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Afghanistan |
Germany sends firepower to Afghanistan |
2010-05-21 |
BERLIN, May 20 (UPI) -- The German government this month decided to dispatch more armored vehicles to its troops in Afghanistan, after having sent heavy artillery there in mid-April. Germany will send another 15 Marder infantry fighting vehicles to northern Afghanistan, where Germany has nearly 5,000 troops with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. In addition, the Bundeswehr troops will receive Panzerschnellbruecke 2 vehicle-launched bridges and Dachs engineer tanks, German Defense Minister Karl Theodor zu Guttenberg said this month. "We are not engineering a general arms buildup, but we are reacting to the necessities on the ground," he told German news magazine Focus. The plans will be costly, putting pressure on an already overstretched German federal budget. Guttenberg said he was willing to look at long-term spending programs but urged his government not to cut back on short-term arms expenditures. "We have to spend the necessary amount to protect our troops on mission," he told the magazine. In mid-April, Guttenberg had already dispatched to Afghanistan two models of the Panzerhaubitze 2000, a world-leading self-propelled artillery weapon developed by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Rheinmetall. Dutch forces had used the howitzers with a target range of up to 37 miles for years, while the Germans until last month were doing without them. The German troops also received TOW anti-tank guided missiles and additional Marder infantry fighting vehicles. The boost of firepower was a major policy reversal for Berlin, which had shied from deploying heavy attack equipment into Afghanistan out of fear it would point to a war-like mission -- highly unpopular in largely pacifist Germany. Yet in the face of several large-scale battles with Taliban forces in April that killed seven German troops, it was clear that the Bundeswehr needed greater firepower in Afghanistan. |
Posted by:Steve White |
#7 Well, one view is that Germany was never unified, but rather annexed through a series of wars by Prussia-Saxony. Bavaria and the Rhineland states never exhibited the same intensity of 'warrior' spirit that Prussia and Saxon had. With the division of Germany in '45, the place was pretty much divided up along those lines with Soviets sitting on the Prussian and Saxon territories and the west on the the remaining lands, with the neutralized Austria out of the collection. The Bavarian and Rhineland confederation in the form of West Germany had the opportunity to organize and mature without the imposition of authority by the Prussians that it experienced in the 19th Century. Today most of Prussia is now Russian or Polish territory and has been subjected to cultural and ethnic cleansing for half a century. |
Posted by: Procopius2k 2010-05-21 11:54 |
#6 Oscar, you're right. |
Posted by: mom 2010-05-21 09:26 |
#5 I think that the pascifistic nature of the German people is due to the backlash , disgust and embarassment of their forefathers action during the 20's, 30's and 40's , Procopius2k Generally a proud people , and definatley warrior spirits . Perhaps they realise that they need to play a larger part in operations for ISAF |
Posted by: Oscar 2010-05-21 09:19 |
#4 So would you consider doing to the troublesome tribes what you did to the Germans to exorcise their two hundred year history of militarism out of their culture? That would take an awful lot of veterinarians working overtime. |
Posted by: mom 2010-05-21 09:19 |
#3 OK, they have more guns and more bullets - but do they have permission to shoot them? |
Posted by: Glenmore 2010-05-21 09:03 |
#2 ... highly unpopular in largely pacifist Germany. Why is Germany so pacifist today? Isn't that what you want the Afghans and Pashtuns to be? So would you consider doing to the troublesome tribes what you did to the Germans to exorcise their two hundred year history of militarism out of their culture? /rhet question |
Posted by: Procopius2k 2010-05-21 07:59 |
#1 |
Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2010-05-21 06:29 |