A Story: From 2007 and the German Defense Ministry in Bonn

During the summer of 2007 I made my first trip to Germany. One of my sons went as part of the Sister Cities exchange program, and I agreed to come along as a chaperone.

It was a wonderful experience! I stayed with a German teacher, and I got to experience life as her guest. I also took day trips to places like Bonn and Berlin.
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I wound up traveling to Germany over the course of three other summers, but the trip to Bonn was one of the most unusual experiences I ever had. I never shared this story on my blog, but this summer seemed like the right time to tell it.

Now let’s find Bonn. Start with the white countries on the western edge of Europe. The Netherlands are to the north, and Belgium to the south.
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Take your finger east across the map towards the light green area. If you go all the way across the German state of North Rhine Westphalia, you’ll run into Bonn. It’s close to Hesse, the next state. It’s in yellow green.

                                                                                             My map source:
               https://printableworldmaps.net/political-germany-map-map-of-germany-with-cities-pdf/
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​Part 1: The Story Begins:   This is the Hardthöhe (hard-though-he) building in Bonn, the headquarters for the Federal Ministry of Defense. It’s like the German Pentagon. I remember the building from 2007, but without the construction.

​There was something important going on that day. Almost 85% of Germany’s generals were meeting inside, and our tour group had to enter through a side door. I felt like a spy in a James Bond movie.
It was odd and rather exciting, but the bigger story happened later.
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                    Photo and Information Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardthöhe_(barracks)


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​Part 2: Later—That Bigger Story:   We had a German officer as our tour guide. The only thing I remember, how we sat in a small meeting room and listened to him talk about the Bush Doctrine and the German position on it.

The officer kept pointing out the differences between them and pushing why the German one was better. I kept biting my tongue. My son was in the room, and I knew he wanted my mouth to stay shut, so I tried my very best. 
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Then it happened. One of our German hosts said in an all-knowing voice that their position was better. They waited for proof before striking, even if their own citizens and soldiers were killed first.

This is me in Germany, at a different time. I knew I had to speak. I understood why President George W. Bush didn’t wait. I watched the towers collapse on 9/11/01. That fall the entire country lived in fear that terrorists could strike again.

The president sent troops into Afghanistan on October 7, less than a month later. He had to hold the Taliban and al-Qaeda responsible for 9/11 and make sure it didn’t happen again.
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Then on March 20, 2003, the president again sent in troops. This time to Iraq. Saddam Hussein was threatening the US with weapons of mass destruction (WMD). 
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​In the two years between Afghanistan and Iraq, the President created the Bush Doctrine. It said the US could strike if there was an immediate or looming threat. The goal, to stop the attacks on us. President Bush was especially concerned with Iraq, Iran, and North Korea, the nation states most connected to terrorism and WMD. 


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Part 3: How the Story Ended:   This is me in 2007. I’m not sure exactly what I said at the Ministry in Bonn. Probably that some things can’t wait. That you have to act the minute you spot danger.

I’m a teacher so I told them about the most difficult student I ever had. I could see her temper brewing all day on the first day of school. That’s not normal. She held it in check but hit two kids on her way out to the bus. That’s not normal either. Most kids have a few good days before they act out. She didn’t.

I also told them how I protected the other kids. I didn’t wait for trouble. I always sent another girl with her to the bathroom. Her job, to hurry back and tell me if something happened. Then I’d take care of it. It worked; I don’t remember getting any reports.

My point, it was better to take care of trouble before it started. That’s what I did, and that’s what my president did too.

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​ I cornered my German tour guide at lunch and demanded to know what was going on. He admitted the truth…he pushed me on purpose. He’d been stationed in Iraq for a year or two.

​Whenever he had an audience with Germans and Americans, he’d poke us about the Bush Doctrine until we finally defended it. Just like he’d done to me. Why? My guess, he wanted his fellow Germans to hear a different point of view.
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So why did I decide to tell this story now? It feels like history is repeating itself. This time it’s Iran and President Trump.

​In February US and Israeli intelligence said the Iranians were trying to rebuild their nuclear program, and they were developing long range missiles that could hit Europe and eventually the US. In March we discovered the Iranians could launch a missile 4000 km. That’s 2000 km farther than we thought.

Also, when a country calls the US the ‘Great Satan’ for over 40 years, take them seriously. These people took Americans in the US Embassy in Tehran hostage for 14 months. They released them the day President Reagan took office in 1981. Why? They feared him, not Jimmy Carter, the previous president.
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Then on October 23, 1983, they saw an opportunity to bomb the US Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. They killed 241 marines and sailors that day in one strike. I remember both acts of terror, and I haven’t forgotten the attacks they’ve made in the years since.

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BTW, this is not the first post I’ve written about Germany. My trip in 2007, changed my life. I began writing thanks to a bat who flew through the house I was staying in. These are the three posts I’ve written about Germany since then.

1. Me and North Rhine Westphalia: https://www.rindabeach.com/blog/me-and-north-rhine-westphalia?__cf_chl_f_tk=TJzOffqez4eRyK0DUTlru6qTecPYKwYGDOiytV.FFIM-1783191011-1.0.1.1-HBZ4MpF5HhGXUp4keYaw1GcpVKp6V3ROkjC3sGqzJPw
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2. Stories from the Benderblock: https://www.rindabeach.com/blog/stories-from-the-bendlerblock

3. The Story of the White Rose: https://www.rindabeach.com/blog/the-story-of-the-white-rose

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