[R-G] Germany Votes to Keep Troops in Afghanistan, Despite Opposition

[Anthony Fenton]

Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company
The New York Times

October 13, 2007 Saturday
Late Edition - Final

SECTION: Section A; Column 0; Foreign Desk; Pg. 6

LENGTH: 888 words

HEADLINE: Germany Votes to Keep Troops in Afghanistan, Despite  
Opposition

BYLINE: By NICHOLAS KULISH

DATELINE: BERLIN, Oct. 12

BODY:


The German government won a crucial vote in Parliament on Friday to  
keep its troops in Afghanistan for another year, despite recent polls  
indicating that a majority of Germans want them to come home.

The lower house of Parliament voted for the extension of the military  
mandate by a convincing 453 to 79, with 48 members abstaining. The  
vote allows the German military to keep as many as 3,500 troops and  
six Tornado reconnaissance jets in Afghanistan, part of a larger NATO  
force of roughly 41,000 in the country.

The proposal was expected to pass, but the sizable margin of victory  
was a powerful signal both domestically and to the United States and  
other NATO allies of the government's ability to sustain the Afghan  
mission even in the face of strong opposition.

At the same time, it was largely a status quo vote and did not expand  
the mission, beyond giving the military added flexibility with 200 to  
250 troops, a Defense Ministry spokesman said, speaking on the  
customary condition of anonymity. Allies have privately pressed  
Germany to allow its troops to be sent into the southern part of  
Afghanistan to take part in heavier fighting there.

''It's a relief to the Dutch, to the Canadians, to everyone who has  
troops on the ground,'' said Julianne Smith, director of the Europe  
program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in  
Washington. ''Nobody wants to take the blame for being the first  
country to roll back its commitment and start talking about the evil  
two words: exit strategy.''

The discussion in Parliament was at times heated, with catcalls by  
some members over the course of the two-hour debate. Twenty-six  
German soldiers have been killed during the Afghan campaign, and  
attacks are covered extensively in the news media here, even when  
there are no serious injuries.

''We have to see that we have to fight threats beyond our borders,''  
said Eckart von Klaeden, a foreign policy spokesman in Parliament for  
the Christian Democrats and an adviser to Chancellor Angela Merkel.  
''This necessity is not so well understood by most German people.''

As a result of Germany's involvement in World War II, many Germans  
strongly oppose military action on any grounds. In addition, analysts  
say, the years as a divided country under American and Soviet sway  
has led many Germans to believe that they are better off avoiding  
taking part in conflicts entirely.

Though the government won this vote, it faces an even more serious  
test in November, when Parliament will be asked to approve continuing  
participation in the United States' effort to curb terrorism. The  
Germans have authorized as many as 100 special forces troops to take  
part in those operations, though a Defense Ministry spokesman said  
the ministry did not comment on them.

''The main focus of overall German criticism is U.S. behavior in  
southern Afghanistan,'' said Citha Maass, an Afghanistan expert at  
the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in  
Berlin. She said the German people tried to differentiate between the  
rebuilding and training activities under NATO and combat operations,  
even though the reality on the ground is far more complicated, with  
elements of both in both missions.

A poll of 1,000 Germans conducted this week for the newspaper Kolner  
Stadt-Anzeiger found that 61 percent opposed extending the  
Afghanistan mandate and only 29 percent favored it.

The opposition Left Party, which includes elements of the old East  
German Communist Party, voted against the most recent proposal. By  
far the most public split on the troop deployment has been in the  
Green Party. The Greens were part of the governing coalition that  
first sent troops to Afghanistan, but party support has wavered. A  
majority of their members abstained in the vote, though the number  
voting in favor outweighed those voting against, 15 to 7.

Omid Nouripour, a member of Parliament for the Green Party who took  
over the seat of the former foreign minister Joschka Fischer when he  
stepped down, said he had received letters criticizing his support  
for the Afghanistan mission. ''They said: 'You're not a  
representative for the people of Afghanistan. You're a representative  
of the Germans,''' Mr. Nouripour said.

Canada to Review Role

OTTAWA, Oct. 12 -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada, a  
Conservative, on Friday appointed a prominent political opponent to  
lead a review of Canada's military role in Afghanistan.

The appointment of John Manley, a Liberal and former deputy prime  
minister, comes 16 months before the expiration of parliamentary  
approval for the mission -- which began, at least in a limited way,  
in October 2001.

To date, 71 members of the Canadian armed forces and one Canadian  
diplomat have died in Afghanistan. The casualty rate rose after  
Canada assumed a role in a dangerous area of southern Afghanistan  
last year. Some Canadian politicians have criticized other NATO  
countries for refusing to commit their troops to major combat roles  
in Afghanistan.

The panel Mr. Manley leads also includes Derek H. Burney, a former  
Canadian ambassador to Washington; Pamela Wallin, a former  
broadcaster and consul general of Canada in New York; Paul M.  
Tellier, a senior public servant who later became the chief executive  
of Bombardier; and Jake Epp, a retired Conservative cabinet minister.

URL: http://www.nytimes.com

GRAPHIC: PHOTO: The discussion in Parliament yesterday was at times  
heated, with catcalls by some members over the course of the debate.  
(PHOTOGRAPH BY SEAN GALLUP/GETTY IMAGES)