By: Gowhar Geelani
Bonn, Germany:
“I am even afraid to come out of our base camp in Afghanistan. It is not a war-like-situation; it actually is a full-fledged war out there. You can’t even imagine the circumstances we [the German troops] are face-to-face with,” this is what a German soldier has been often writing in his emails and faxed statements to his relatives and friends in Germany.
Hans-Dietrich Kuckuk – an expert on Asian affairs, feels “sorry” for German soldiers deployed in Afghanistan. Mr Kuckuk in his candid remark says: “It [Afghanistan] is obviously a war.”
Germany may not officially accept that it is part of the war against Taliban in strife-torn Afghanistan, but local media is intensifying pressure on the coalition government to accept that it actually is. The sketchy details about the capture of two fuel-tankers by Taliban and the subsequent NATO attack in Afghan province Kunduz on September 4 has added to the woes of German government.
Kunduz ‘Cover-up’ Opens New Debates In Germany
Media pressure is escalating with each passing day on German Chancellor Angele Merkel, Defence Minister Guttenberg and the country’s coalition cabinet with regards to the Kunduz attack, as serious doubts remain whether the country was ‘misinformed’ about the civilian casualties in the controversial air strike.
Germany is still busy finding answers to the much-debated air strike in Kunduz, which according to Independent Afghan Rights Group killed more civilians than Taliban fighters. More than 140 had died in this German-ordered air strike.
The strike has already led to the resignations of Mr. Wolfgang Schneiderhan, the Chief of Staff of German Army and the then Defence Minister Mr. Franz Josef Jung, who was Labour Minister in the new Merkel-led cabinet.
“Government seems to be in some sort of confusion regarding Afghan mission and Kunduz air-strike. After the World War-II the entire mood in Germany is anti-war and pro-peace. It is really a challenge to the government to tell people that Germany is not only a part of peace-keeping and rebuilding mission in Afghanistan, but it is also at war with the enemy called Taliban,” says Mr. Hans-Dietrich Kuckuk.
Widely read German newspaper ‘Bild’ recently published a report saying that the country’s former Defence Minister Mr. Jung and his men in the ministry had “deliberately kept hidden serious information about the civilian casualties in Kunduz air strike.” The report also said: “Immediately after the attack Mr. Jung came to know about the injuries of children in Kunduz, but he kept the information secret.”
This newspaper report has left many Germans upset, some disappointed and others aghast. Wibke is one among them. This 22-year-old German student, who had cast her vote for Angele Merkel’s party CDU during the recently concluded parliamentary elections in September, is a disappointed girl today. “Why can’t our government be open to its people? If civilians have died in Kunduz attack, we should have the courage to accept the blame and own responsibility,” she says. “Great nations exhibit courage even when the going gets tough,” she adds.
German media is making similar demands. Why can’t the government be open?
Germany is only next to US and UK in terms of troop numbers in Afghanistan. Germany entered Afghanistan in 2002 saying its main objective was to build roads, schools and provide aid for the development, but of late, the aim seems to be changing from development to combating Taliban, head-on.
Mr. Kuckuk nods in agreement. “Our soldiers are fighting Taliban militants there in Afghanistan and it is but natural to take necessary action when they feel they’re vulnerable.”
Many newspapers – critical of Berlin’s policy, say the federal government is reluctant to admit that it is at war.
Germany has until now lost at least 36 soldiers in the eight-year-old Afghan war. Overall, the US-led invasion has resulted in the killing of about 1538 troops, mostly American, which is according to the figures provided by icasualties.org, the website.
Now, another newspaper ‘Leipziger Volkszeitung‘ has reported that Merkel’s office too knew about the Kunduz attack and that it was carried out with an apparent aim to show intensity in the fight against Taliban rebels.
Such is the intensity of the media pressure here that the country’s current Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg has thrice changed his opinion about the Kunduz strike, which has given opposition Social Democratic Party (SPD) a strong reason to launch scathing attacks on the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU)-led-coalition government.
Initially Mr. Guttenberg had supported Kunduz strike, but now he recently described it as “militarily inappropriate” in the Bundestag [German Parliament]. He also ordered a new and complete probe to know the finer details of the circumstances that made Colonel Georg Klein –the German Army commander in Afghanistan, to order the air strike.
Defence Minister also told German broadcaster ‘ZDF’:”Afghanistan conflict will not be won by military means. NATO forces need to find a sensible way to withdraw from the conflict-ridden region, rushing that decision makes no sense.” Before flying to Afghanistan on Dec 11 to visit his troops there, Guttenberg called for more development aid. "Our soldiers are also risking their lives so that development aid can take place," he added.
Germany’s military mission in Afghanistan remains as much unpopular in Germany as is the eight-year-old war in the world. According to many polls the majority in Germany is in favor of the fastest possible withdrawal from Afghanistan and overwhelmingly fears that more German soldiers may be sent to the war-torn region on US President Barack Obama’s appeal. The recent survey conducted for the public television station ‘ARD’ reveals that almost 70 percent of Germans favor quick withdrawal of their country’s troops, writes Spiegel.de.
Germany, at present, has almost 4,500 soldiers in Afghanistan. The extension of Germany’s Afghan mission by one more year was recently given green signal by the majority in the Parliament. 445 Parliamentarians supported the extension, 105 voted against it while 43 had remained absent during the crucial voting.
The Western Military Alliance, NATO has already pledged to send at least 7,000 more troops to help Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s government to fight Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants, but Germany and France have – as of now, made no further commitments. Both prefer a ‘wait and watch’ until a proposed international conference on Afghanistan conflict is concluded in London in approaching January.
America’s first-ever Afro-American President Barack Obama recently made an announcement about his plans to send 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, and while receiving coveted Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo he also defended the unpopular war in his speech.
Apart from International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), German forces also play an important role in the KFOR and EUFOR military peace missions.
Spokesman at the Bundeswehr [German Army Headquarters] at Potsdam – a city located in the outskirts of capital Berlin, candidly admits that for German troops; the Afghan mission –without a whisker of a doubt, has so far been the most difficult of all.
And he is not wrong in his assessment. The mission remains difficult, both militarily and politically! And also on the home turf.
Gowhar Geelani is a Kashmiri journalist based in Bonn, Germany; working as an Editor for Deutsche Welle radio and online.
