dave angel

i think - WRT the German deployment - people need to take a long term veiw.

am i happy that a very large, well-equipped force is policing a stable area while in the south there is a desparate need for more troops? no, not wildly...

however two issues should be noted, firstly the very salient point that if the Germans come south then the North is more vunerable to the 'warlordism' so prevailing in that area - ISAF in the north and west is what enforces not just the will, but the concept of central government.

secondly that for the Germans this is still the road to reconciling their past with the responsibilities of being a major power.

lets not forget that Kosovo was the first time since 1945 that the Luftwaffe dropped a live bomb onto a real target - that 'on the doorstop operation' caused enormous souls searching in Germany, so only a few years on and very many thousands of miles away Afghanistan shouldn't be expected to be the scene of German 'militarism'. they need time, and incrementally more demanding and dangerous missions, before they feel able to fulfill the role that being a major european power entails.

patience.

the others however i've much less sympathy for....

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