PDS against NATO attack

[Johannes Schneider]

Chris wrote:
> Yesterday Gregor Gysi, head of the PDS group in the Bundestag, criticised
> Germany's participation in the NATO attacks on Serbia.
The PDS was the only party in parliament who oppossed Germanny's
participation in the war against Yugoslavia. 1 Green MP and 7 SPD MPs are
opposing the German participation as well. Thats what can be considered the
German left in parliament.
Gysis speech was radical-democratic and pacifist, but not anti-imperialist
(of course, he is not a Leninist)
> I caught one argument that there can be no solution to this conflict
> without involving the Russians. This is probably true, but that does not
> mean that the Russians need to have a veto on military actions to be
> involved in the negotiations.
>
The PDS-position is two-fold. On the one hand they are mobilising against
the war. On the other hand they put forward and legalistic argument that
this war is against international law. More or less this is the same
position as Koffie Annand puts forward: only the UN security council is
allowed to order an attack on a sorveign state. In the end this would give
the Russians a veto.
The problem I am having with such a position is that the Gulf war would have
been justified.
> dpa appears to be describing a constitutional appeal.
The German constitution does not allow a war of aggression. Gysi and the PDS
argued that Yugoslavia never attacked Germany (or any of its NATO allies)
thus the war beeing an aggresive war. Judging from abstract logic this seems
reasonable, but of course the constitutional appeal was not even accepted by
the court.
> Does anyone have a fuller summary of the PDS position?
You already got the link.
Generally the PDS seems to deny the right of self-determination for the
Kosovarians
Johannes