As of: March 14, 2024, 12:05 p.m
By: Moritz Maier, Florian Pfitzner
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Germany made mistakes around the Bundeswehr evacuation mission from Afghanistan.
Now the senior commander will be questioned in the U-Committee.
The CSU and the Greens explain what went wrong.
Berlin/Kabul – On Thursday, the review of the Bundeswehr evacuation mission from Afghanistan enters a hot phase.
Brigadier General Jens Arlt, then evacuation commander, is heard as a witness in the Bundestag investigative committee.
Because: There were many mistakes surrounding the escape from Kabul airport, which was organized at short notice.
In the run-up to the survey, politicians from the U-Committee and the study commission 'Lessons from Afghanistan' also admitted this.
However, politicians themselves are responsible for this - not the Bundeswehr.
Afghanistan evacuation by the Bundeswehr: mistakes came from politics
“The 'lessons learned' from Afghanistan lie more in the political area and the preparation of various scenarios by the respective ministries,” said the CSU politician and deputy chairman of the Afghanistan Investigative Committee, Thomas Erndl, before the interrogation to
IPPEN.MEDIA
.
In the summer of 2021, the radical Islamist Taliban quickly recaptured Afghanistan at the end of an international military operation that had lasted over 20 years.
In an evacuation mission set up at short notice, the US military and the German Air Force, among others, flew thousands of desperate people out of the country.
The Bundeswehr alone saved over 5,000 people from the Taliban.
The mission was nevertheless symbolic of the failure in Afghanistan.
Promises made by the then and current federal government to provide security for all Afghan local staff in addition to German citizens have not yet been fulfilled to this day.
CSU politician: Bundeswehr can successfully carry out evacuation missions at any time
CSU politician Erndl admits political mistakes in the course of the evacuation.
Previous surveys in the U-Committee had shown “that such a scenario could have been considered earlier and prepared more carefully.”
Erndl speaks of complete lists of those in need of protection, early issuing of visas and the use of charter flights “before the situation got so dramatic.”
In addition to the political mistakes, the Bundeswehr and its operational capabilities were also discussed, especially during the evacuation mission.
Here Erndt, who also chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee, makes it clear: “This is a capability of the Bundeswehr that has been trained for many years, and therefore there is nothing wrong with the purely military part of the evacuation.”
US soldiers lead a woman carrying a child in her arms during the evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.
© picture alliance/dpa/ZUMA Press Wire Service |
U.S. Marines
According to Erndt, evacuation missions are one of the standard capabilities of the Rapid Forces Division.
“The evacuation from Sudan in April 2023 made it clear once again that the Bundeswehr can successfully evacuate German compatriots abroad at any time, even under the most difficult conditions.”
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The federal government promises help to Afghan local workers - and does not deliver it
While the Bundeswehr is given a good rating, politics is becoming the focus of criticism.
In the course of the evacuation, the federal government agreed on offers of help for Afghans entitled to protection, so-called local staff.
“We will not leave our allies behind,” says the coalition agreement between the SPD, the Greens and the FDP.
They want to particularly protect those who “have supported the Federal Republic of Germany as partners abroad and have committed themselves to democracy and social development.”
Originally, local employees at risk and their immediate family members were supposed to be brought to safety through unbureaucratic procedures.
“We continue to bear responsibility for the people in Afghanistan,” said Shahina Gambir, chairwoman of the Greens in the “Lessons from Afghanistan” study commission, to our editorial team.
“This is not only my personal conviction, but also a result of the work of the study commission.
The current devastating situation in Afghanistan is a direct consequence of our failures during our 20 years of involvement there.”
Despite the promise, Afghan local workers are still not able to enter Germany
The Taliban had completely taken over the Afghan capital Kabul shortly after the hasty withdrawal of international forces.
“In the meantime, we left behind many local employees who trusted in us and without whom our work on site would not have been possible,” says Gambir.
“Even today, three years later, it has still not been possible to bring them all to safety.”
Of the 5,500 people to whom the federal government has promised admission, only 4,200 people have so far entered Germany.
“This shows that the procedures are taking far too long,” says Gambir.
In addition, according to the Green politician, the criteria for who is recognized as a local employee are still insufficient.
“Employees of subcontractors are still not given sufficient consideration.” The definition of so-called nuclear families is too narrow and it tears families apart.
“We were able to rely on these people for our mission, they now have to be able to rely on us,” says Gambir.
“As a traffic light, we owe it to local staff worldwide to finally reform their admissions procedures.”