March 13, 2010
Published: 3 Nov 09 10:03 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/national/20091103-22995.html
Breaking a long-standing semantic taboo in Berlin, German Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said on Tuesday that Taliban forces are waging a "war" against the international community.
AFP/DDP/The Local (news@thelocal.de)
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Your comments about this article:
- a stat…
Jung's reputation in NATO worsened with many incidents like when u.s secretary of defense Robert Gates corrected him in front of journalists.
There was this famous press conference when a journalist asked Jung about the "war in Afghanistan" and Jung smiled and replied that there is no war in Afghanistan but just "a tactical situation" , you know this typical bureaucratese nonsense.
When the next question was directed at Gates he said "First of all , we ARE at war here"
Needless to say how embarrased Jung was. That was like a slap in the face, and that in front of all the media.
Im pretty sure that people within NATO and the Bundeswehr were already laughing about him behind his back.
If one looks at the history of the place and the idea of it as a supporter and financial supplier of terrorists, then perhaps Germany should be invading the US...
I spent 3 years there, and believe me when I tell you, they aren't just going to give it up and rollover....
They want the oil pipeline built to the coast and won't leave until they have the security to do so.
Nothing to do with terrorism, just you sheeple believe it because your boss (US) tells you it is.
The US will not pull out.. they never have and never will.
Once the US is on foreign soil, they stay.. name me one place where they withdrew ..
Even Somalia has a military base !
Cuba has a military base.....!
What the hell are they doing in Germany !..
Go Home Yank !
- germans have this weird idea, that germany should never again take part in a war (except to defend their own or their NATO allies territory); dont know why, maybe they had some bad experience in the past...
- therefor german members of parliament might feel much more uneasy to approve a war engagement, than let´s say "peacekeeping" or "Aufbauhilfe"
- it´s debatable if according to the german constitution/ Grundgesetz, the german army can take part in a "war", just because a foreign government (in this case Afghanistan) asked for help
- someone might feel tempted to ask the constitutional court again and they could reevaluate the case and force the german government to draw all their troops out of Afghanistan
In fact Guttenberg didnt say "war", he said something like "warlike situation".