Military bishop says Germans don't support troops
German military troops are suffer from a lack of support from their countrymen, the new Protestant bishop for the Bundeswehr said on Tuesday.
“I hear repeatedly from soldiers that they wish for more acceptance from society,” Bishop Martin Dutzmann told news agency DPA in Bremen. “I can comprehend this. I observe reticence and disinterest in society.”
The job of a soldier is viewed like any other job and their exposure to life threatening situations as a personal choice, he said. “But many don’t know that it is in the service of Germany and serves every single citizen,” he told DPA, adding that this indifference must be why there was so little public reaction to troop increases in Afghanistan.
But soldiers suffer doubts about the sense of their mission there, Dutzmann said. “In Afghanistan the soldiers notice how painstaking the civil reconstruction is. Politicians need to clarify the sense of the mission more clearly,” he said.
Chaplains serving the soldiers there are answering more questions about the sense of life from these troops who face life-threatening situations each day, he said.
Comments
See Also
“I hear repeatedly from soldiers that they wish for more acceptance from society,” Bishop Martin Dutzmann told news agency DPA in Bremen. “I can comprehend this. I observe reticence and disinterest in society.”
The job of a soldier is viewed like any other job and their exposure to life threatening situations as a personal choice, he said. “But many don’t know that it is in the service of Germany and serves every single citizen,” he told DPA, adding that this indifference must be why there was so little public reaction to troop increases in Afghanistan.
But soldiers suffer doubts about the sense of their mission there, Dutzmann said. “In Afghanistan the soldiers notice how painstaking the civil reconstruction is. Politicians need to clarify the sense of the mission more clearly,” he said.
Chaplains serving the soldiers there are answering more questions about the sense of life from these troops who face life-threatening situations each day, he said.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.