German defense minister, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, told the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung that legal security must be established for all German Bundeswehr soldiers - in particular those taking part in complicated missions like Germany's participation in the NATO ISAF mission in Afghanistan.

"We can't have our soldiers hampered by legal doubts, especially when they are forced to make decisions under extreme time pressure," Guttenberg said.

Guttenberg's comments came after he voiced his support of a controversial airstrike ordered by a German commander in Afghanistan in September.

Guttenberg backed the decision of Colonel Georg Klein to launch an air attack on two fuel tankers that had been hijacked by Taliban militants near a German military base in northern Afghanistan.

According to a NATO report, up to 142 people, including several civilians that had gathered around the tankers to siphon fuel after they had stalled, were killed in the strike.

Guttenberg acknowledged that civilians were killed in the attack and also that "some procedural errors" were committed. Nonetheless, he put his full support behind Colonel Klein's decision, calling it "militarily appropriate."

Criticism from opposition

Several German politicians have openly disagreed with Guttenberg's backing of the airstrike. Social Democrat defense expert Rainer Arnold told the Berlin daily Tagesspiegel that Guttenberg's evaluation was "illegitimate and unreasonable."

"If [Guttenberg] believes that dropping bombs in Afghanistan on large masses of people is alright, then the Social Democrats can no longer go along with him."

The defense expert of the Green Party, Omri Nouripour, found Guttenberg's justification of the airstrike peculiar, especially considering that Guttenberg admitted that mistakes were made.

"This issue shouldn't be treated as a mere bagatelle. That would make it look like the defense ministry pays no attention to the rules," Nouripour said.

Bigger issue at hand

The debates caused by the September airstrike have brought up the more large-scale question of whether Germany is technically at war in Afghanistan.

A court in the eastern state of Saxony has passed the Klein case on to Germany's top federal prosecution office, which will examine whether it is a matter for international law or German law.

For this to be determined the federal prosecutor must establish whether Germany's participation in the NATO ISAF mission constitutes an "armed conflict."

The head of the German military alliance, Colonel Ulrich Kirsch, told the mass-circulated Bild Zeitung that the German operation in Afghanistan constituted war.

"The justice ministry has stated explicitly what we are dealing with in Afghanistan: a non-international armed conflict. This is a war."

Former Bundeswehr General Harald Kujat went further, warning of "catastrophic consequences" should Germany pursue its investigations of the airstrike and impose penalties on Colonel Klein.

"Every soldier and officer would think twice about assuming any responsibility under such conditions," he told the daily Frankfurter Rundschau.

Under German constitution, it is illegal for the country to enter a war, except for purposes of defense. Over sixty years following the Nazi era, Germans remain highly skeptical of military operations. It was only a decade ago that German troops participated in their first foreign combat mission since the end of WWII.

Opinion polls show a majority of Germans oppose the engagement in Afghanistan and want the over 4,000 troops there to come home.

glb/Reuters/dpa
Editor: Andreas Illmer