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General Petraeus Asks for German AWACS Crews in Afghanistan

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Published in Berliner Umschau
(Germany) on 11 December 2010
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Ron Argentati. Edited by Mark DeLucas.
U.S. General David Petraeus, Commander of International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) troops in Afghanistan, has requested German support for the monitoring of Afghan airspace by Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft. Up to one hundred German soldiers are needed to man the flying radar stations in the skies over Afghanistan, according to a report in Der Spiegel magazine.

The German government has tried to delay the request in past weeks in order to avoid an embarrassing denial of the request. Berlin fears that the AWACS mission would be difficult to justify politically and that a new parliamentary mandate would be necessary. Now Germany is faced with having to come up with a reason for its refusal. Berlin says it wouldn’t try to block the mission, but it also wouldn’t agree to commit German military personnel to support it. AWACS opponents in the offices of the Minister of Defense and the Foreign Office argue that every German soldier is currently needed for Germany’s mission to train Afghan national security forces. Germany’s hesitant posture on the reconnaissance mission could imperil the entire operation since a considerable portion of responsibility for it lies with the Germans.


US-General fordert deutsche Awacs-Crews für Afghanistan an

US-General David Petraeus, Oberkommandeur der Isaf-Truppen, fordert nun doch deutsche Unterstützung bei der Überwachung des Luftraums in Afghanistan durch Awacs-Flugzeuge an. Bis zu hundert Bundeswehrsoldaten müssten helfen, um den Einsatz der fliegenden Radarstationen über Afghanistan zu ermöglichen, berichtet der "Spiegel". Die Bundesregierung hatte in den vergangenen Wochen versucht, die Anfrage zu verhindern, um eine peinliche Absage zu vermeiden.
In Berlin befürchtet man, die Awacs-Mission sei politisch schwer durchzusetzen, weil dazu vermutlich ein neues Bundestagsmandat nötig wäre. Nun wird die Regierung wohl eine Ablehnung formulieren müssen. Man werde der Mission nicht im Weg stehen, sie aber auch nicht mit Personal unterstützen, heißt es. Derzeit werde jeder Soldat für die Ausbildung der afghanischen Sicherheitskräfte gebraucht, argumentieren die Gegner der deutschen Awacs-Beteiligung im Außen- und im Verteidigungsministerium. Die ablehnende Haltung Berlins zum Überwachungseinsatz stellt die gesamte Mission in Frage, da ein wesentlicher Teil der Kompetenz bei den Deutschen liegt.

BERLINER UMSCHAU-Meldung vom 11.12.2010 - 11:55 Uhr

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