Chemical Weapons for the German Armed Forces

BERLIN According to a recent decision by parliament, German troops may, in the future, use tear gas and pepper spray ,,during peace keeping missions"abroad. Critics view the new law as a carte blanche for the German armed forces to use chemical weapons. The Berlin government bypasses the international chemical weapons treaty by labeling the foreign deployments of the German army as ,,policing actions."

The German troops, who have been stationed in the Balkans for an undetermined length of time, had been criticized for their behavior during the anti-Serbian pogroms in Kosovo. The army claims that its arsenal was insufficient to prevent Albanian demonstrators from burning down the monasteries and homes of the Serb minority. 1)The German government seized this opportunity to rush through the legal basis for providing the German military with, supposedly, ,,non-lethal"chemical weapons. The rationale given was that, aside from conventional weapons, ,,such means as tear gas and pepper spray,"must be available to the military in order to control civil unrest abroad. 2)

Opening the Door

The military use of tear gas as a chemical weapon is outlawed according to the international chemical weapons treaty, which had been ratified by Germany, because it carries a high risk for escalation: Viewed historically, every deployment of lethal chemical weapons during warfare, started initially with the use of tear gas. For that reason, the treaty explicitly prohibits such deployment as ,,a means to conduct war."However, the concept of warfare is flexible, there are attempts to include only wars declared between two states. In the meantime, experts of the foreign office attempt to define foreign missions conducted by the German military as ,,policing actions."This would open the door to the utilization of chemical weapons in almost all hostile situations.

Particularly Urgent

According to the German law passed for implementation of the chemical weapons treaty, the use of tear gas and similar ,,irritants"was explicitly limited to police actions within Germany. With the recent decision, the parliament established the legal basis for the legitimate use of the ,,means to control unrest by the German military during peace keeping missions abroad." 3)The foreign office's motion to change the law was introduced into the parliamentary procedure as ,,particularly urgent."The red-green coalition and the opposition finally joined in voting for the government's bill.

In the new law, neither the type of authorized chemical agents nor the specific scenarios of approved mission are clearly defined, thus establishing no limits for either. Thus, critics see an insidious erosion of the prohibition against chemical weapons, claiming that the German military is authorized to use tear gas, drugs, psycho-active substances and other ,,non-lethal chemicals"as chemical weapons within the framework of hostile actions.

1) see also Model, A Bloody World Marketand German Soldiers
2) Gesetzentwurf der Bundesregierung: Entwurf eines Ersten Gesetzes zur Aenderung des Ausfuehrungsgesetzes zum Chemiewaffenuebereinkommen (CWUeAGAendG 1); Deutscher Bundestag Drucksache 15/3447
3) Gesetzentwurf der Bundesregierung

see also Berlin stockpiles weapons grade Uranium

Sources:
Struck will die Bundeswehr mit ,,nicht-toedlichen"Chemiewaffen ausruesten; www.greenpeace-magazin.de 17.06.2004
German Army to be equipped with ,,non-lethal"chemical weapons; www.sunshine-project.org 17.06.2004
Streitkraefte und Strategien; www.ndrinfo.de 04.09.2004
Streitkraefte sollen Reizstoffe zur Bekaempfung von Unruhen einsetzen duerfen; ,,heute im Bundestag"07.09.2004


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