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Germans plead Second World War hangover
Gethin Chamberlain, The Observer (UK), 16 Feb 08
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Germany's role in the Second World War has made it difficult to win public support for military action in Afghanistan, the German ambassador to Britain has admitted.
Wolfgang Ischinger said Germans had so often been told that their military had done "many awful things" it was hard to persuade them they should get involved in another conflict.
Germany is under pressure from the US, Britain and Canada to send more troops to reinforce the Nato mission in the south of Afghanistan, where the fighting against the Taliban is at its fiercest. Canada is demanding that other Nato members provide another 1,000 troops in the south if it is to remain in Afghanistan next year.
But describing criticism as "quite irresponsible", Mr Ischinger said that Germany had done more to help Afghanistan than any other European nation, including Britain. "In terms of financial assistance, civilian aid, military commitments, we would probably be the number one country," he told The Sunday Telegraph.
"The UK has been the number one European military contributor for the last period but… as recently as 2004 the German contingent was bigger."
Germany is considering boosting troop numbers by 1,000 to about 4,500, but Mr Ischinger ruled out moving them from the more peaceful north.
He said politicians had to win over a post-war generation. "You have never been in the situation, certainly not in the last century, where you thought that the military had no role at all abroad, but that was the consensus in Germany as recently as 12 or 13 years ago.
"It is only very recently that we participated in more direct peacekeeping, and more recently still in actual combat operations. We have come a long way."
Germany is not alone in attracting criticism over Afghanistan. While the US has 15,000 troops attached to the Nato mission and Britain has 7,800, other nations maintain only a token presence. Georgia has one soldier, while Switzerland and Singapore have sent two each. Austria has three, Ireland seven and Luxembourg nine.
France is still considering whether to send another 1,000 troops on top of the 1,515 already there, with a decision expected before a Nato summit in April.
The latest row began when Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, sent what was described as an "unusually stern" letter to his German counterpart, describing Berlin's performance as "disappointing" and asking it to replace a 2,200-strong US unit which is being withdrawn from the south this autumn.
Writing in The Sunday Telegraph last week, David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, urged other nations to commit troops to Afghanistan. "There is the responsibility to ensure the scale of our efforts matches the severity of the challenge," he said.
Germans plead Second World War hangover
Gethin Chamberlain, The Observer (UK), 16 Feb 08
Article link
Germany's role in the Second World War has made it difficult to win public support for military action in Afghanistan, the German ambassador to Britain has admitted.
Wolfgang Ischinger said Germans had so often been told that their military had done "many awful things" it was hard to persuade them they should get involved in another conflict.
Germany is under pressure from the US, Britain and Canada to send more troops to reinforce the Nato mission in the south of Afghanistan, where the fighting against the Taliban is at its fiercest. Canada is demanding that other Nato members provide another 1,000 troops in the south if it is to remain in Afghanistan next year.
But describing criticism as "quite irresponsible", Mr Ischinger said that Germany had done more to help Afghanistan than any other European nation, including Britain. "In terms of financial assistance, civilian aid, military commitments, we would probably be the number one country," he told The Sunday Telegraph.
"The UK has been the number one European military contributor for the last period but… as recently as 2004 the German contingent was bigger."
Germany is considering boosting troop numbers by 1,000 to about 4,500, but Mr Ischinger ruled out moving them from the more peaceful north.
He said politicians had to win over a post-war generation. "You have never been in the situation, certainly not in the last century, where you thought that the military had no role at all abroad, but that was the consensus in Germany as recently as 12 or 13 years ago.
"It is only very recently that we participated in more direct peacekeeping, and more recently still in actual combat operations. We have come a long way."
Germany is not alone in attracting criticism over Afghanistan. While the US has 15,000 troops attached to the Nato mission and Britain has 7,800, other nations maintain only a token presence. Georgia has one soldier, while Switzerland and Singapore have sent two each. Austria has three, Ireland seven and Luxembourg nine.
France is still considering whether to send another 1,000 troops on top of the 1,515 already there, with a decision expected before a Nato summit in April.
The latest row began when Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, sent what was described as an "unusually stern" letter to his German counterpart, describing Berlin's performance as "disappointing" and asking it to replace a 2,200-strong US unit which is being withdrawn from the south this autumn.
Writing in The Sunday Telegraph last week, David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, urged other nations to commit troops to Afghanistan. "There is the responsibility to ensure the scale of our efforts matches the severity of the challenge," he said.
