Germany’s struggle in Afghanistan

After killing more than 100 people (many of them civilians) in an air strike last week, Germany’s Armed Forces are going under a huge turmoil, both internally and externally.

The attack ended up being the bloodiest action for the Bundeswerh since World War II and it’s drawing attention from all fronts inside an already sensibilized country. Prosecutors in Postdam are already investigating whether charges should be brought against the commander who ordered the attack in.

But probably the biggest damage (internally) has been done to the public opinion.

Germany’s people shares the views on Afghanistan with many European countries like Spain. Their citizens believe their troops are there doing nothing much but acting as a police force, as they did in the Balkans back in the late ‘90s. In that line Carme Chacon, Spain’s MoD, has referred to the Talibans as “criminals”, “drug dealers”, “organized bands”, “insurgency” or even “common suspects”... Anything but Talibans, insurgency or terrorists, what they really are. It’s not as radical as that in Germany, but lies lie on the same grounds.

However, holding up after that premise is hard after the aftermath of this attack. A hundred dead bodies are not easy to hide to the public opinion and the issue stinks. So the official line of the German troops acting as peacekeepers has been questioned once again this week. And Merkel (as Carme Chacon) is getting nervous and wants to get out of there as soon as possible.

Externally the reaction is being not the expected. There was a rift between the US and Germany around the attack. McChrystal directives state that air attacks can be used only as a last resource and only if the lifes of the soldiers are under threat. However, German soldiers aren’t known in Afghanistan for putting their lifes in the line.

Kinda the opposite, actually. Apparently, this time two tanker trucks were stolen by the Taliban and later on spotted by a guy in a small town. Sending a patrol to confirm it would have been way dangerous for the Germans so they decided instead to bomb it. After that, sending a patrol to see the results would have been (still) way dangerous for the Germans, so they decided instead to send an UAV -a few hours later. But by then, all the corpses had been removed...

So basically, after this chain of mistakes, McChrystal decided to punish the Germans with what they will miss most: their beer. So far, drinking bigger amounts of beer than anyone else is the only achievement Germany has gotten in Afghanistan.

That’s gonna hurt.


Bundswehr soldier in Kunduz province
Photo: Reuters

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