Afghanistan Conflict Monitor

One Year After the Kunduz Air Strike, No Sign of a Full Investigation

One Year After the Kunduz Air Strike, No Sign of a Full Investigation, Spiegel Online, 30 August 2010

EXCERPT: "After the deadly German-ordered air strike in Kunduz on Sept. 4, 2009, German Chancellor Angela Merkel promised a full investigation. One year on, questions about the bombing in Afghanistan are still unanswered and many of the details remain classified. The chancellor had made a personal commitment to resolving the case. On Sept. 8, 2009, after waffling for four days following the horrific bombing of two tanker trucks stuck on a sandbar in the Kunduz River, Angela Merkel finally made a clear statement. 'For me and the entire government, it is a matter of course that the incident will be fully resolved,' the chancellor promised the nation. The German military, she added, would 'do everything within its power to contribute to the investigation.' Merkel's personal pledge was completely warranted. On Sept. 4, 2009, German Colonel Georg Klein ordered the bombing of two tanker trucks in Afghanistan's Kunduz Province. The attack killed up to 142 people, including many civilians. It was an incident that brought home the reality of the war to Germany. But the government did everything it could to ensure that this reality would reach Germany in highly filtered form. The Kunduz air strike was covered up, kept quiet and downplayed as much as possible. Even today, little has changed."

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Kunduz bombing victim: "The Germans lied to all of us", Spiegel Online, 30 August 2010
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Germany Drops Kunduz Raid Probe

Germany Drops Kunduz Raid Probe, Al Jazeera, 20 August 2010

EXCERPT: "Germany's military has said it will not pursue disciplinary action against a German commander who called in an air raid that killed dozens of civilians in northern Afghanistan last year. A preliminary investigation found no evidence that a breach of discipline had taken place following the order by Colonel George Klein for US aircraft to bomb two fuel tankers stolen by the Taliban near the city of Kunduz. The German army said on Thursday that it had concluded its investigation against Klein over the incident 'because his actions complied with the relevant criteria under international humanitarian law governing conflict'. Federal prosecutors decided in April to drop a criminal investigation against Klein. A Nato fact-finding team estimated a day after the bombing that about 125 people had been killed and that at least 24, but perhaps many more, of those killed had been civilians gathering fuel from the tankers."

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Related articles:
Why Germany is a nation in conflict, TIME, 20 August 2010
Misguided Esprit de Corps lets officer off the hook, Spiegel Online, 20 August 2010
German military drops case against Kunduz airstrike colonel, Deutsche Welle, 19 August 2010
Germany is paying $5,000 in compensation to Kunduz bombing victims' families, ABC News, 10 August 2010

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German Offensive Aims to Repair Security, Reputation

German Offensive Aims to Repair Security, Reputation, The Wall Street Journal, 10 August 2010

EXCERPT: "The German military, long criticized by its allies as too passive in the face of a growing insurgency, plans to go on the offensive in Taliban strongholds in northern Afghanistan—despite the risk of a political backlash back home. Acting on instructions from Berlin, senior officers have ordered two 600-man German battalions to team up with Afghan soldiers in the coming months and clear Taliban fighters from districts the insurgents now dominate. The new German commander of the battalion in Kunduz province expects to begin a series of attacks in October. 'This is a new mission,' said Lt. Col. Christian von Blumröder, who took command this month. 'My orders are to get this done.' For the Germans, shifting to what Col. von Blumröder calls a more 'aggressive' posture is politically controversial. Germany's military presence in Afghanistan, its first major combat mission since World War II, is deeply unpopular among the German public, and Berlin has presented the endeavor as more humanitarian than martial."

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Related articles:
Germany lists Afghan troop improvements, UPI, 11 August 2010
Germany is losing faith in the war, Gulf News, 11 August 2010
Berlin to pay Afghan families for fatal attack, International Herald Tribune, 10 August 2010

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War logs spark German debate on Afghanistan conflict, 28 July 2010
Minister admits Berlin played down dangers in Afghanistan, 16 July 2010
Germany aims at 2011 for first handover in Afghanistan, 9 July 2010
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War Logs Spark German Debate on Afghanistan Conflict

War Logs Spark German Debate on Afghanistan Conflict, Spiegel Online, 28 July 2010

EXCERPT: "The publication of the Afghanistan war logs by WikiLeaks has sparked a new debate about Germany's involvement in the conflict. The Social Democrats are threatening to withhold support for an extension of the German mission's mandate if the government does not provide answers about alleged wrongdoings revealed in the secret reports. Speaking to SPIEGEL about the publication of the Afghanistan war logs, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said the material 'will change the opinion of people in positions of political and diplomatic influence.' In Germany, at least, his prediction appears to be coming true. Rolf Mützenich, the foreign policy spokesman for the parliamentary group of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), told the Wednesday edition of the Berliner Zeitung newspaper that the SPD would make their support for the extension of the Bundeswehr's mandate, which comes up for renewal in March 2011, dependent on how the government explains the details revealed by the war logs."

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Related articles:
Guttenberg denies Afghanistan cover-ups, The Local, 27 July 2010
War logs illustrate lack of progress in Bundeswehr deployment, Spiegel Online, 26 July 2010
Berlin plays down Wikileaks' Afghanistan files but plans investigation, Deutsche Welle, 26 July 2010
We underestimated Afghan task: NATO head, The Sydney Morning Herald, 20 July 2010

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Minister admits Berlin played down dangers in Afghanistan, 16 July 2010
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Merkel defends Afghan policy at soldiers' memorial, 9 April 2010

Mother of Killed Soldier Wants to Take Military to Court

Mother of Killed Soldier Wants to Take Military to Court, Deutsche Welle, 22 July 2010

EXCERPT: "The mother of a German soldier who died in Afghanistan is seeking to sue the Defense Ministry and the Bundeswehr - arguing that better equipment and training could have prevented her son's death. Public prosecutors are investigating whether insufficient equipment and training by the German military can be held responsible for the death of a soldier in Afghanistan. The mother of the paratrooper brought the charges after her son died in a roadside blast near Kunduz on Good Friday 2010. On April 2, Nils Bruns and his unit were ordered to provide backup for a group of German troops who had been caught in an ambush. Bruns was fatally wounded when an explosive device went off underneath an armored vehicle as he walked past it. The 35-year old was rushed to a field hospital where he died from his injuries. In a letter to the prosecutors, Bruns' mother said she was convinced that the death of her son could and should have been prevented. 'The unit of first sergeant Nils Bruns was left to die a miserable death as a result of military aid knowingly being withheld,' German news magazine Spiegel quotes from the letter."

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Related articles:
Westerwelle hopeful for Kabul conference, amidst German press critique, Deutsche Welle, 20 July 2010
Military planners give Berlin three choices to shrink armed forces, The Hindu, 20 July 2010
Guttenberg cancels troop visit amid heavy fighting, Bild, 16 July 2010
Afghan mission sparks heated German parliamentary debate, Deutsche Welle, 9 July 2010

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Minister Admits Berlin Played Down Dangers in Afghanistan

Minister Admits Berlin Played Down Dangers in Afghanistan, Irish Times, 16 July 2010

EXCERPT: "Germany's defence minister has admitted the war in Afghanistan cannot be won by military means alone, and that Berlin played down the danger German troops faced in the early years of the mission. He was speaking at the launch of a new book, Rest in Peace, Soldiers, which says Berlin has realized that covering up the reality of the Afghan mission was doing more damage than coming clean. 'Yes, many mistakes were made and the danger of the mission was played down from the start,' said Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg. 'But this incorrect behaviour, which is perfectly open to criticism is, in my view, more down to the fact that all were overwhelmed.' Frankness like that is likely to boost further the popularity of the 39-year-old baron after just over a year as a cabinet minister. Since moving into Berlin’s defence ministry, he has corrected the course and narrative on the unpopular Afghanistan mission, opposed by nearly 80 per cent of Germans. What until 2009 was about 'stabilisation' – building schools and digging wells – is now, in the words of Mr Guttenberg, a 'war' involving 5,350 soldiers. Some 26 German soldiers have been killed since 2003, a figure he admits is going to rise. Everything changed in Berlin after last September’s air strike on two tankers near Kunduz – ordered by a Bundeswehr general – that killed 142, including dozens of civilians."

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Related articles:
Defense minister cancels Afghan troop visit over security concerns, Deutsche Welle, 16 July 2010
Germany's armed forces: At ease, The Economist, 15 July 2010
"German deaths in Afghanistan to rise", PressTV, 14 July 2010
Germany may end military service by 2013, Reuters, 13 July 2010

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Germany aims at 2011 for first handover in Afghanistan, 9 July 2010
German DM questions role of NATO in Afghanistan war, 29 June 2010
Germany's ex-defense officials skeptical of success, 18 June 2010
German Afghan mission suffering budget blowout, 21 May 2010

Germany Aims at 2011 for First Handover in Afghanistan

Germany Aims at 2011 for First Handover in Afghanistan, The Earth Times, 9 July 2010

EXCERPT: "Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Friday that Germany aims to begin handing over security responsibilities for Afghanistan's northern provinces to local forces by 2011, amid the continued unpopularity of the mission at home. The German army should transfer 'at least one' of the nine provinces it controls by 2011, he said. US President Barack Obama announced in December that he wanted US troops to begin withdrawing from the country by July 2011. Germany, which has the third-largest NATO contingent in the Hindu Kush, had not named a specific date for its own withdrawal plan until now. 'We want to create the conditions within this legislative period that will allow the step-by-step withdrawal of our military presence,' Westerwelle said in a statement to parliament. 'The operation in Afghanistan is certainly not popular, but it is necessary,' Westerwelle told the Bundestag, or lower house of parliament. The address came days ahead of an international conference on the region, to be held in the Afghan capital Kabul on July 20. The meeting aims to assess progress since international leaders met in London at the start of the year."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Afghanistan and the West: The difficult relationship between democracy and war, Spiegel Online, 7 July 2010
German minister warns against Afghan "end-date", AFP , 29 June 2010

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German DM questions role of NATO in Afghanistan war, 29 June 2010
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German Afghan mission suffering budget blowout, 21 May 2010
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German soldiers complain of insufficient training, 7 April 2010

German DM Questions Role of NATO in Afghanistan War

German Defence Minister Questions Role of NATO in Afghanistan War, The Independent, 29 June 2010

EXCERPT: "Germany is arguing for the aims of Nato's operations in Afghanistan to be significantly scaled down and wants the alliance to adopt criteria to ensure that it never commits itself to a similarly open-ended mission in future. This was the message conveyed by the German Defence Minister, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, during a lecture at a London think-tank yesterday. He was speaking after two days of talks with British officials, at a time when operations in Afghanistan are at a crucial juncture and the alliance is engaged in a comprehensive review of its future. In his remarks on Afghanistan, Dr zu Guttenberg, who is a key member of Angela Merkel's government and one of Germany's most popular politicians, spoke of the difficulties of 'selling' the Afghan mission to a sceptical German public, a problem he noted was common to governments throughout the alliance. But in calling for strict criteria to govern Nato missions, he drew lessons from the Afghanistan experience and effectively called into question the wisdom of the whole project."

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Related articles:
Nato end date "plays into hands" of Taliban, Financial Times, 28 June 2010
Britain, Germany: Military commitment to Afghans not "open ended", M&C, 28 June 2010
Germans question involvement in Afghanistan, Los Angeles Times, 25 June 2010
Germany and its reflex aversion to a normal military, The Christian Science Monitor, 3 June 2010

Related posts:
Germany's ex-defense officials skeptical of success, 18 June 2010
German Afghan mission suffering budget blowout, 21 May 2010
German peace institutes criticize NATO Afghan strategy, 19 May 2010
Merkel tries to beat back opposition to Afghanistan, 22 April 2010
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Detained German Says Dozens of Europeans Fighting in Afghanistan

Detained German Says Dozens of Europeans Fighting in Afghanistan, The Earth Times, 23 June 2010

EXCERPT: "A detained German national told investigators that dozens of al-Qaeda-recruited Europeans were fighting in Afghanistan and Pakistan, intelligence officials said Wednesday. The detainee, identified as Rami Makanesi, reportedly said that he had met militants from Germany, Sweden, Spain and Norway on both sides of the border. Some of them were receiving training at camps in Pakistan and others were fighting NATO-led troops in Afghanistan, an official who spoke on condition of anonymity said. "He is providing us with valuable information," he said. Police arrested the suspect Tuesday when he was disguised as a burqa-clad woman and trying to leave the Pakistani tribal district of North Waziristan in a car with two local men."

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Related articles:
Taliban claim a German arrested in Pakistan was their "comrade", Deutsche Welle, 22 June 2010
Burqa-clad German bomb-making expert arrested from Northwest Pakistan, Asian Tribune, 22 June 2010
One German among 4 arrested from Bannu, Online International News Network, 22 June 2010

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Taliban network of 156 caves discovered in Pakistan, 3 March 2010
Pakistan discovers "village" of German Al-Qaeda insurgents, 25 September 2009
Up to 15,000 Taliban in Afghanistan: Minister, 27 February 2009
Afghanistan says foreign fighters coming from Iraq, 4 February 2009

Germany's Ex-Defense Officials Skeptical of Success

Germany's Mission in Afghanistan: Ex-Defense Officials Skeptical of Success, Spiegel Online, 18 June 2010

EXCERPT: "The belief that things will end well in Afghanistan is dwindling in Germany. An increasing number of security experts recommend an orderly withdrawal and even those who were involved in sending the Bundeswehr on the mission are now voicing doubts about ultimate success. Former Defense Minister Peter Struck, the man who once declared that Germany's security would be 'defended in the Hindu Kush' drives his own car again -- the days of his chauffeur-driven armored government vehicle are over. Asked if everything is going well in Afghanistan, Struck bursts out with, 'No!' Asked if the German Armed Forces, the Bundeswehr, are where they had hoped to be, he exclaims, 'No, of course not!' He can clearly remember the days following Sept. 11, 2001. Struck was chairman of the SPD's parliamentary group when then-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder declared Germany's full solidarity with the United States. This statement effectively meant Germany would be going to Afghanistan."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
German soldiers injured in Afghan roadside bomb blast, Deutsche Welle, 14 June 2010
Germany’s cautious foreign policy, Le Monde Diplomatique, 11 June 2010
German president defends military action, Reuters, 28 May 2010

Related posts:
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