Kunduz

For the past month, Kunduz has been a nightly topic for the German news folks. It’s a curious episode, which most Germans don’t grasp the entire story or simplicity.

Basically, off in Afghanistan....the German Army had a camp set up.....with a couple of large-scale military fuel trucks. With questionable security....some Taliban guys walk in and steal two of these....making off in the middle of the night.
Somehow, a couple of German special forces guys quietly track these....and within an hour or two....know precisely where they are. They notify the commander, and then await instructions.

What occurs next is kinda interesting. At the truck point....near a creek....around eighty people gather in the middle of the night....supposedly to steal fuel from the two stolen trucks. Taliban members? Well....no one can say now. Off on the German side....no one wants to mount an assault on the area....in fear of being shot at. So the German general calls in for a US air strike.

The US fighter pulls up and starts to question alot of this intended target. The German general wants all six bombs dropped....the pilot says ‘no’....he only needs to drop two max. This goes back and forth.

Finally, the US pilot drops his two bombs and hits the two trucks....with a fine explosion. As for the number of dead? Well....the Red Cross gives one number. The Afghan government gives another number. And the NATO guys give another number. The key feature to the Red Cross story is that they were all innocent poor locals just stealing gas from the vehicles.

So back in Germany....within two or three days....the opposition parties have taken up this mess. They wanted names and stories. Merkel and the generals were left standing there and trying to figure what all happen that evening.

In the weeks that passed....two generals have been fired....for holding information on the episode, at least that's what the government now says.

The opposition parties are still upset and want various other folks fired....to hinder political progress of the new Merkel government.

The curious thing....is that German military folks are furious over the entire mess. They view the opposition position on this mess to be detrimental to the morale of the whole military.

Afghan lawyers are now pursuing a legal case to get tens of millions out of the German government....over the sixty to one hundred dead folks at the site.
So allow for me to lay out three simple observations.

First, if you were the German military now....observing this entire mess....and any incident of any type arises....I won’t react except to protect myself. If the Afghans want to steal every vehicle in the compound....let them. Don’t fire on anyone unless they shoot at you. When the political figures get furious...let them know that they started this attitude and you have no intention of reacting to anything.

Second, German military morale can only get lower.

Third and final....if you were PM Merkel....why keep troops in a US-led war? I’d call up the plans folks and then announce a withdrawal within 90 days from Afghanistan. I’d refuse to donate a single dollar for the Afghanistan government and I’d then tell the entire Bundestag (Parliament) that we are finished with all military operations outside of Germany.