"The German position on drug policy is "absolutely correct" he says. He would not want his men get caught up in a war with the drug barons."
SPIEGEL ONLINE - August 19, 2005, 06:45 PM URL: http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,370539,00.html A Schizophrenic War Should Germany Sharpen its Sword in Afghanistan? Deep in Afghanistan's heroin regions, German troops are on the defensive. Critics say that they should be taking a more aggressive stance. Could US action in Columbia be a model? Editor's Note: This is the final section of a three-part special. You can read the first and second parts beginning here. (http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,370130,00.html) German troops in Afghanistan. Is Germany more interested in the safety of its soldiers or the success of the mission? DPA (http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,506300,00.jpg) Back in heroin's fertile crescent, the German soldiers have picked a spot to set up camp for the night. The lieutenant calls his men -- one of them is a woman -- forward. He's young, but he was trained as a Panzergrenadier -- heavy infantrymen trained to fight alongside tanks. During WWII, these units were crack troops, and they're still considered to be the tougher end of the Germany military, like the US Marines are to the Americans. The lieutenant is responsible for the unit's safety, and although he's only 25, he knows how to issue orders with confidence. Tonight, he's assigning night watch shifts and designating the evening's cook. A few men from the neighboring village come by. The long object one of them is carrying turns out to be harmless; it's just an umbrella. The man who owns the fruit grove says he doesn't have a problem with the Germans camping here. Just one problem, he says. He can't vouch for their safety. Once the locals are gone, the lieutenant colonel calls for the satellite telephone, the unit's only contact with the outside world. But the bear of a man, a former special forces trooper, has become nervous, and now he's phoning the regional governor to request "reinforcements". He speaks anxiously with the lieutenant and commander, repeating that the drug barons are extremely dangerous. Without the Afghan highway police, he says, their chances at surviving the night are grim. The other two officers are embarrassed - they know that the highway police have nothing more than battered cars, a few old rifles and maybe combat boots. The lieutenant colonel reacts angrily when they dismiss his suggestion, yelling for the satellite phone as if his life depended on it. He tries to call to the governor, but to no avail. He paces around, redialing the number again and again. Half an hour later, the commander suggests he get something to eat. The lieutenant colonel replies "I'm not moving until the highway police get here". Meanwhile the other "infantrymen of the future" are sitting on the grass, heating up hamburgers with ketchup. For dessert, the group's clergyman hands out holy wafers which were actually intended for a communion service in Faizabad. Then, in best Catholic fashion, the padre pulls out a small bottle of communion wine. Getting through the Night When night falls, it is pitch black. A donkey's baying can be heard over the sound of the rushing river. The lieutenant colonel is standing on the road by the "Dingo," waiting for someone to come and offer protection. Two men stand guard while the soldiers sleep in their vehicles. One of them is the armored infantryman's lieutenant. A dog barks, and frogs can be heard croaking by the river. A sharp, athletic blond haired fellow, the lieutenant joined the army because he loves the outdoors and sports. "As an officer, I'm happiest when I land somewhere with 15 men in a helicopter and can bring all 15 of them back home. Being able to take care of ourselves is as good as it gets." The German position on drug policy is "absolutely correct" he says. He would not want his men get caught up in a war with the drug barons. Soldiers live closer to death than most, and they're thus more worried about their own survival. In Kabul, four Germans died when an ISAF bus came under attack. And there have been at least three other attacks in Kunduz and Faizabad. No one would wish these soldiers anything but the best of luck. But that basic principle of military life cannot be forgotten: a soldier's survival is subordinate to the interests of the state. Berlin, Gendarmenmarkt Professor Herfried Münkler believes that German troops should be more aggressive in their fight against the Afghan drug lords. (http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,257189,00.jpg) Inside a chic restaurant on one of Berlin's most beautiful squares, the Gendarmenmarkt, Professor Herfried Münkler is fielding difficult questions. Münkler's book, "The New Wars," led the newspaper "Die Zeit" to christen him "a walking, talking one-man think-tank." Such good press indicates that his answers will probably be pretty decent. But Münkler is careful. He introduces his remarks by saying, "my reply is coming from the notoriously irresponsible point of view of a scientist." Talking about life and death in such a fancy setting is easy. But the questions do not go away, regardless of where the discussion takes place. "When you get involved in something like Afghanistan, there is a price which society has to pay" explains Münkler. Following the disastrous Second World War, Germany became a "post-heroic society" and finds it difficult to shoulder the burden of military intervention. The burden is to accept the fact that soldiers are there to represent Germany's interests by shooting and dying, not by simply being there. The elite KSK force does carry out isolated action against the Taliban and is ostensibly involved in opposing drug cultivation, albeit in an educational sense. Information on these activities is strictly confidential, in the interests of society. "This is one small, heroic group which has nothing to do with the general post-heroic society" adds Münkler. Soldiers carry the coffin of one of their comrades who was killed in an explosion in Afghanistan. Casualties have been light but have nevertheless made a big impact in Germany. DPA (http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,487196,00.jpg) Another problem is the inability to identify what German political interests entail. One government report from earlier this year deals with many aspects of the Afghanistan operations, but fails to mention that German interests could also mean combating opium growth, a direct factor in ruining lives at home. The report caused something of a row, suggesting, as it did, that British soldiers could use German camps in Kunduz and Faizabad for overnight stays. Friedbert Pflüger of the conservative party CDU claimed this went against the mandate. As British troops were more forthright in their actions against poppy cultivation, they could be targets for the drug barons, thus endangering their German hosts in the process. Is that how it should be: whilst the Germans sleep peacefully within their high walls, the British allies fight on unprotected? A Nation Lacking in Confidence The disasters of the first half of the last century have rendered Germany a "soft" nation. Feelings of guilt have bred an acquiescent atmosphere of tolerance and understanding. That is changing, but only one step at a time. The change first became apparent in internal affairs. Back in the 1970s, those who were coping poorly in society, the drug addicts, were still seen as victims of a brutal social system. Now there is a greater sense of the individual's responsibility for his condition and the treatment of such persons has become more rigorous. Then Gerhard Schröder spoke of a "new self-confidence" with regard to foreign policy. Although not in the sense of more concerted military action -- this is after all one of the most delicate of issues for a nation with such an appalling military history. "Without this confidence", comments Münkler, "a situation such as Afghanistan cannot be dealt with adequately." Especially since this is a country where people, like drug barons go to extreme lengths to defend their interests. It is simply not possible to enter this territory and remain an innocent, as the Germans would so dearly wish to. There will be shooting, fields will be torched, responsibility must be taken for death or the misery of human life. And if you don't shoot, the same rules apply. Could the USA's Stance in South America be a Role Model? In South America, the USA adopted a two-tier strategy. Since president Ronald Reagan declared war on drugs and drug barons, over 5,000 agents of the "Drug Enforcement Administration" were engaged in active combat in countries driven by the drug cultivation economy. They poured in with local troops against cocaine production, they promoted the cultivation of useful plants. The DEA delivered factual evidence which the US government examined on an annual basis to assess the state of the war on drugs. Whoever is deemed to have failed to cooperate with the DEA, or has a generally poor record on working against those producing and trading drugs, suffers the consequence of credit being withdrawn or of economic aid being cancelled. This has happened in Burma and, in the past, in Afghanistan itself. The US destroyed coca plantations in countries such as Columbia and Bolivia. They also trained local troops to fight the guerillas, the major producers and the laboratories. Farmers who voluntarily destroyed their own coca fields and replaced them with pineapples were offered state support. Even so, not even the Americans have managed to control drug cultivation in any great measure. A new proposal has been put forward by a medicine research group, supported by European and non-governmental organisations. Afghanistan could be offered a license for controlled opium production for medicinal purposes - to secure income for poppy farmers and to squeeze out the illegal cultivation market. This would be diametrically opposed to the interests of the Afghan warlords who reap such profit from the opium trade. Something similar to the DEA line is being tested in Afghanistan. $150 million of investment is being offered to promote the cultivation of wheat and roses and $1 billion is going into the Western world's anti drug campaigns. "Last year, the political process was top of the agenda, this year the focus is on poppies" announced lieutenant general David Barno, the highest-ranking US officer in Afghanistan. But what about the German army? Münkler is in favor of Germany engaging in a hard-line war on the Afghan drug barons, in the interests of both nations. "We can only establish a stable and peaceful economy if we succeed in forcing back the inevitably warlike drug economy as far as we can." Berlin, Drug Support Center Heroin makes its way from Afghanistan to Germany along several routes. DER SPIEGEL (http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,506937,00.jpg) It is a summer's morning in Berlin and Dennis walks into the drug support center on Ansbacherstrasse. He is wearing jeans, red trainers and a jacket bearing the inscription "Racing Team." He has a rucksack and is holding a carton of "Capri Sonne" fruit juice. This is the frontline in the war on drugs for social worker Katharina Wallstab. "How can I help?" asks the social worker. "Swap," Dennis mumbles. His face is pale, his eyes dead as he mechanically pulls a red tobacco tin out of his backpack, jerking like a robot. His head keeps drooping forward, as if he's suddenly fallen asleep. He needs four attempts to unscrew the lid off the tin. He takes out his syringes and lays them down in front of him. His voice slurs as he counts them, barely comprehensible. "Oah, two, thr, fuh." Ten altogether. He helps himself to ten new syringes and ten needles, five short, five long, with all the labored stoicism of an animal building a nest. His mind is elsewhere, he's running on automatic. Dennis picks up his rucksack and leaves. Just a few seconds later, he's back. He forgot his juice. Off he goes again, then comes back to go to the toilet. He leaves again, returning immediately, a cup of cocoa shaking in his hand, chin on his chest, eyes like windows in an empty house. He looks like an old man a hundred years ago. Beyond Keshem, Afghanistan The soldiers are up at 4:30. The mountains and villages are as grey as their faces and uniforms. They brush their teeth at the roadside. A boy from the village walks up and past them, back into the grey from where he came. Five minutes later, he reappears, carrying a huge bunch of pink roses in his arms. The first sign of color today, he silently hands each of the soldiers one of the radiant flowers. And off he goes. The soldiers look at their roses, puzzled. They smell the perfume or break off the stems to slip them under their epaulettes. There they are, the world's strangest army. At five, commander Vogler-Wander gives the order to move on. The German convoy swings back towards Kunduz. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> <font face=arial size=-1><a href="http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=12hrin4ge/M=362329.6886306.7839369.3040540/D=groups/S=1705323667:TM/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1124754475/A=2894321/R=0/SIG=11dvsfulr/*http://youthnoise.com/page.php?page_id=1992 ">Fair play? Video games influencing politics. Click and talk back!</a>.</font> --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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