German press sees images of its own past in Baghdad

BERLIN (AFP) Apr 10, 2003
Drawing parallels with their own past, Germany's press Thursday hailed the collapse of the Iraqi regime, thankful it was faster than feared but warning that the task was far from over.

Pictures of Iraqis furiously hacking at a statue of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein revived memories of East Germans pickaxing the Berlin Wall in 1989 as the communist regimes of eastern Europe crumbled one after another.

"They are scenes that bring Iraq home to us because we recognise them from our own recent history: the metal wires around the throat of huge statues of Lenin, the people tearing down the Wall," wrote the centre-left Tagesspiegel daily.

"Baghdad is suddenly alongside Gdansk, Budapest, Leipzig, Prague, Bucharest and Belgrade -- names that stand for the liberation of eastern Europe."

The paper also had a message for those who had opposed the war, including the vast majority of the German people: "No one who thought this war was wrong should deny the jubilation.

"The fall of a despicable dictator is a cause for joy for every democrat."

The conservative Die Welt also drew parallels with 1989. "All Baghdad seemed to be on its feet, freed from the oppression of dictatorship, from terror, now full of hope for a better future.

"The images from Baghdad will have an impact on Arab countries, influence Iraq's neighbouring states and strengthen the role of the United States in the Middle East."

The mass-selling Bild daily said the image of cheering Iraqis was at last fulfilling the hopes of the US-led forces.

"The regime is collapsing, the chains of dictatorship are being broken. The statues of Saddam are tumbling, as those of Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Milosevic did before them."

But it warned: "We know, we Germans, that the war will not be finished until freedom and order are joined. The road ahead is long. But in Iraq, the end is in sight."

The conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine sounded a similar note of caution, pointing out that the fighting was not yet over even if fears about the length and dangers of the war had not materialised.

"The rapid and surprising collapse of this regime should not lead to the conclusion that democracy will rise out of the ruins like a new building," it said.

"When the smoke of war has dissipated, conflicts will emerge again between Shiites and Sunnis, Kurds and Arabs. There is much work for the experienced European constructors of civilian societies.

"They will need to have someone at their side, armed, to protect them for a long time to come."

SPACE.WIRE