Community | October 20, 2008 | 18 comments

German special forces leave Afghanistan without a single mission

source: http://news.scotsman.com/world/They-came-they-saw-.4573584.jp

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pigmonkey
GERMANY has admitted its Special Forces have spent three years in Afghanistan without doing a single mission, and are now going to be withdrawn.

More than 100 soldiers from the elite Kommando Spezialkrafte regiment, or KSK, are set to leave the war-torn country after their foreign minister revealed they had never left their bases on an operation.

The KSK troops were originally sent to AADVERTISEMENT fghanistan to lead counter-terrorist operations.

But Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the foreign minister, admitted they had not been deployed "a single time" in the last three years, despite a desperate shortage of Special Forces units in the country.

Troops from Britain's Special Boat Service and the SAS work round the clock, across Afghanistan, alongside US navy Seals and Delta Force, to target terrorists, arrest drug lords and rescue hostages.

The KSK were part of the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom, which spearheads the international hunt for Osama bin Laden.

Senior military officials last night blasted the KSK commanders for keeping the troops in camp. One western military official accused Germany of "sitting on the sidelines while the rest of the world fights".

He said: "It's just unbelievable to think there have been 100 highly-trained troops sitting doing nothing for three years, while everyone else has worked their socks off. It's no good sending troops if they don't do anything. They might as well have stayed at home."

Another source said: "It's ludicrous that they would be here and not contributing."

Berlin is under almost constant pressure from the rest of Nato to increase its troop contribution and scrap special national caveats which prevent German troops deploying to volatile parts of the country, like Helmand. Last year it emerged that Norwegian troops, fighting alongside their German allies, were forced to abandon a battle at tea-time because German pilots refused to fly emergency medical helicopters in the dark.
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18 comments // German special forces leave Afghanistan without a single mission

  • Wehrwolf
    • 0
      Wehrwolf  

    • Hello, I am german and I wrote your posts, and I felt like I should say a few words.
      most of you dont think about the german background.
      we dont have a president, not just one person who can decide what to do. 90% of the germans dont want to see german soldiers spill their blood at the Hindukush.
      and if a party or a chancelor is sending troops it will be a garanty for not beeing elected next time.
      the next point is our constitution (our kind of "bill of rights")
      is says the german army is for defence only. and this part of the constitution was reqested by the allies.
      on the other hand our troops are in northern afghanistan and we also had our dead soldiers over there. killed by car-bombs and stuff.
      well I dont think we can fight for our peace there. if obama will win and he will really go out of iraq it will become worse.
      My grandpa fought in russia and came home. He said: "if one german will ever touch a gun again, his arm should drop off."
      well maybe we have our fill.
      does anyone know the history of afghanistan? Alexander the great tried to conquer it, the English in the 19th century, the russians in the 80s and no one did ever win there.
      (I hope you did understand my english)

    • 3 years ago
  • marQueso
  • peter_doerrie
    • 0
      peter_doerrie  

    • What I heard from those special forces is that they were quite willing to see some action. But german society is not really supporting any combat-missions (bad lessons from the past ;-) and so politicians are quite cautious when it comes to risking soldiers lives...

      Not that it helps... Yesterday two german soldiers died in Afghanistan after a suicede attack.

    • 3 years ago
  • abbym0308
  • MasterMick
    • 0
      MasterMick  

    • Does anyone really want the Germans to concentrate on war again? I mean, they are damn good at it. They nearly kicked the entire worlds back side last time around. Let's be happy that they concentrate on cars and the nicer things in life these days, otherwise be careful, very careful about what you wish for..........

    • 3 years ago
  • growdude420
  • Wessagusset_Oracle
  • kennymotown
  • Emil_G
  • esk
    • 0
      esk  

    • If it's been 3 years why havent any western military officials complained until now..WAKE UP! Find Osama and lets all get the hell out of there..enough is enough.

    • 3 years ago
  • UrbanGypsy
    • 0
      UrbanGypsy  

    • The Germans used to have a proud martial history, now they don't even participate in military operations with their allies... what's the deal?

    • 3 years ago
  • Emil_G
  • peter_doerrie
    • 0
      peter_doerrie  
    • UrbanGypsy:

      And most of our "proud history" consits of waging unprovoced war against others...

      Dont really understand how any country could be proud of its military history, as going to war always means that you have fucked up in the first place...

    • 3 years ago
  • AntiFacistCanuck
    • 0
      AntiFacistCanuck  

    • Well done I say! Never fired a shot. Now if we could just get the rest of the belligerents to do the same, everybody could just go home.

      Why in the hell is Canada still over there?

    • 3 years ago
  • matea
  • Emil_G
  • aliquid_
  • Snuff99
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