Following the blood bath caused by NATO troops in Northwest Afghanistan, the Bundeswehr began securing the ISAF base using transport helicopters and Transall aircraft. The Termez airbase in Uzbekistan near the northern Afghan border is part of German logistics. There the German military also has medical support units stationed. The Bundeswehr Operations Command in Potsdam is concerned about the present development. In view of the extension of the German occupation zone, to cover the entire north of the country, the new situation, one can hear in Potsdam, could call for a reinforcement of the German contingent. An increase in combat involvement is not to be excluded.
Heavy Equipment
The Bundeswehr is coming to Afghanistan with heavy hardware, an indication of possible involvement in combat: the armored personnel carrier ("Dingo"), the transport tank ("Fuchs") and the so-called weapons carrier ("Wiesel"). The major segment of German troops comes from the 7th Tank Division. Only last weekend the Division's commander was praising "the hard and demanding training of the soldiers in preparation for their deployment under difficult conditions."[1] According to a parliamentary decision, the troops can be augmented from the present 2000 to approximately 3.000. The Leipzig airport will soon be ready for the transport of new heavy equipment into the combat zone.[2]
Instructors
To ward off mass protests, Afghan police made use of firearms, killing several of their compatriots last Wednesday. It was German instructors, who had trained the local police units. This training continues. Berlin is continuing its old colonial policy. Already in the 1930s German security forces were supporting Afghan police.[3] The relationship will be expanded this month to include border patrol and highway police. An ad-hoc planning conference envisages German instructors for "international/Afghan police cooperation".[4] Germans in uniform, sent by Berlin's Ministry of the Interior, can also be found beyond the Afghan border: Stationed on Tadzik territory, in eye contact with the German occupation zone, the Federal Office of Criminal Investigation (BKA) is conducting a so-called pilot project.[5] Together with Tadzik police forces, BKA-officials are practicing the pursuit of opium dealers. This again will provoke resistance from the local population and cannot succeed under the aegis of foreigners.[6]
Unenforceable Liabilities
The current Afghan insurgence is foiling PR measures taken by NATO states. The announcement of these measures were agreed upon last week in London. According to these measures, the United States was to offer Kabul a remission of debts, to promote the pacification of the country. Germany and the European Union wanted to follow. Washington's announcement ("stabilization") was made on Monday, but was already drowned by the wave of protests. Yesterday, Berlin followed suit – but its alleged generosity (37 million Euro) was hardly noticed because of attacks by Afghan demonstrators. The so called remission of debts is nothing more than the cancellation of unenforceable liabilities: The Afghan state budget, is made up to nearly 90 per cent of foreign funds, contributed by Berlin, among others, to prop up the occupation regime.
Demand
German business wants to effectuate material values at a conference beginning today in Munich. The business representatives will meet a delegation of the "Afghan Investment Support Agency”(AISA). The (payment) funds are also provided by western sources and will simply be redistributed among the interested parties. "By 2010, the international community will invest over US $13 billion in the reconstruction of the infrastructure and state institutions", confirms the Federal Association of German Industry (BDI): "This means, that Afghanistan offers increasingly interesting possibilities for European enterprises because of the heavy demand on the part of the donors and the International Security Assistance Force and through the economic upswing (2005: approx. 13 per cent economic growth)."[7] As can be seen through these remarks, self induced demand is being tested on the ruins of war, which in turn will need more ruins.
Hesitation
Western provocations promoting hatred and violence are convenient for these perspectives.[8] The anti-Islamic cultural battle can be helpful for escalation strategies, in order to prepare regime change in Teheran and Damascus. But these events cannot consolidate Kabul and Baghdad, and are seen as counter-productive by the occupation troops. These conflicting interests explain the European governments' hesitations. On the one hand they would like to mitigate the anti-Islamic propaganda wave but on the other they do not want to stop it.
