Germany will hold off on any decision about adding troops to Afghanistan at least until the US makes a move, the country’s defense chief said.
“We are, eagerly probably as you all are, waiting for the president’s [US President Barack Obama] speech and ... waiting for the new concept, the new strategic ideas from our American friends,” German Minister of Defense Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said after meetings at the Pentagon on Thursday.
A day earlier, Germany said it would continue its military mission in Afghanistan next year despite the war’s unpopularity at home and doubts about the credibility of the Afghan government.
Guttenberg told reporters he has assured US Defense Secretary Robert Gates that Germany’s commitment is firm. He also said Germany would make its own choices.
After a speech later at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Guttenberg said that the US pressure on Germany to increase troop levels and to remove restrictions on its troops had eased as German troops deployed in the North of Afghanistan have taken on greater risk and casualties.
“I think that is because we have made clear that the German soldiers are not any longer in the North only to dig holes for water and wave to Afghan children,” he said. “It’s more and more that we are in combat situations.”
Obama is expected to announce soon whether the US will add troops next year, above the record 68,000 US forces now in Afghanistan.
For his part, Gates says the US “can use all the help we can get” from European nations and others in Afghanistan. However, he says asking for anything specific is premature until Obama announces his plans.
More than 4,000 German troops are serving in Afghanistan under a mandate that limits their number to no more than 4,500. The government said on Wednesday that limit would remain unchanged and the troops would be predominantly stationed in northern Afghanistan.
The decision requires parliamentary approval, which is expected before the current mandate expires on Dec. 13. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition enjoys a comfortable majority in parliament.
The mission to Afghanistan has become increasingly unpopular with Germans. More than 30 soldiers have been killed as Taliban militants have become more entrenched in the north of the country where German soldiers serve in the NATO-led force.
The German government has not come under significant pressure to pull out. All the main political parties, including most of the opposition, support keeping German troops in the country.
Meanwhile, NATO postponed a meeting at which the allies were to have pledged reinforcements for its 71,000-strong force in Afghanistan to take into account the latest developments in that country and the outcome of Obama’s strategic review of the war. The US military has another 36,000 soldiers in Afghanistan who serve outside NATO, under independent command.
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