Newsgroup: it.cultura.militare
Titolo: German Army Chief Wants More Troops in Afghanistan

German Army Chief Wants More Troops in Afghanistan 
Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:  The army's head wants
more troops in the face of stepped-up attacks 
The German army's chief of staff wants more troops in northern Afghanistan
following a string of recent attacks on German soldiers and their Afghan
helpers, he said in a magazine interview published on Sunday, April 13.
Wolfgang Schneiderhan told the weekly magazine Focus that the 3,500-strong
mission in northern Afghanistan was stretched to the limit. He also said
he expects more attacks on his troops by insurgents, although the north is
widely seen as more peaceful than the restive southern part of the
country. 
 
The number of troops "takes away flexibility for me to react quickly to
any worsening in the situation. I will argue this when the extension of
the mandate comes up for discussion in the autumn," Schneiderhan said.
 
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: 
Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung, left, and Wolfgang Schneiderhan
According to the online edition of Der Spiegel magazine, Schneiderhan went
further in a recent meeting with a parliamentary defense committee,
telling ministers that recent attacks were evidence of an "alarming
development."
 
Schneiderhan told the committee in a meeting behind closed doors that the
situation in the north was "not quiet and not stable" and that German
troops were being faced with "new challenges" as a result of an increase
in violence, Spiegel reported.
 
Attacks on the increase
 
German troops have been attacked three times in recent weeks. No German
soldiers were killed but other attacks have killed seven Afghans working
as helpers for reconstruction teams, Spiegel said in 
an article published on Sunday.
 
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: 
Germany has resisted pressure to deploy troops in southern Afghanistan
Since 2002, 26 German troops have been killed in Afghanistan. The
soldiers, whose number hovers in reality around the 3,200 mark due to
troop fluctuations, is part of NATO's 47,000-strong International Security
and Assistance Force.
 
Berlin has resisted pressure from NATO allies to deploy its forces in the
south of the country where US, British and Canadian soldiers are bearing
the brunt of a tenacious Taliban insurgency.
 
In late February rockets were fired at German forces' barracks in Kunduz,
and last Wednesday there was a suicide attack on a German patrol. A bomb
attack on a German armored vehicle in late March injured three German
troops. 
 
"Our soldiers are not cowards. They went straight back out on patrol,"
Scheinderhan told the parliamentary committee, rejecting suggestions that
Germany has chosen a less dangerous option by limiting its mission mainly
in the north. 
 
DW staff (jam) 
 
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 helpers, he said in a magazine interview published on Sunday, April 13.
 
A proposito, a leggere questi tangheri sembra che tra poco rivedremo i
crucchi in Feldgrau e Knobelbecher ..
http://www.thetrumpet.com/index.php?q=5011.3305.0.0
..ossegnur.

 crucchi in Feldgrau e Knobelbecher ..
Mah, per il momento si arrovellano sulla reintroduzione della Croce di 
Ferro, anche se pre-datava il nazismo di un secolo e passa :|
<<Guts, but no iron
Apr 10th 2008
The Economist
MANFRED VON RICHTHOFEN, the German first world war flying ace, shot down 
80 enemy aircraft and won two Iron Crosses for gallantry. In the week 
when “The Red Baron”, a new film about him, hits cinemas across Germany, 
there is fresh agitation to restore a military decoration for bravery.
More than 60 years after the Nazi horrors of the second world war, 
Germany is slowly overcoming decades of pacifism. German soldiers 
deployed first to the Balkans and now to Afghanistan. They stay away 
from the south, where the hardest fighting against the Taliban takes 
place. But, as one senior NATO officer put it, “Who would have thought a 
few years ago that you would have 3,500 German soldiers on the Hindu Kush?”
Twenty-five German soldiers have died in Afghanistan so far. But, 
however much they distinguish themselves, their country still offers 
them no award. Germany needs the equivalent of Britain's Victoria Cross 
or America's Medal of Honor. But what form should it take?
The traditional Iron Cross is tainted by association with the Nazi era. 
Hitler awarded his version of it—complete with a swastika stamped in its 
centre—to thousands of those who committed atrocities across Europe. But 
advocates of the Iron Cross argue that the honour predates the Third 
Reich by 120 years. It is also a familiar sight on German military 
vehicles and planes around the world.
A petition to parliament to revive the Iron Cross last year gathered 
more than 5,000 votes—and some attention from the far right. The Central 
Council of Jews in Germany objects strongly to its revival. A more 
gentle approach is being tried by the Association of Military 
Reservists. Ernst-Reinhard Beck, its chairman, says the important thing 
is not the Iron Cross, but the principle of a bravery medal to bring 
German troops into line with the soldiers from other countries serving 
alongside them.
The government has accepted in principle the need for a gallantry award, 
but balks at an Iron Cross. Instead officials are working on a proposal 
that would add a “bravery” category to the bronze, silver and gold 
levels of the existing Ehrenzeichen (badge of honour), which is usually 
given for long or distinguished service. Defence sources say the idea 
could be approved by President Horst Köhler by the end of the year. But 
what would the Red Baron think of it?>>
--------------------
    Luca Morandini
www.lucamorandini.it
--------------------

Luca Morandini ha scritto:
<SNIP>
se si trovasse un escamotage per reinserire la Pour le Meritè.... (che 
nonostante il nome era la più alta decorazione tedesca, al di sopra 
della Eisernez Kreuz, fino al 1918 (e quindi fuori sospetti di nazismo))
Sarebbe la migliore soluzione in assoluto. Il problema è che era una 
decorazione conferita dalla persona del Kaiser (in maniera non dissimile 
dagli Ordini dell' Annunziata e dei SS. Maurizio e Lazzaro) e quindi 
araldicamente non nella disponibilita' della RFT.
Saluti,
Dott. Piergiorgio.

 araldicamente non nella disponibilita' della RFT.
Mica vero. La versione civile (Orden Pour le Mérite für Wissenschaften
und Künste)) viene conferita tuttora dal presidente federale, cosi' ad
occhio far rinascere l'ordine militare non sarebbe impossibile.
Palmiro Pangloss

 occhio far rinascere l'ordine militare non sarebbe impossibile.
Proponiamo l' idea al governo crucco ? :)
In cambio chiediamo una pensione a testa (e le pensioni crucche sono 
molto più serie e pesanti di quelle che passano x pensioni da noi....)
Saluti,
Dott. Piergiorgio

 Proponiamo l' idea al governo crucco ? :)
Non voglio usurpare un'idea tua. Vedo solo un problema: la Pour Le 
Merite non aveva gradi, e le decorazioni al valore IMVHO necessitano una 
gradazione.
Palmiro Pangloss
-- 
Tarpaulin: Amarcord Cold War
http://tarpaulin.blogspot.com/