Whither West Germany?

The article presents a comparison between democratic process in the United States and West Germany. Certainly the United States cannot force the German people to embrace democracy; even if it could, a democracy that is "forced" is not a democracy. But the U.S. can make one thing clear to those in power in West Germany: that the two largest and most powerful nations in the world want peace; that increased military preparedness in Germany with not be tolerated. The question of freedom within West Germany is not primarily an American concern. However, it would hardly be in the interests of the U S. to underwrite the yearnings of a few German souls for a closed society.