Again in August 2017 there will be an antimilitarist war-starts-here camp close to the military training site "Gefechtsübungszentrum Heer" (GÜZ) in the german Altmark region. Bring your ideas and friends, let's smash militarism!
- Breach powerlessness together! -
The images of refugees vanished from public perception. Though they are still existing: countless people have to leave their homes day by day, facing inhumane and life-endangering hurdles on their search for nothing more than a secure place to live. Still, hundreds of people drown in the Mediterranean. Hundred-thousands persevere under precarious conditions in camps beyond the borderline of Fortress Europe, almost without any prospect for change. They seem far away, too far for many to see their persisting distress and the inhumanity they face.
And here?
Many people became involved in welcoming arriving refugees and are still staying with it. The – especially in Germany – publicly invoked “Welcoming Culture” was politically thwarted in almost no time by further eroding the right of asylum to its de facto annulation. Instead, militarisation of Fortress Europe and agreements with dubious regimes on camps trapping refugees within the countries they are fleeing from are being put in place to prevent people seeking shelter here. More and more states are being declared as “safe” countries of origin, into which refugees can be deported easily, which is done on a daily basis. Refugees are enduringly trapped in a demoralising loop, persistently facing uncertainty and fear, while desperation and powerlessness reinforce their traumatising experiences of war, terror and flight.
Those who try to oppose, struggling for a human treatment of refugees and borderless solidarity, are confronted with harsh restrictions and repression by the state. And instead of abolishing causes of flight, governmental action in terms of defence exports, further armament and war deployments creates even more of them. By this, feelings of powerlessness and hopelessness may be intensified, but for us they also support our will to take action against this misanthropic policy.
It’s time to gather in order to develop new strategies of hands-on resistance, of how we can overpower together the paralysing powerlessness and of how to unite in solidarity – small steps of transformation, that reflect glimpses of another possible world.
With the War-Starts-Here Camp we’ll take a strong stand against the belligerent situation underlying war, terror, flight and migration. We’re struggling for a world in which no one is forced to leave one’s home due to war or wo*man-made devastation of one’s basis of life. For a world without borders, that’s worthy to live for everyone!
You, you, you and…….of course you (!) are needed to succeed on this. Get cracking and become involved in sharing ideas of how to get conspicuous through anti-militarist and anti-racist actions. Another world is possible – and damn necessary!
Together with many we want to expose the apparent “normality” as a situation of perpetual war against humanity. We come to disturb and disrupt: Let’s be the spanner in their militarist works. We call you to oppose the state-organised killing by all means. Global justice and social rights for all!
– Causes of war and flight –
We’re living in a militarist situation
The globally unleashed capitalism has made the world a certainly dangerous place. Since the breakdown of the Soviet Union, globally the race is on for geopolitical redistribution, access to waning resources, opening of new markets and exploitation of cheap terms of production. Making use of political and economical power as well as “quite naturally” of militarist means the “security of supply” is being stabilised– standing for the never-ending exploitation of the earth and its inhabitants to feed the free flow of commodities rather than a sufficient humanitarian supply. It’s all about maintaining the deadly crisis-creating global economic system.
The inherent logic of this very system puts profit before people and destroys thereby the basis of life for millions of people. Nevertheless the gap between rich and poor widens steadily, as well in the industrial nations.
Crises, wars, climate change, poverty and migration are interconnected intimately with this predatory system underlying our prosperity. We are of necessity part of this system. Our social and economic lifestyle contributes to its maintenance. Realising this is an important step to change something with it.
Deutschland causes war.
Nowadays, Germany has definitely put behind its initially propagated creed of military restraint and is rather expanding its war capabilities by increasing military budgets and boosted armament. The German “Bundeswehr” is expanding – readily converted from a former defensive to a state-of-the-art offensive army. Already it is involved in several missions of war around the globe. Within the NATO but nevertheless as a driving force within a increasingly militarised EU, Germany develops its capabilities to shape matters along its own ideas – perfidiously referred to as “taking on international leadership responsibility”.
The NATO secures militarily the economical and power political supremacy of its leading member states, especially the USA. Thereby, Germany serves as an important military hub: From Ramstein airbase the US-Army transports war machinery to crisis areas, also the missions of their killer-drones are controlled from here. At “Fliegerhorst Büchel” 20 US nuclear weapons are still maintained, which, at command, can be redeployed rapidly by German Tornado-warplanes.
And even if the German state doesn’t enter every war or romanticises its deadly military interventions as peace-building-missions: practically Germany sells its weapons all around the globe without restraint – including areas of tension – Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are among the top customers of Germany’s arms industry.
An increasing militarisation penetrates all areas of society, and it is more and more shamelessly presented to public: By dubious image-campaigns the “Bundeswehr” aims to recruit young people for military service, it is present in schools, universities and job training fairs, hosts open house events and is medially committed to settle down as a just normal player within civil society.
At the same time, politics and media are practising themselves in subtle as well as increasingly frank war rhetoric. Terrorist attacks and the so called “refugee crisis” are instrumentalised to fan fear. Migrants appear as threats, separation and war as defence of inner security. Populist and right-wing groups are trading upon civil uncertainty for their racist and nationalist agitation. In this manner, a social climate is brought up in which significant increases in military budgets, army enlargement and additional missions abroad are parliamentarily passed without great contradiction. Fear is a perfect lubricant for the mechanics of governance. Who gives a damn about civil rights then? In the Trojan horse of inner security the administrators of statist reign are geared up to cut them at any given opportunity while simultaneously preparing for domestic counterinsurgency.
– Become part of the camp! –
For several years now the War-Starts-Here camp brought together lots of different people in the village of Potzehne in central Germany, situated close to the border of the most modern and important military training site in Germany, the “Gefechtsübungszentrum Heer”, abbreviated as GÜZ . Antimilitarist discussions as well as practical resistance left a persistent mark on both the participants of the camp and the surrounding region. And it was fun!
We gather to gain and share knowledge about wars and their preparation, to figure out the situation we are living in and to analyse its internal relationships. Perspectives in emancipatory movements are highly diverse – and so are the views on military and war. This in mind, we want to further develop common ideas of resistance, strengthen the local anti-war-initiatives grown over long years and also discuss our differences respectfully. It seems highly important to us, that we make a step towards the locals and talk with them about their experiences…and maybe more…
By this year’s camp we build on last year’s main issues. The motto “Krieg.Macht.Flucht.” is still up-to-date, saying “war causes flight” while making use of the ambiguous German word “Macht” (translating both as makes/causes and power). This time our focus will be the development of common anti-militarist and anti-racist perspectives of resistance. Let’s overpower our powerlessness – the camp in Potzehne wants to provide a space for that. We want to have a discussions at eye level with everyone sharing our radical refusal of the global destructive circumstances.
The camp is self-organised and thus, in its existence, shape and impact depending on active participation. Do not miss anything you haven’t helped to organise! Together we create a social counter project: From a society deeply infiltrated by authoritarian structures, let’s set sails towards Utopia.
– War starts here – and so does our resistance. –
The GÜZ, the military ghost town of Schnöggersburg and why they are in the focus of our resistance:
We want to set something against militarist mobilisation. Not only in people’s minds but as well in practice. Disarmament is handwork. We cannot rely on politicians, we gotta take matters into our hands.
We’re sticking to a spot being a focal point for antimilitarist action for several years now. And, due to its vital function for the preparation of war and counterinsurgency, it will surely be in the future.
The “Gefechtsübungszentrum” (GÜZ) in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany is the most modern military training site in Europe, where war and militarisation in almost all their facets are brought together.
On 230 sq-km of restricted military grounds, warfare is practised and prepared with state-of-the-art technology such as laser equipped weapon systems for real-time simulations of fighting, killing and dying. Here, the final touches are put to German soldiers prior to deployment abroad. Also mercenaries are involved in preparation, training as well as the actual war missions.
The facility owner, German defence contractor “Rheinmetall Defence”, lets it to the German “Bundeswehr” and armies of other NATO-members, is providing all technical and logistical services and is doing groundwork for military analysis of conducted exercises.
On the construction site of the gigantic military ghost town “Schnöggersburg”, designed for training of counterinsurgency in rural and urban areas, works proceeded rapidly the last years. Meanwhile the “Bundeswehr” proudly presents promotional photographs of the only metro station in Saxony-Anhalt, the brand new Schnöggersburg stadium or the ridiculous multi-confessional sacral building.
At the same time, the GÜZ is a gigantic trade fair. In 2011, Russia ordered a GÜZ clone facility at “Rheinmetall Defence”, half of which could be delivered until the imposition of sanctions in the course of the war in Donbass. Also the United Arab Emirates ordered a “Gefechtsübungszentrum” worth 70 mio EUR. Its army was trained in handling of the ultramodern simulation technology at the German GÜZ. Furthermore, “Rheinmetall Defence” is the world’s leading supplier of small arms, which are being sold all over the globe, e.g. Saudi Arabia.
Training, exercise, preparation and export – war starts here! We want to make this deadly site publicly visible, since it is of crucial importance to war preparation. Through various antimilitarist actions we want to disturb the “normal” operation on the GÜZ: Let’s mark, block, and sabotage this full-speed-running machinery of war!