Germans in a shooting war for first time since 1945
The Panzers are beginning to roll as Germany mounts its biggest operation in Afghanistan ahead of next month’s presidential elections. Having faced sharp criticism for opting out of major combat missions in the region, Germany is now deploying heavy artillery, Marder tanks and mortar fire to support an Afghan army push around the city of Kunduz. German fighter jets have also been firing missiles at Taliban positions for the first time.
Germans, in short, are in the middle of a shooting war for the first time since 1945. Naturally all politicians and commanders are avoiding the “K” word – the German for war is “Krieg” – but the bullets are being fired, the body bags are coming home (35 so far) and a politically acceptable version of the Iron Cross is being pinned on the chests of soldiers for valour on the battlefield.
“We shouldn’t call it a war,” said Franz Josef Jung, the German defence minister, this week, “that just upgrades the Taleban who are nothing more than terrorists.” The real reason, though, is that Germany is entering its own general election campaign.
The last time that Germans saw themselves poised on the brink of a war – George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq – Chancellor Gerhard Schröder mobilised the country’s pacifist instincts and won what had seemed to be an unwinnable election.
Read entire article at Times (UK)
Germans, in short, are in the middle of a shooting war for the first time since 1945. Naturally all politicians and commanders are avoiding the “K” word – the German for war is “Krieg” – but the bullets are being fired, the body bags are coming home (35 so far) and a politically acceptable version of the Iron Cross is being pinned on the chests of soldiers for valour on the battlefield.
“We shouldn’t call it a war,” said Franz Josef Jung, the German defence minister, this week, “that just upgrades the Taleban who are nothing more than terrorists.” The real reason, though, is that Germany is entering its own general election campaign.
The last time that Germans saw themselves poised on the brink of a war – George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq – Chancellor Gerhard Schröder mobilised the country’s pacifist instincts and won what had seemed to be an unwinnable election.