Reply #81

the "alleged right to strike first".

Whereas India and China have pledged to not be the first to use nuclear weapons in any conflict,

Pakistan, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and France say they will use nuclear weapons against either nuclear or non-nuclear states only in the case of invasion or other attack against their territory or against one of their allies.

(...) At a NATO summit in April 1999, Germany proposed that NATO adopt a no-first-use policy, but the proposal was rejected.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_first_use

The right to strike first is clearly on the table whenever a succession of events is presumed where a major (non-nuclear) attack against a NATO/US ally is likely.

Grass is clearly NOT referencing a "nuclear first strike by Israel", but the general situation where such first strikes are not categorically ruled out by the countries with the most powerful militaries on earth. Netanyaho has made believable threats to bomb facilities in Iran, not if and when Israel is attacked, but merely because of suspicions that nuclear weapons MIGHT be developed there at some point which in theory MIGHT be used against Israel. Do you know what he will do if he suspects a massive (conventional) counterattack to such a limited first strike? Do you know what Israel's allies will do?

Grass fears, since such scenarios have been "Practiced in war games, at the end of which we as survivors Are at best footnotes" that Netanyahu's threat could lead to a nuclear confrontation and wipe out the people of Iran, given that they are living "under the yoke of a loudmouth", someone who is not very likely to strike a conciliatory tone towards his Israeli counterparts, especially not if they are making direct threats. Instead of adding further fuel to the conflict e.g. by delivering more weapons, Grass suggests to "prompt those who initiated the recognizable danger To renounce violence and Likewise insist That an unhindered and permanent control Of the Israeli nuclear potential And the Iranian nuclear sites Be authorized through an international agency By the governments of both countries."

These are the literal words of the poem:

Es ist das behauptete Recht auf den Erstschlag,
der das von einem Maulhelden unterjochte
und zum organisierten Jubel gelenkte
iranische Volk auslöschen könnte,
weil in dessen Machtbereich der Bau
einer Atombombe vermutet wird.

...

den Verursacher der erkennbaren Gefahr
zum Verzicht auf Gewalt auffordern und
gleichfalls darauf bestehen,
daß eine unbehinderte und permanente Kontrolle
des israelischen atomaren Potentials
und der iranischen Atomanlagen
durch eine internationale Instanz
von den Regierungen beider Länder zugelassen wird.
http://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/gedicht-zum-konflikt-zwischen-israel-und-iran-was-gesagt-werden-muss-1.1325809
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/04/gunter-grasss-controversial-poem-about-israel-iran-and-war-translated/255549/