Long Term Operation
BERLIN/JAKARTA Berlin is asking the Asian states which have been affected by the Tsusami catastrophy to give up important sovereign rights. It is said in the German capital, that their governments would have to surrender control over reconstruction in the devastated areas to the donor states. Moreover, against the opposition of the Indonesian government, the German Armed Forces have initiated military moves that nurture fears that the German military could establish itself in the region for a long period. Germany and the European Union compete with the USA in South and South East Asia, while Japan and China argue about their leading role in the region.
The struggle for Control
In return for German aid Berlin demands that the countries affected by the floods give up their sovereign rights and cede control over the reconstruction to the donors. According to Heinrich von Pierer, CEO of Siemens and chairman of the Asian Pacific Committee of the German economy, the committee offers taking on the coordination of aid projects jointly with the German embassies. 1)German companies are especially interested in the reconstruction of the infra structure (electric and telecommunication networks, water supplies, hospitals, schools), where they hope to extend their market position in the affected countries. In Indonesia, where Berlin has focused its activities on the politically, economically and geo-strategically important province Aceh 2), German demands have already caused conflicts with the government. German economic representatives in the country have already established an ,,Indonesian-German Committee for Catastrophic Aid"which - as the German foreign minister demanded - is to be in charge of the distribution of the aid funds. At the moment Indonesian President, Yudhoyono, still refuses.
Psychological Warfare
Military movements, including German ones, launched as a result of international rescue missions concentrated in the crisis region of Aceh, are especially apt to create conflicts. The first contingent of 200 German military troops has arrived in Banda Aceh and has started to work. A large part of the deployed German military are members of the ,,Commando Rapid Action Emergency Service", a specialized unit which was commissioned to accompany the world wide foreign missions of the German elite units. However, the first German soldiers who arrived on site were German military police ( ,,Feldjaeger") and an operative camera reconnaissance unit of the ,,Operative Information Center"which surveyed the situation. 3)
The ,,operative information"unit which had already been doubled to 1,200, is the military apparatus for so-called psychological warfare. Its mission is ,,support of military operations with all available and admissible means and methods,"in order to ,,impact hostile armed forces, parties to conflicts and elements of populations of foreign states." 4)It is to deploy mass communications to aid its side and to inflict damage on the opposition. ,,Propaganda and disinformation for manipulating opinions"can be part of such operations. 5)The ,,operative camera unit"in Aceh supplies information about local conditions via satellite directly to the military leadership in Germany. 6)
,,Breaking down the Door"
Indonesia resisted the deployment of foreign troops including the German armed from the start. The German military as well as the Technische Hilfswerk (THW or technical emergency assistance) are in conflict with the Indonesian side which is unwilling to grant unimpeded access. ,,Normally we are welcomed with open arms, but here we must break down the door,"explained a frustrated member of the THW. 7)Meanwhile the Indonesian government is attempting to recover its control over the civil war province Aceh: In the future, members of aid organizations and foreign journalists are required to inform officials of all activities outside of the provincial capital Banda Aceh, otherwise they might be expelled.
Uninvited Guests
Especially disconcerting was the arrival of the supply transport for deployed groups, the ,,hospital ship"BERLIN, which cruises along the coast in front of the provincial capital Banda Aceh. It is the German navy's largest ship with the primary role of supplying war ships of deployed navy units with the necessary provisions (fuel and oil, fresh water, provisions, munitions and consumer goods). Ronald J. Waldman, coordinator of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the crisis region, had declared earlier that the ship sent by the German Federal Government would be unnecessary, a position supported by the Indonesian minister for welfare and social [affairs]. The German operations headquarters, however, insisted on the stationing and gave to understand that the objections of WHO and the Indonesian government were ,,not important." 8)
Far East Interests
The German built up in the crisis area coincides with increasing consideration by German military and government consultants to develop military activities in Asia. It is said that economic and political instruments are insufficient in gaining ,,real European influence"in the Asian Pacific region. A short time ago, the European Union was encouraged to appropriate ,,military capacities for the promotion of its Far East interests."Next to the German navy, the French navy is now also present in the Asian catastrophic region: Paris has sent two frigates and one helicopter carrier which are to be deployed along the coast of Sri Lanka and near the Maldives.
The Indonesian government which will tolerate foreign soldiers in the country only for a limited time, meanwhile has set the end of March as the deadline for withdrawal of the troops. However it is questionable whether the German military will be ready to give up the recently won access to this strategically important region. According to the German government the deadline had been targeted at the US military presence, which had been causing domestic political difficulties for the Indonesian government, in the crisis area. Defense minister Struck has already announced that the German military does not want to withdraw: Providing immediate assistance has been accomplished, now it becomes a question of ,,medium and long term assistance." 9)
1) Wirtschaft bietet Hilfe bei der Fluthilfe; Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 13.01.2005
2) see also In the shadow of disaster
3) Deutsche Katastrophenhilfe auf Hochtouren; www.streitkraeftebasis.de 07.01.2005
4) Operative Information auf Zukunftskurs; www.streitkraeftebasis.de 27.02.2004. See also Bundeswehr prepares for psychological warand Lilly Marleen returns to propaganda duty
5) Operative Information - Die Medienmacher!; www.streitkraeftebasis.de
6) see also Space Espionage
7) Hilfe mit Grenzen; Spiegel online 12.01.2005
8) Die ,,Berlin"auf dem Weg nach Sumatra; Koelnische Rundschau 09.01.2005
9) Langfristige Hilfe. Bundeswehr mit einem Buendel von Massnahmen im Katastrophengebiet aktiv; aktuell - Zeitung fuer die Bundeswehr 1/2005
see also Partnership and Peace
Sources:
Das Kommando Schnelle Einsatzkraefte Sanitaetsdienst, www.sanitaetsdienst-bundeswehr.de
Deutsche Fluthilfe; Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 05.01.2005
Alle Faeden laufen in Potsdam zusammen; www.einsatz.bundeswehr.de 10.01.2005
Berlin entruestet ueber Kritik; Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 11.01.2005
Wo bleibt das Geld? Indonesien will die Milliarden fuer Aceh allein verwalten - das veraergert Fischers Delegation; Tagesspiegel 11.01.2005
Indonesien verschaerft Kontrolle ueber auslaendische Helfer; Die Welt 13.01.2005
Lazarettschiff ,,Berlin"vor der Kueste Sumatras eingetroffen; Rheinische Post 13.01.2005
Indonesien: Auslaendische Soldaten schnell abziehen; Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 13.01.2005
