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| « German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (Daniel Roland/AFP/Getty Images) |
By Ron Fraser
In the face of a concerted well-timed attack on his political persona, Germany’s Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg swung into aggressive defensive mode last week.
“Frankish firs do not fall down” was his rejoinder to the concerted effort by a primarily Free Democratic Party (fdp) and Social Democratic Party effort to blacken his name in the run-up to important state elections in Germany (Bild, January 23). The allusion was to the young aristocrat’s long family heritage of unyielding resistance in the face of battle. It is such charismatic confidence that endears Guttenberg to the German public, while at the same time causing his political enemies such frustration in their efforts to blacken his name.
As the German daily Bild commented, Guttenberg’s use of the “Frankish fir” analogy was a message delivered pointedly to both his “critics and competitors in Berlin” in the wake of their latest attempt to bring him down (ibid.).
Bild also quoted Guttenberg as stating, “I have asked the inspector general to undertake a review of all branches of the armed forces, whether there has been in recent years or even now indications of the engagement in rituals which are not in agreement with the principles of the Bundeswehr and I will quickly point out the consequences which must result from such.
