Mission to Afghanistan: Remembrance is no substitute for coming to terms with coming to terms with it

The Bundestag and the Federal Government have paid tribute to the Bundeswehr’s mission in Afghanistan. But years of silence about this and other missions cannot make us forget that. Remembrance cannot replace reappraisal.

Politicians bows to the soldiers – finally. It is a gesture of humility that is important: for the families and friends of the 59 who died in Afghanistan. For the traumatized, in whose mind the images from the mission are still running as a horror film loop. For those who, after the Taliban came to power, are now asking themselves the agonizing question of was everything pointless.

Honor is a piece of reparation

The honorary testimony on the part of politics is also a piece of reparation: Neither the defense minister, nor the chancellor nor any other political soul appeared on the tarmac when the last German soldiers landed in Wunstorf, Lower Saxony, at the end of June. And that after two decades in Afghanistan.

This failure made many veterans angry, it frustrated them, it cemented that devastating image in their minds that hardly anyone was ever interested in their life-threatening mission.

This is no wonder in view of a Chancellor who kept the toxic issue of Afghanistan at bay during her term of office wherever she could. In view of a political leadership that for years was more concerned with putting on masking make-up than actually informing the public about motivation, goals and dangers.

The commemoration must not be an end

All of this cannot be undone in a single day. And it would also not be in the interest of the Bundeswehr if politics were to freeze in the bowing pose and otherwise continue as before.

It is crucial that the day of remembrance does not become the day of the closing line. It is crucial that you now seriously embark on the path of troubleshooting – and only leave it again when you have learned lessons for future missions or current ones like the one in Mali.

There is a lot of work to be done

And there is a lot to work on. For politics as well as for the troops themselves, by the way, which, as Minister Kramp-Karrenbauer has once again confirmed, apparently regards their mission as fulfilled:

How did it happen that the German soldiers were initially able to take a leisurely stroll in Kunduz, but then did not prevent the Taliban from infiltrating and then faced them in daily battles in 2009/2010?

How did it happen that a few Afghans built magnificent palaces in Kabul during the international presence and brought money out of the country in plastic bags, whereas today every third country resident goes to bed hungry?

How could it happen that apparently hardly anyone came to see how much the Afghan army felt abandoned by the West after the head-over-heel withdrawal and how quickly the Taliban then seized power?

Federal President Steinmeier is right when he says right now: “We have to talk about Afghanistan.” For this conversation, the day of remembrance can only have been the starting point, not the end point. And this conversation must not, as in the past, become a self-talk among soldiers again. Otherwise the deep bow of politics on Afghanistan Memorial Day will degenerate into a unique, empty pose.