As of: March 8, 2024, 10:12 a.m
By: Hannes Niemeyer
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The Bundeswehr wiretapping scandal increases the Taurus anger for Chancellor Scholz.
Expert Masala has an exciting discovery at “Maybrit Illner”.
Berlin – Taurus to Ukraine: Yes or No?
Since the beginning of March, the discussion about this has reached a new level - since then, the affair surrounding the intercepted conversation of the Air Force officers and published by Russia has been hovering over the debates on the topic.
Olaf Scholz in particular has been under pressure since then.
The Chancellor's problem: His arguments for saying no to the delivery of cruise missiles are crumbling more than ever due to the recording.
Scholz had always claimed that the delivery of the Taurus cruise missiles would be accompanied by a mandate for German soldiers to deploy to Ukraine, for example to carry out training on the weapon's technology.
Politicians such as Anton Hofreiter from the Greens had already dismissed this as wrong in advance.
It also emerged from the leaked Bundeswehr conversation that a delivery without sending soldiers would be entirely conceivable.
Expert Carlo Masala has now discovered an interesting development on ZDF for a completely new argument.
New pressure from the wiretapping scandal: “Illner” group discusses Taurus dispute over Scholz
On Thursday (March 7th), a good week after the recording became known, Maybrit Illner's talk panel also turned to the topic of how critical the leak could be for Germany and also for the Taurus debate.
However, Masala, a political scientist and professor at the Bundeswehr University in Munich, was initially unable to draw any real news from the recording.
According to him, no details that were not already known were included.
Scholz blocks the Taurus deliveries - but expert Masala can refute his arguments.
© Screenshot ZDF / dpa |
Bernd von Jutrczenka
SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert also seems to see the new momentum that the leak has brought to the Taurus debate as similarly tough.
In any case, he emphasizes that the debates in the Bundestag would only be aimed at the Taurus.
A situation that would bring a “certain level of slapstick” for him.
Many people would find this “annoying”; they would recognize a certain “non-seriousness”.
Taurus debate slowly becoming “clamak”?
SPD General Secretary Kühnert with clear words
Meanwhile, the opposition may also consider Scholz's strictly negative attitude towards the Taurus deliveries to be a bit of a "slapstick".
The “Illner” panel, which included CDU foreign policy expert Roderich Kiesewetter, also heard Scholz’s arguments again.
Among other things, Scholz recently spoke of the possible Taurus range as far as Moscow.
It cannot be the case that “you deliver a weapons system that is very far-reaching and then don’t think about how control over the weapon system can take place,” the Chancellor recently said.
“If you want to have control and that’s only possible if German soldiers are involved, that’s out of the question for me.”
An argument that expert Masala can immediately refute - but in which he nevertheless discovers an exciting development.
Military expert Masala dismantles Scholz argument in Taurus debate
Masala confirms the long range of the Taurus cruise missile of 500 kilometers, but also immediately makes it clear: “You can limit the range of the Taurus.”
But this doesn't make sense.
Masala's simple calculation: If the Taurus aims at a target 350 kilometers away in Ukraine, it would have to be programmed so that it can also avoid air defense systems, which could quickly add a few kilometers.
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Masala provides the “but” directly: “You can program a 'block' that in the target programming only allows the Taurus to reach targets in Ukraine, within the borders of 1991.”
Or to put it briefly: “You can exclude Moscow.”
If you do it like that, it is “very, very unlikely” that Ukraine could use the Taurus against Moscow.
Taurus no from Scholz: Masala recognizes new excuse – “It only came after the leaks”
“Now the Chancellor comes with a new argument,” Masala continues to analyze the scene.
Olaf Scholz now says that they want to keep “control”.
“That only came after the leaks,” the expert continues.
For a Taurus delivery, this would mean that German soldiers “somewhere” would have to be involved in training on the weapon.
“This keeps you in control.”
Ultimately, the Taurus could still be used without German soldiers being involved.
“You should trust the expertise of the air force, which has this system,” concludes Masala.