troung

BERLIN, Germany (UPI) -- NATO has urged the countries contributing to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan to drop limits on their missions, a move that calls on Germany to send its troops to dangerous southern Afghanistan where the death toll is rising. 'We need to better equip our forces in Afghanistan,' NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer wrote in a guest commentary in the Berliner Zeitung newspaper on the fifth anniversary of the Taliban`s retreat from Afghanistan`s capital Kabul. 'That also means removing the restrictions some countries have put on their troops.' Such a move would 'send an important and necessary signal among the allies,' he said.
De Hoop Scheffer`s comments are an obvious reference to the German resistance to allow its soldiers to be dispatched to the volatile south of the country, where Canadian, British and Dutch troops battle the increasingly active Taliban insurgency.
NATO, U.S. and British officials have repeatedly pressed Berlin to send some of its 2,800 soldiers stationed in and around Kunduz to the conflict zones, but without success.
The latest advance by de Hoop Scheffer on Monday was quickly fended off by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
'We have taken over responsibility in the north and have a mandate under which we help in the south during emergencies,' said Merkel, adding the parliamentary mandate would not be changed.
At his regular news conference, Merkel`s government spokesman Monday said the German ISAF mission, which needed parliamentary approval, enables German soldiers -- in a 'timely limited and punctual' fashion -- to be deployed to areas other than the north.
A Defense Ministry spokesman said 21 German communications soldiers were currently serving in the south, while the German Air Force flew transport missions into the combat zone. The north is not completely at peace, the German Defense Ministry added. A bazooka attack on a German-Afghan convoy comprised of three vehicles injured two Afghan policemen.
Peter Struck, a senior German government lawmaker and defense minister in the previous government, said the north was so calm because of the Bundeswehr`s presence, and pulling the Germans out may destabilize the region around Kunduz.
'If the Bundeswehr went further south, what would happen in the North?' Struck asked the Rheinische Post newspaper. 'We are doing our bit.'
The exchange comes as European Union foreign and defense ministers meet in Brussels to debate the 25-member bloc`s future role in Afghanistan. The country is experiencing its most critical period since the U.S.-led invasion, with the 2006 death toll at some 3,700 people -- a result of between 300 and 600 insurgent attacks each month, according to a new international report.
EU and NATO have had to admit that despite sending some 31,000 soldiers to Afghanistan, stabilizing efforts have failed, as the drug business still is not curbed, corruption remains high, and the Taliban is raking up fresh support.
In Brussels German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung underlined Merkel`s position but added that the EU as a whole may step up its efforts in Afghanistan, a move strongly advocated by Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot.
EU efforts could take on 'many forms, such as training troops, aid missions -- there are many ways the EU can help,' he said.
Dutch soldiers are among the troops who have to live through daily attacks in the south.
Individual EU nations already help by training police. Germany, Spain and Italy have police instructors on the ground, but military officials in the past have criticized the training programs.
The EU may take over the training program, observers say, while Germany has also signaled its willingness to expand the police training mission, in what observers say is a bid to calm international anger over Berlin`s unwillingness to send troops south.
The pressure on Germany is nevertheless rising -- some say the Democratic victory in the U.S. midterm elections may cause Washington to ask more from its European allies. Merkel may experience the increased pressure as early as at the end of this month, when she attends the NATO summit in Riga.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International

__________________
To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

-{SpoonmaN}-

Given how stretched the USAFs are right now, I'd argue that the EU needs to pull it's weight in A-stan. Maybe it should break down like this:

US and allied Special Forces, as well as mobile backup and intel operatives hunting Al-Q along the border, a mission which is pretty different from trying to deny territory to the Taliban.
EU/NATO troops in large numbers directly taking the fight to the Taliban and most importantly holding and securing ground in their strong areas to provide security to the local populace and to disrupt the current pattern of attacks.
An international, preferably UN reconstruction mission across the less restive areas (where reconstruction is possible) to increase quality of life for Afghan civilians, as well as decreasing support for a return to the old days.
And then an international anti-drugs operation nation wide, which would tie in with the other three, seeing as how Al-Q and the Taliban use drug money to pay for what they do, and reconstruction might allow for a more stable economic climate that would make drug farming less attractive. This would probably be best achieved with a significant contribution from the European Gendarmerie Forces who are pretty well placed to tackle this sort of high-risk law enforecement.

__________________
"I have this to say to the people of Australia: Kick me, I'm different."

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....

__________________
before criticizing someone, walk a mile in their shoes.................... then when you do criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

-{SpoonmaN}-

Indeed I'm entirely underwhelmed with the effort that everyone has made in Afghanistan, I guess this demonstrates the unrelenting resolve of the international community to do whats right once again.

leib10

Good for them, highly uncharacteristic of them, but good for them nonetheless.

__________________
"The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world. So wake up, Mr. Freeman. Wake up and smell the ashes." G-Man