Germany to US: Wehrmacht Will Not Fight Taliban

onedomino

SCE to AUX
Sep 14, 2004
2,677
481
98
Of course Germany is not the only country to make their troops virtually useless in Afghanistan by specifying that they cannot fight the Taliban in the south, the Turks and French do the same thing. All the hard work of fighting the Taliban has been left up to the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and (of all countries) the Dutch. NATO has underlined its marginal utility by failing in its Afghanistan role. Yesterday, Canada threatened to pull out of Afghanistan unless the Euros shared in the danger. Today, we get the Germans telling us: so what? The Wehrmacht did horrible things in WW2, but by definition going up against it meant an intense and difficult fight. Now the leaders of one of the most modern and capable combat forces in the world are politically afraid of the Taliban. Apparently they fear that the Germans will vote them out of office if the Wehrmacht is allowed to go up against some 8th Century killers. For all their wealth, Euros are amazingly weak.

Germany Rejects U.S. Pressure on Afghanistan Troops

complete article: http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSL0147441820080201

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany on Friday rejected a call from the United States to send combat troops to dangerous parts of southern Afghanistan and said there were no plans to change its deployment of troops in the less violent north.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates had written a strongly worded letter to Germany and other NATO members urging them to send 3,200 extra troops to Afghanistan in his latest effort to boost support for U.S. soldiers.

German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said he did not envisage any change to the parliamentary mandate which allows Germany to send 3,500 troops to northern Afghanistan as part of the 40,000-strong NATO International Security Assistance Force.

"We have agreed on a clear division of labor," Jung told reporters on Friday. "I think that we really must keep our focus on the North."

Jung added that he would write to Gates to explain the German position.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel had also made clear that the mandate was "not up for discussion", government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm told a news conference.
 
Yep don't ask others what you can do much better yourself! Everyone knows that giving the chance, U.S. Marines would annihilate the entire Taliban if they would let them pursue them across boarders. :eusa_doh:
 
Yep don't ask others what you can do much better yourself! Everyone knows that giving the chance, U.S. Marines would annihilate the entire Taliban if they would let them pursue them across boarders. :eusa_doh:
And you point is what?
 
NATO Afghan Rift Deepens After US Criticism

complete article: http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL07876752

By Mark John and Patrick Lannin

VILNIUS, Feb 7 (Reuters) - A NATO rift over Afghanistan deepened on Thursday after U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates raised concerns that some allies were not prepared to "fight and die" in the battle against Taliban insurgents.

His comments came ahead of a NATO meeting in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius where Germany, France and other European allies face a concerted U.S-led call to send troops to the violent south of the country.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a separate appeal for reluctant allies to come forward during a joint trip to Afghanistan on Thursday with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, whose country has more than 7,000 troops in the south.

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer sought to keep a lid on tensions after Gates told U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday he feared "a two-tiered alliance in which you have some allies willing to fight and die ... and others who are not".

"I do not see a two-tier alliance. There is one alliance," de Hoop Scheffer told reporters before the meeting, repeating his earlier appeal for Gates to reserve appeals for troop reinforcements for closed-door NATO discussions.

"Usually we do not do that in public," he said.

However, underlining the growing sense of rift within the alliance, Gates received strong backing from other countries with troops in Afghanistan who have for months unsuccessfully pleaded with allies to take a share in the combat.

"We want to see more of a one-for-all approach, including more burden-sharing in the south," Canadian Defence Minister Peter Mackay told reporters, reaffirming a demand for reinforcements to help its 2,500 troops in Kandahar province.

"That's non-negotiable," Mackay said of the request, which Ottawa has said must be answered if it is going to extend its mission in Afghanistan past next year.

Dutch Defence Minister Eimert Van Middelkoop said Gates was "within his rights".

"We all have to realise we have made a promise to the Afghan authorities, that we have to do the job in a proper way," said Middelkoop, whose government last year extended a 1,500-strong Dutch contingent in the south despite strong public opposition.
I wondered about the Dutch in this case. I was surprised that they were participating in combat against the Taliban. It appears there is a Dutch Government that has strength and determination, even if the public its serves does not.
 

Forum List

Back
Top