Mission Extended
October 12, 2007
In a sweeping majority, 454 parliamentarians in Germany's Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, voted to continue Germany's military action in Afghanistan. Seventy-nine voted "no" and 48 abstained.
Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Germany was committed to helping Afghanistan.
"If we give up, the opponents of the civilized world have won," he told parliament. "We don't want to let that happen. We will stand by the people of Afghanistan and help them to continue along the mapped-out path."
Mandates combined
The decision combines Germany's participation in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission and Tornado reconnaissance mission, which were previously covered by separate missions. The cost of the mandate over the coming year has been estimated at 500 million euros ($709 million).
As part of the newly approved mandate, up to 3,500 German soldiers could be deployed to Afghanistan as part of the ISAF mission. Currently, about 3,000 are stationed mainly in the country's relatively safer northern regions. Berlin has repeatedly refused NATO requests to send troops to southern Afghanistan.
The parties of Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling coalition -- the Christian Democratic Union, the Social Democratic Party -- as well as and the Free Democratic Party have consistently supported the Afghan mission, while the new left-wing alliance is against it.
Some opposition
Germany's Green party has expressed fundamental support for the country's involvement, but advocated a change in strategy. It has criticized the country's use of six Tornado reconnaissance jets in southern Afghanistan.
An OmniQuest poll for the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper showed 29 percent of Germans backed the extension. Other polls have consistently shown a majority of Germans want an end to the Bundeswehr's involvement in Afghanistan, which has claimed of 26 German soldiers' lives.
Germany's contribution of 100 special forces troops to the controversial US war on terror in Afghanistan, Operation Enduring Freedom, won't be decided in parliament until November.