German mistakes in Afghanistan: reappraisal currently not desired

Acting too late, too poorly prepared: In Afghanistan, the German government made and admitted many mistakes. She is currently not interested in a work-up.

In the cabinet proposal on the evacuation operation of the Bundeswehr, it says: The main thing is to protect the life and limb of German citizens. There is imminent danger. The approval of the Bundestag next week is considered a matter of form. Because the rescue operation has long since started and is picking up speed. Germans have been evacuated from Kabul since the beginning of the week. But why now?

The secrets of the Federal Intelligence Service

No other German institution can provide better information on this than the Federal Intelligence Service (BND). He has been collecting information about the Taliban for years, including on site with his secret service agents who have a liaison office in Kabul.

Intelligence experts say the BND had excellent contacts, including the Taliban. So why this misjudgment that the Taliban were supposedly far from taking power in Kabul? Nothing could be more obvious than to question the secret service agents themselves. The SPD parliamentary group had applied for a special session of the Parliamentary Control Committee (PKGr) for today. It monitors the German secret services. But the meeting was rejected out of hand yesterday evening – at the request of the CDU / CSU parliamentary group.

Anger at the SPD

Carsten Schneider, parliamentary manager of the SPD parliamentary group, foamed with rage on Twitter and wrote: “The knowledge of the intelligence services that have been present in Afghanistan for many years now belongs on the table for a political evaluation.”

But the table remains empty for the time being. Members of parliament and the public do not learn anything about the intelligence officers’ findings. A sequel is likely to have. Because the chairman of the secret service control committee of the Bundestag, Roderich Kiesewetter (CDU), calls for consequences for the German secret services. You were responsible for the misjudgment.

Diplomats as supplicants to the Taliban

Why were diplomats, German citizens and the Afghan local staff working for them not flown out of Afghanistan earlier? Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) is under pressure. He had to justify himself in a secret meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Bundestag.

Some opposition politicians had previously called for his resignation. Others like the Greens foreign politician Omid Nouripour say it is not about resignations now. “Now we have to save human lives.” Even before the foreign minister appears in the committee, there is criticism: the role of the federal government in Afghanistan is “catastrophic”, according to the liberal foreign politician Bijan Djir-Sarai. The FDP has long demanded an exit strategy for Afghanistan. “There was enough time to prepare for this day. These mistakes could have been avoided.”

Committee chairman Norbert Röttgen from the CDU is even clearer: the federal government no longer has any room for maneuver. The West must now “ask” the Taliban to make it possible to rescue their compatriots from Kabul. “Everything is now in the hands of the Taliban.” That sounds bitter.

“There was no new knowledge”

During his interview, Maas walks past him into the meeting room. There he has to be asked why the German government underestimated the fighting power of the Taliban. Why weren’t the Germans and local staff evacuated much earlier? Maas apparently did not answer any questions. “There was no new knowledge,” says the FDP foreign politician Djir-Sarai.

Maas himself leaves the special session without a word to the waiting journalists. The Berlin press later learned that diplomat Markus Potzel had arrived in the Qatari capital Doha at noon. There he would hold talks – not negotiations – with the Taliban. One of the goals is to ensure that Germans in Afghanistan who are willing to leave the country are given safe access to Kabul Airport.

Unpleasant question for Kramp-Karrenbauer

Has the Ministry of Defense done everything possible to allow the Afghan local staff who worked for the Bundeswehr to leave for Germany? Many MPs know the answer. It is: no.

For months, the Foreign Office, Defense and Interior Ministries have built up or tolerated bureaucratic hurdles for local staff to leave the country. A word of power could have come from Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. But it didn’t come. And so she had to face this unpleasant question again today.

The military in Kabul decide

At lunchtime, the Defense Committee in the German Bundestag met – also not in public. The MPs also want to know from Kramp-Karrenbauer how the disaster came about. Unlike her counterpart Maas, the defense minister gave a press statement before the meeting. “Our soldiers are currently in a highly dangerous, complex and robust evacuation operation,” she said.

And as if casually she added that there had never been such an evacuation mandate for the Bundeswehr in the history of the Federal Republic. She also put on record: Brigadier General Jens Arlt, who is in charge of the evacuation, has her “complete confidence, every operational freedom and my political backing”. In other words, the situation in Kabul is so confusing that the military on the ground are deciding what to do.

Post-election aftermath?

The top secret committee meeting, which lasted several hours, was mainly about a situation report. Apparently it convinced the MPs. Because, contrary to usual practice, neither the government nor the opposition subsequently expressed fundamental criticism of the Bundeswehr. This is not the time for it, they say in unison. The soldiers were just risking their lives to get the people out of Kabul.

The Kabul disaster is likely to have political aftermath, but possibly only after the general election. There will then no longer be any resignations by ministers. Until then, they have been voted out.