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Subject: Time to lay off the gloves finally ...
Nasty German Idiot     1/16/2008 11:25:31 AM

Report: Germany to send 250 combat troops to Afghanistan

Germany is to send a unit of 250 combat troops to northern Afghanistan to replace a Norwegian force that is leaving in July.
Çarşamba, 16 Ocak 2008 10:14
Germany is to send a unit of 250 combat troops to northern Afghanistan to replace a Norwegian force that is leaving in July, marking a new departure for the German army, according to a news report published Wednesday.

The report, published by the Bavarian daily Passauer Neue Presse, cited a parliamentary spokesman for the Social Democrats (SPD), the junior partner in the ruling coalition.

It came hours after the Pentagon had announced that President George W Bush had approved the deployment of an additional 3,200 US Marines to the country.

SPD defence spokesman Rainer Arnold told the Passauer Neue Presse the German army had begun making preparations for the deployment.

The Defence Ministry in Berlin confirmed that planning was underway and said that the deployment fell under the mandate for German forces in Afghanistan renewed by parliament last year.

In October, the Bundestag renewed the mandate for 3,500 German troops in Afghanistan, combining two previous mandates.

Up to 3,000 troops are deployed in a training, reconstruction and security mission in the
north under the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

Note that these will be regular combat troops and not KSK which are there anyway under the Enduring Freedom mission.
 
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flamingknives       1/16/2008 12:20:22 PM
Will they be under different RsoE?
 
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Nasty German Idiot       1/16/2008 12:37:54 PM
Not certain yet. One thing the media is always pushing is a doubious "70 %" majority against a larger deployment.  Still, Merkel pushed the Tornado issue through without problem.

Thing is, back at Schröders time when the mission was started, he had to put up a vote of confidence because his Social Democrat / Green ( Ecological socialists !!!) had internal discussions.

Nowadays, we have a conservative Chancellor that has just produced the first surplus since 1969 and cut the jobless from 5.1 to 3.9 million. With the better economy, she is in a strong position to push through unpopular issues and can still feel quite secure about her next reelection.  Especially as the Social Democrats and Greens are weak and still have not recovered from the retreat of Schröder (now part of the Gazprom CEOs , hes become the German voice  in the Russian Governemnt somehow)  and Joschka Fischer (former green chairman). 
 
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Nasty German Idiot       2/6/2008 3:10:58 PM
Germany Sending Small Combat Unit to Afghanistan
The German government said on Wednesday it will send a unit of combat troops to northern Afghanistan as part of a NATO Quick Reaction Force to replace a Norwegian unit of 250 soldiers. But it reiterated its rejection of US and NATO calls to deploy troops to help its allies fight the Taliban in the south.

The German government on Wednesday rejected accusations from NATO allies that it wasn't bearing its fair share of the burden in Afghanistan and reiterated its refusal of a US request for German troops to be deployed from the relatively peaceful north to help fight a Taliban insurgency in the south.

German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said Germany was already the third-biggest troop provider in Afghanistan and that redeploying troops away from the north would be a "decisive mistake."

He did however repeat Germany's vague pledge to provide its NATO allies with military assistance when required, and announced that Germany will be sending a unit of combat troops to northern Afghanistan to replace the 250-strong Norwegian Quick Reaction Force being withdrawn.

"I want to make clear that we will continue our mission in the north which I think our soldiers are carrying out very successfully," Jung told a news conference in Berlin. "The regional division of responsibilities is clever and right. Neglecting the north would be a decisive mistake. But I repeat that if friends are in trouble we'll of course help them."

Jung had already rejected calls for a redeployment of German forces last week from US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.

Troops from the United States, Britain, Canada and the Netherlands are bearing the brunt of a resurgence of Taliban violence in southern Afghanistan. Canada has threatened to pull out unless other allies do more of the hard work.

Germany has around 3,000 troops stationed in Afghanistan. Under its parliamentary mandate, Germany can send up to 3,500 soldiers to the less violent north as part of the roughly 40,000-strong NATO International Security Assistance Force.

The US contributes a third of the ISAF mission, making it the largest participant, on top of the 12,000 to 13,000 American troops operating independently. The US plans to send an extra 3,200 Marines to Afghanistan this spring, including 2,200 combat troops to help the NATO-led force in the south.




US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice piled on further pressure on Wednesday, saying during a visit to London: "It's true and we've made no secret about it that there are certain allies that are in more dangerous parts of the country and we believe very strongly that there ought to be a sharing of that burden throughout the alliance."

"That said, I think we ought not to also dismiss the contributions that are being made by all alliance members," she told reporters.

Canadian lawmaker Rick Casson, the defense policy spokesman for Canada's ruling Conservative Party, said Germany should become more involved in Afghanistan. In an interview with Tagesspiegel am Sonntag newspaper published last Sunday, he said it was "decisive for the future of the Afghan mission and for the future of NATO that Germany and other countries become more strongly involved."

But Jung said Germany was already stretched with its missions in Afghanistan and in Kosovo where it was the biggest international troop provider, and that it was committed to continuing its "comprehensive approach" -- providing a combination of military security, development and reconstruction -- in the north.

He added that Germany was already providing military assistance to NATO troops in the south in the form of Tornado jet reconnaissance flights and air transport.

cro/Reuters/AP


Article published by the German Army:

Bundeswehr (German article)

Some aspects: IDZ equipment



FAUST ( electronic tactical leadership - first use in actual combat for Germany)
 
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LB    Where is the Shame   2/7/2008 8:19:54 AM
After 50 years of leading NATO, in both dollars and political will, following liberating and rebuilding Europe in WWII NATO voted to come to the aid of the US after 9/11 and to provide forces for Afghanistan.  It is simply disgusting that most of the nations of NATO can not be bothered to support the very modest mission.

Only the UK, Canada, Holland, and I believe Denmark are engaged in combat operations in the south.  Both Canada and the UK's PM's have expressed displeasure at the state of affairs.

Where is the shame?  Most Europeans who are against defense spending at least pay lip service to peacekeeping operations and yet this UN approved and NATO led effort can not be properly supported.  It's disgusting.

Canada has lost 78 killed and is demanding more help and more burden sharing by the rest of NATO.  Gordon Brown said similar things yesterday. 

It's fairly clear what Europe gets out of the US being a part of NATO but exactly what does the US gain from this mostly one sided and feckless relationship?  Until the mission in Afghanistan I strongly supported the US role in NATO as I did throughout the Cold War.  I supported NATO nations that after serious opposition took in Pershing II and GLCM which led to the treaty banning all these types.  Is there no political will in Europe anymore?  That a modest NATO force in Afghanistan has to lack for troops and equipment through lack of will simply disgusts me.  I'm irate.

One might have thought that another method of protesting and displaying one's disagreement with Iraq might have been to show the help Europe was capable of providing under NATO mandate in Afghanistan.  The actual lesson being taught is the Europe can't be bothered to help out in that tiny mission is actually did vote to support so making political compromises in future to garner European support is going to be worth about the same so in fact perhaps one shouldn't bother.

Where is the shame in Europe?
 
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Nasty German Idiot       2/9/2008 8:12:46 AM
The last time I looked on the Map, Britain, Germany and Spain are among those with the biggest casualties (Spain 23, Germany 28, Britain 87)  

PS: German position is slowly changing for good,  first step was that they set the date for the next mandate discussion to July (from autumn)  to get it out of the next election campaign (2009 !)  

It also seems that not only 250 Soldiers will be send, but 1200 and Germany will take Italian sectors in the West.

That would increase the German number to 4500.

link
 
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FJV       2/9/2008 10:27:32 AM
Actually it was shame that has kept Germany out of fighting for all those years.
 
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