re: " "German Soldiers Can't Shoot" "

Joerg Wolf at Atlantic Review ("A Press Digest for Transatlantic Affairs") considered how the Bundeswehr must transform.

Money quote(s):

"We constantly hear about the Bundeswehr's huge transformations since unification in 1990, but I am beginning to wonder how much of that was rhetoric. I am not underestimating how much the world has changed since the Cold War and how difficult it to transform military institutions and doctrine, but the fall of the Berlin Wall was more than 20 years ago. Two decades is a long time for Christ's sake. Soon we will mark the ten's anniversary of 9/11. I am getting tired of German pundit's talking about the post-Cold War world or even the post-9/11 world."

Most of the Bundeswehr's "transformation since absorbing the East German Volksarmee has been to downsize. When I was briefed a few years ago on just how far that had progressed, I was (as a former NATO inhabitant) truly shocked.

"1 percent of GDP is still a lot of money. We have to change faster, more creative, pool resources with allies to develop military capabilities more efficiently.

There was not enough pressure to reform the Bundeswehr in the past. One of the reasons for the lack of urgency was (and still is) the popular perception that a) finally we don't have enemies, but are surrounded by friends, b) we cannot increase our security with military means at the moment, and c) US led wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya are not enhancing Germany's security, thus we do not need to contribute much. Very shortsighted indeed."


(6/27)