Merkel Pays Visit to Afghanistan Troops

NYtimes
December 19, 2010
By JUDY DEMPSEY

BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany paid a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Saturday amid growing differences inside her coalition government over when to begin withdrawing the 4,700 German troops serving in the country.

Guido Westerwelle, the foreign minister, told the German Parliament last week that troops would begin leaving toward the end of next year.

But Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, the defense minister, and military commanders said over the weekend that they were reluctant to set a firm date. Josef Blotz, spokesman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, said it was unwise to think of theoretical and inflexible timetables.

“If, as a firefighter, you were fighting a blaze in a high-rise building, you would never say to yourself, ‘O.K. my shift finished at 7, whether it is still burning or not,” Mr. Blotz told the German news service dpa. “And even once you have put the fire out, you would station a guard at the site to make sure the flames do not rekindle.”

Mrs. Merkel’s visit — only her third since becoming chancellor five years ago even though Germany has the third-largest contingent of forces in Afghanistan after the U.S. and Britain — was different from her previous tours.

Because of the deteriorating security situation, Mrs. Merkel remained on the base in the northern province of Kunduz where most of the German troops are based. And she adopted a much more reflective tone.

“Until now, we only knew of stories like this from war books,” Mrs. Merkel said after attending a memorial to German soldiers killed in the conflict and then talked to troops.

“The reason why I’m here is to say ‘thank-you.’ We know what you are doing is an extremely dangerous undertaking,” Mrs. Merkel said.

Mrs. Merkel’s visit was overshadowed by the death of a 21-year-old German soldier from gunshot wounds just before her visit. The Defense Ministry in Berlin said it was unclear what had led to his death. In total, 45 German military personnel have been killed in Afghanistan.

During her short trip to Kunduz, Mrs. Merkel held talks with the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai. One of the main issues was how the Afghan government was tackling corruption. Mrs. Merkel, clearly dissatisfied with his answers, told reporters that Mr. Karzai had given her very few assurances on the issue.

German lawmakers have become increasingly critical over Mr. Karzai’s apparent failure on corruption, one of the main topics in a lengthy report issued last week by the government dealing with developments since it first sent troops to Afghanistan nine years ago.

The report cited corruption at a time when the public and lawmakers increasingly question why German troops serve there. This could influence the vote when lawmakers next month decide whether to extend the mandate and increase troops to more than 5,000.