce or support politicians who are capable of resolving conflicts by peaceful means, who use our money to create humane living conditions, and who abide by the precepts of all religions and secular humanism: Thou shalt not kill!
Wolfgang Lieberknecht, IFFW Campaign Fix our countries, Fix our world
The idea that inspired me to write this text comes from the Protestant pastor Martin Niemöller, who after the Second World War expressed his remorse for his behavior during the Nazi era with these lines
Immanuel Kant: "The inhumanity done to another destroys the humanity in me." This moral imperative should become the guiding principle for our culture of survival, which we should develop together.
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