Clinton and the Berlin Wall domino
When the Berlin Wall topples for a second time Monday, more may be laid bare than the inherent weakness of a political system.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall, Berliners have erected a wall of giant painted dominoes.
During the evening’s festivities the domino wall will be toppled along several blocks near Brandenburg Gate.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went to visit the domino sponsored by the U.S. Embassy.
She met with the east Berlin school students and teachers who designed and painted the giant block and pronounced it “very impressive.”
The scene on the domino shows the back of a popular East German car traveling through a wall from darkness into light. Overhead are a rainbow and a white dove of peace.
Clinton said she liked “the light breaking through the dark.”
Clinton pushes for cooperation on confronting extremism
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used an awards ceremony Sunday in Berlin to push European allies for greater cooperation in confronting extremism, nuclear proliferation and other challenges of the 21st century.
Her remarks came as thousands of people crowded into the city on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall.
“We should look to the examples of the generations who brought us successfully through the 20th century and once again together chart a clear and common course to safeguard our people and our planet, defeat violent extremists and prevent nuclear proliferation,” Clinton said.
“We need to form an even stronger partnership to bring down the walls of the 21st century and to confront those who hide behind them,” Clinton said, like suicide bombers and those who attack girls for trying to go to school.
“In place of these new walls, we must renew the trans-Atlantic alliance as a cornerstone of a global architecture of cooperation,” she said.
Clinton’s remarks come as President Barack Obama is facing a difficult decision on whether to deploy additional troops to Afghanistan.
The administration has had difficulty convincing European allies to shoulder a bigger role in the conflict, and analysts said Clinton’s call for renewed commitment was not likely to change that.
What if the Clinton visit was the “40th anniversay” of the West. As unstable as the West is at present it would not surprise me to witness the economic collapse of the Western alliance. That is the implication of the term “domino”…