What's Happening in German-Speaking Europe?

This blog prides itself in helping the avid follower of crucial issues, such as health issues, eco-myths and politics to understand the bigger picture. Scanning the globe, it appears that something's up in German-speaking Europe -- and I believe the media has missed it. Consider these:

• Tehran is allegedly exploiting Austrian banks to bypass sanctions.
• Deutsche Bank is under investigation for breaking sanctions.
• German-Iranian trade is booming.
• An Austrian and German (who called sanctions ''stupid'') were among five European Parliament members who insisted on visiting Iran.
• A Der Speigel report has highlighted Germany as ''a focal point of procurement'' for Iran nuclear program.
• According to The Washington Post, the vast majority of the 20,000 tourists who visit Iran for non-religious reasons come from Germany (or China).

Of course, none of these are ostensibly ''government'' activities -- and to be fair, both the German and Austrian governments have been clear on their support for strengthening sanctions. Nevertheless, is it possible they are conveying mixed signals?  For example: A German parliamentary delegation that refused to take its cue from the EP delegation and went ahead with its plans to visit Iran, met inter alia with Mohammad Javad Larijani (head of Iran's so-called High Council for Human Rights) -- the same Larijani who seemingly minutes after the departure of the U.N. Secretary General from Iran called his special rapporteur for human rights in Iran ''irrelevant.''  And what did Larijani tell the Bundestag members? He countered their human rights message by criticizing Europe for using it as ''a political tool''.

Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle found time on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly to meet with his Iranian counterpart Ali Akhbar Salehi. This same EU-sanctioned Salehi -- who a week before embraced Assad the butcher of Damascus -- then chose Germany as his stop-over choice en route back to Tehran. It's reasonable to assume that Herr Westerwelle was in the know about this.

Now, unlike Iran, it doesn't matter to this blog whether he's heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual or asexual. This blog however does find it incredibly hypocritical of those Germans -- particularly an openly gay minister -- who think that gay rights are something that should be embraced at home, while ignored aboard. Especially when considering Dan Littauer's article about homosexuals in Iran where he quotes: The Iranian speaker of parliament equated gays with barbarism and questioned if the U.N. is seeking legalization of homosexuality in his country."

He goes on to note that: According to a report by Mehr News Agency, Mr Larijani shared with the audience the story of a meeting with one of the European foreign ministers, saying that, 'one of the ministers we met was a faggot. What should we have done? Should we have refused to meet with him (because of his homosexuality)? In the international arena, we have to pursue our national interests.'''. Larijani's comment was probably a reference to the visit by openly gay German foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, to Tehran, in which he met with Iran's President Ahmadinejad (see photo above).

The Way I See It....Herr Westerwelle is conveniently in denial. His high station prevented him from having his balls cut off (or worse) in a Tehran back alley by Larijani's thugs from the phony Council of Human Rights. He was widely criticized at the time, for having not raising the plight of Gay and Lesbian citizens in Iran in his many meetings and deliberately leaving his partner in Germany as to avoid any potential conflicts.

Despite this downright disgusting attitude by this turd, Larijani, towards one of Europe's most respected leaders, Westerwelle and other politicians continue their dead-end dialoguing. As the private sector picks up this subtext from the political echelon, no wonder it's causing an apparent spillover into Europe's wider German-speaking sphere. This is what the media missed!