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A recent bombing in Afghanistan that killed civilians shows the difficulty US military commanders are having with their NATO allies. The World’s Matthew Bell reports.

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MARCO WERMAN: The war in Afghanistan is an election issue in Germany, and that intensified after last Friday’s NATO bombing of two tanker trucks hijacked by the Taliban.  The air strike was called-in by German forces stationed in Northern Afghanistan.  NATO officials now concede the bombing killed not only Taliban militants, but also Afghan civilians.  They are conducting an investigation into the incident.  The World’s Matthew Bell reports, now, on the repercussions for the NATO coalition fighting the war.

MATTEW BELL: Germany’s Chancellor, Angela Merkel, told Parliament today that she deeply regrets any loss of innocent life in Afghanistan—especially if it’s a result of German military action.

ANGELA MERKEL: (Angela Merkel speaking in German to Parliament, as per Matthew Bell.)

BELL: But Merkel went on to say that [OVERLAPPING] (Merkel continuing her speech to Parliament, in German, in the background) there’s no option but to stay-the-course.  She said the German Army’s mission in Afghanistan is necessary because it protects International security, world peace, and the lives of people in Germany from terrorism.  Merkel added that both the Afghan government and ordinary Afghans have asked Germany not to leave them alone in the fight against the Taliban.  The investigation into what might have gone wrong with last week’s NATO bombing in the northern Afghan province of Kundus has only just started, but some of the official reaction has already “pointed the finger” at the Germans.

JOSHUA FAUST: The Governor of Kundus has been most instructive in this, in that he’s not complaining about 125 [SOUNDS LIKE] looters getting killed in a bomb blast.  He’s complaining about Germany’s not doing its part to secure this province.

BELL: Joshua Faust is a military analyst who writes about Central Asian Affairs at the blog, Registan.net.

FAUST: Over the last three years, in the entire German area of operations, there’s been a steady increase in insurgent activity; and, it wasn’t until July of this year that the Germans were allowed to even go on offensive operations in their area.  So, what’s been happen is, the Germans has basically been “asleep on the job,” while lecturing everyone else about how superior their approach was.  And what we’re finding is, their approach has actually made things substantially worse.

BELL: About 4,000 German troops were stationed in Afghanistan.  They have mostly stayed away from engaging in direct combat.  That’s got a lot to do with politics in Germany, where pacifism has been popular since the end of the Second World War.  Now, with an election just a few weeks away, there’s a huge divide between the public and most German politicians.  Rainer Shtinner is with an opposition party in Germany that still backs Merkel’s view of the war.

RAINER SHTINNER: About 90 percent of all the Parliamentarians of all the different parties, except the left, support our engagement in Afghanistan; whereas, 60 percent of the German public is against it.  So, for us, it’s a hard time in explaining to our public why we are there, and why we have to remain there, at lest for the time being.

BELL: There’s some “irony at work” here, because the U. S. Commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McCrystal, is moving toward a strategy that would rely less on airstrikes and more on protecting civilians.  Last Friday’s call for an airstrike by German forces might be an exception rather than the rule in the future.  Michael O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institution:

MICHAEL O’HANLON: Most German military, and most German politicians and citizens favor the kind of restraint that McCrystal has now adopted into policy.  And let’s also not forget an important point, which is that our German allies (while they do have a lot of restrictions on their employment of forces in Afghanistan, and more than I would like) have, nonetheless shown some bravery; and, they have actually had 35 soldiers killed in this war.  That’s a lot.  That’s, you know, about the number we lost in Somalia in ’93 before we pulled out.

BELL: O’Hanlon says, “The true test of German staying-power might be yet to come.  The Taliban are taking the fight to parts of the country that have been relatively quiet for some time, and that might mean German troops, along with the rest of the U. S.-led Coalition, will find themselves engaged in more combat than ever—that’s as long as the German electorate doesn’t decide to oust the current government.”  For The World, I’m Matthew Bell.

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