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Chirol
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Chirol

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February 13th, 2006

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Germany’s Past Military Deployments

Back in December, I posted a world map of the Federal Republic of Germany’s current worldwide deployments. A few days ago, I noticed that Germany was considering deploying 500 troops to the Congo. With my interest piqued and already knowing where the Bundeswehr is at the moment, I decided to visit the German Ministry of Defense’s website to investigate it’s past deployments. They are:

German Peacekeeping Missions:



Where:Mission:Dates:Troops:
CambodiaUnited Nations Transitional Authority in CambodiaMay 1992- Nov. 1993150 Sanitation Soldiers
RwandaUnited Nations Assistance Mission for RwandaJuly 1994 – Dec. 199430 Air Force personel
SomaliaUnited Nations Operation in SomaliaAug. 1993 – March 19941,700 soldiers, 600 Marines and 120 Air Force
IraqUnited Nations Special CommissionAug. 1991 – Aug. 199630 soldiers in Baghdad, 7 Air Force in Bahrain
Former YugoslaviaImplimentation Forces (IFOR)1995???
Yugoslavia (Kosovo)ALLIED FORCE (NATO)March 1999 – June 1999Air Force, 500 sorties flown
KuweitOperation Enduring Freedom (OEF)Feb.2002 – July 2003~250 Soldiers trained in Chemical and Biological Warfare
Dem. Rep. Congo / UgandaOperation ArtemisJune 2003 – Sept. 200335 Soldiers for Air Transport, 60 for MedEvac), 2 in HQ in France
MacedoniaOperation CONCORDIAMarch 2003 – Dec. 200340 soldiers

Additionally, the German military has been helping with humanitarian catastrophes since the 60s in places like Morocco, Brazil, Nicaragua, China, Syria,Germany, Bosnia, Cambodia and many more (link in German).

A SysAdmin force waiting to be used indeed!

Comments to this entry

Mi-Hwa
February 13, 2006
8:23 pm
Speaking of Congo, it has a problem of many 'child witches'. This is not as amusing as the Harry Potter phenomena.


In Congo and neighbouring Angola, children are denounced as witches on a huge scale. In Kinshasa alone, 70 per cent of the city's street children have been abandoned for this reason.

Both countries endured years of civil war in which child soldiers were responsible for atrocities. Aid workers believe this might help to explain a deep fear of the young found among many Congolese and Angolans.


Hopefully, the German Peacekeepers can help these children.
IJ
February 13, 2006
9:13 pm
Before Germany could be considered either Leviathan or SysAdmin (in Barnett terminology), it would probably have to increase its military spending by almost 50%. NATO reckoned that Germany would spend only 1.4% of its GDP on the military in 2005. The alliance target is around 2% of national income.

Germany is the 37th biggest contributor of peacekeepers to UN missions, according to "UN statistics":http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/dpko/contributors/.
Eddie
February 13, 2006
10:23 pm
Not to mention the Germans assisted with both the tsunami relief effort and the Pakistani quake relief. I believe they also have a few personnel in Southern Sudan for the UN peacekeeping mission there.
Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace
February 14, 2006
1:24 am
While IJ is undoubtedly correct, we should at least give praise where praise is due - all the while encouraging more....
Chief Wiggum
February 14, 2006
5:35 am
I wish they would deploy 150 Sanitation Soldiers to my house.
Chirol
February 14, 2006
8:48 am
Dr. ARW: Absolutely. While they and the rest of Europe could and hopefully will do more, we do need to appreciate what they have done and realize that they are experienced in doing many of the jobs a SysAdmin force would do.

Chief: Miss. Chirol needs the same!
IJ
February 14, 2006
11:49 am
More on the lack of funding for global security. At the beginning of this month, the "Munich Conference on Security Policy":http://www.securityconference.de/ took place. This annual get-together is called the "Davos" of security policy. Representatives from more than 40 countries discuss in depth the development of transatlantic relations as well as European and global security.

"A key concern of Nato's S-G":http://www.securityconference.de/konferenzen/rede.php?menu_2006=&menu_konferenzen=&sprache=en&id=169& is who'll pay for global security:

"modernizing the way we pay for things in NATO is critical, because it will make it easier to do what we need to do: project stability. Right now, participation in the NRF [Nato Response Force] is something like a reverse lottery: if your numbers come up, you actually lose money. If the NRF deploys while you happen to be in the rotation, you pay the full costs of the deployment of your forces. This can be a disincentive to countries to commit to participation in the NRF. And that is something that the alliance can't afford. That is why we need more solidarity in the way we pay for our operations. We need to share the costs more fairly. When Turkey had to ship some helicopters to Afghanistan, Luxembourg paid for their transport. That was solidarity. In the case of the NRF, I believe we should aim for the common funding of at least the initial deployment."
IJ
February 15, 2006
8:19 am
Is democracy preventing Germany from taking part part in alliance peace-building missions? The top NATO commander in Europe, General James Jones, was "interviewed":http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,399472-2,00.html recently by Germany's 'Der Spiegel':

*SPIEGEL:* The Germans have declined to participate in the Iraq war and they are only engaged in training Iraqi officers outside of the country. They will also not join the risky expansion of peacekeeping forces in southern Afghanistan. Are you disappointed?

*Jones:* I've learned in the three years I've been in this job that one has to be realistic. NATO is an alliance that works by consensus, *but each nation can put its own application of what it wishes to do within that consensus*. In Iraq we have a situation where barely half of the allies decided to put troops on the ground -- but they all voted for a mission. So, in their own way, they're doing what they can. I don't have negative feelings about anybody in the alliance on that score.
ComingAnarchy.com » Blog Archive » Mapping the Gap IV: Canada, Germany, UK
May 2, 2006
4:10 pm
[...] If you refer to a second post of mine on Germany’s past deployments, you see they also fall within the Gap. [...]
ComingAnarchy.com » Blog Archive » Transformation in Germany
November 15, 2006
1:28 pm
[...] With 8,900 soldier abroads, the German Bundeswehr is being deployed more than ever before. To cope with current and future challenges, the Germans have been reviewing their defense policy and specifically the circumstances under which their military can be sent abroad. While they have taken part in a wide range of past operations and continue to participate in international operations around the world, Germany is doing things from day to day. Thus, it’s not only a welcome sign, but a very positive one that Berlin has realized it needs to redefine the role of its military and spell out when and where they can be sent. [...]