EurasiaNet Eurasia Insight - Afghanistan: Germany Extends Troop Mandate While Fighting PR Battle at Home

EURASIA INSIGHT

AFGHANISTAN: GERMANY EXTENDS TROOP MANDATE WHILE FIGHTING PR BATTLE AT HOME
Jan-Thilo Klimisch 10/17/08

With the global financial crisis distracting the public, German lawmakers have gained some breathing space to make difficult geopolitical decisions. On October 16, the Bundestag signalled a strong, continuing commitment to Afghanistan’s reconstruction, renewing the mandate for the participation of German troops in the NATO-commanded International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The next test will come in November, when Berlin has to address its participation in the United States-led anti-terror mission "Operation Enduring Freedom" (OEF).

The October 16 vote on extending the ISAF mandate was 442 for, 96 against with 32 abstentions. The primary source of opposition came from the Left Party, which has its political roots in the former East German Communist Party, or SED. In addition to extending the mandate, the Bundestag authorized to increase the number of German soldiers in Afghanistan to 4,500. Germany remains the third largest troop contributor within the ISAF-mission behind the United States and Great Britain.

Some German lawmakers who voted for the extension suggested there was no genuine alternative to a continuation of the mission. "The reaction to the bad news from Afghanistan cannot be withdrawal," Andreas Schokenhoff, an MP from the governing Christian Democratic Union (CDU), told the German broadcaster ZDF.

Birgit Homburge, a defense expert for the Free Democratic Party, whose members also backed a mandate extension, suggested a buildup would have to precede a drawdown of forces. If the armed forces were to pull out in the near future, then "tomorrow Kabul would become the capital city of terror," ZDF quoted Homburge as saying.

Despite endorsing a mandate extension, an editorial in the influential Süddeutsche Zeitung called for a thorough reevaluation of the mission in Afghanistan. "A pullout in the foreseeable future is out of the question, as it would negate the progress we have made so far. A simple, ’keep going’ though, will also not work. After seven years of the mission, it is time to draw lessons from our experience. That means continuing to pursue our successful policies, and correcting our mistakes," the editorial said.

The pragmatism exhibited by lawmakers runs against the tide of public opinion, which strongly opposes both the ISAF and OED missions. According to several opinion polls, about two out of three Germans want to reduce the number of, or even totally withdraw, German troops in Afghanistan. The nation remains extremely wary of the German military’s participation in combat, and the government’s task of keeping a lid on public discontent has only become more complicated in recent months.

Officials have routinely portrayed the military presence in Afghanistan as an armed development assistance mission. But that characterization has come under increasing scrutiny since July, when the German soldiers took over the tasks of the Quick Reaction Force for the Northern provinces, where Germany is the lead nation. The increasing violence in Afghanistan has meant that German troops have become embroiled in combat on a regular basis. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

The death of a German paratrooper at the end of August and the first civilian casualties caused by a Bundeswehr operation just a few days later plunged Germany into a national debate. Col. Bernhard Gertz, chairman of the German Armed Forces Federation, opened the debate by casting the situation in Afghanistan as a "war." Top government officials, including Federal Minister of Defence Franz-Josef Jung, distanced themselves from such a characterization, opting instead to describe German participation in Afghanistan as "robust peacekeeping," "reconstruction assistance" or as a "stabilization mission."

For those who have always been against Germany’s involvement in Afghanistan -- the remainders of the peace movement, parts of the Green Party and the Left Party -- the debate offered an opportunity to renew calls for an immediate withdrawal of German troops. The Left Party, known in Germany as Die Linke, remains the only faction in the Bundestag completely opposed to the Afghanistan mission. In the aftermath of the Bundestag vote on October 16, Paul Schaefer, a party representative, lamented the outcome. "More of the wrong thing won’t make it right," he told ZDF.

While Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government can feel relieved about the ISAF vote, the political challenges presented by Afghanistan are far from over. Right before the first plenary debate about the ISAF mandate’s renewal, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called for Germany to end its participation in the United States-led OEF anti-terror operations in Afghanistan. He also announced that about 100 troops from the German Special Forces (KSK) should be withdrawn from the country. Steinmeier justified his stance by saying that the KSK troops had never been used in the three years that they had been in Afghanistan. The vote on the OEF mandate extension is due in November.

Merkel’s conservative CDU has been critical of Steinmeier’s statements. But experts say the dissatisfaction is linked to the fact that Steinmeier was recently nominated as the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate for chancellor in the 2009 elections. The SDP and CDU have been Germany’s two most influential parties in the post-World War II era, and they are currently sharing power in an uneasy grand coalition government.

To keep public scepticism at bay, Berlin has touted Afghanistan as a laboratory for a new model of peace building, described in Germany as a comprehensive network approach. It aims to integrate civilian and military reconstruction/stabilization activities with the close involvement of the Afghan government. At the 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest in April, as well as at the International Conference in Support of Afghanistan in Paris in June, this approach received the international community’s endorsement. Citha Maass, an Afghanistan expert at the Berlin-based German Institute for International and Security Affairs, suggested the decisions could be "the beginning of a paradigm shift."

Germany is expected to commit roughly 1.1 billion euros by 2010 to Afghan reconstruction, including money for humanitarian aid, emergency aid and transition assistance. Meanwhile, many of the additional 1,000 troops that are to be deployed to Afghanistan in the coming months will be detailed to help train the Afghan National Army. The German reinforcements will also aim to boost security in the country in advance of presidential and parliamentary elections coming up in 2009 and 2010 respectively.

Editor's Note: Jan-Thilo Klimisch is a freelance reporter based in Berlin.

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