War in Afghanistan Affects German Elections

Wirepullers: in un mondo che sta andando sempre di più verso il multipolarismo, il voto di domenica in Germania assume un'importanza non trascurabile. Berlino ha ormai fatto i conti con il proprio passato, si sta sempre più emancipando dagli Stati Uniti, verso i quali il senso di deferenza sta andando sbiadendosi (basti pensare al "no" tedesco alla guerra di Bush in Iraq) e sta lentamente assumendo un ruolo centrale in un'Europa che stenta a trovare una guida e soprattutto un'identità ben precisa. Stati Uniti e sopprattutto Russia sono alla finestra, l'esito del voto farà pendere un bel pezzo d'Europa da una parte o dall'altra, in un continuo rigurgito di guerra fredda, sbiadita anch'essa, che proprio a Berlino ha vissuto i suoi momenti più tristi ed eroici. (2)

For the first time in three generations, Germany is embroiled in deadly combat, with 4,200 Bundeswehr troops deployed in an increasingly unstable Afghanistan. Just don't mention it: with national elections looming on Sept. 27, German politicians from Chancellor Angela Merkel on down have scrupulously avoided the W word, preferring euphemisms like "stabilization deployment." But that game got harder to play on Sept. 4, when an airstrike ordered by a Bundeswehr commander in Kunduz killed scores of Taliban and their supporters. It was easily the deadliest incident involving the German military since World War II.

Suddenly Germany is beginning to publicly debate using its military as a fighting force once more. It's a conversation long overdue. When Germany reunified in 1990, observers expected the country to gradually assume a global role commensurate with the size of its economy, then the world's third largest. The Bundeswehr did send doctors and peacekeepers to conflict areas, but "war" remained a toxic word in this deeply pacifist country. In Afghanistan, German officials walked a narrow line, trying to satisfy their international obligations while appeasing powerful peaceniks at home. They attempted to do this by wrapping red tape around the troops--until recently German soldiers could use their weapons only in immediate self-defense--in order to keep them out of combat. But that won them no love abroad. "There is a widespread feeling that NATO isn't working, and Germany is a big reason why," says Charles Grant, director of London's Centre for European -Reform.

Indeed, Germany's approach to Afghanistan has satisfied no one, throwing a hobbled Bundeswehr into an increasingly dangerous environment while holding a dishonest debate at home about the war and leaving millions of voters clueless about why their country is fighting abroad. Now, just weeks ahead of the elections, the whole thing has exploded into the open. The big question is how Germany's leaders will respond: by continuing to bury the W word, or by making the tough, sometimes unpopular choices that will complete the country's return to normalcy. Sixty-four years after World War II, only the Germans themselves still fear a German uniform.

Autore: Stefan Theil

Fonte: www.newsweek.com