Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, having recently returned from his visit to Afghanistan, didn't mince words in an appearance on a television news interview program on Sunday evening.

He defended his use of the word "war" to describe what German troops were engaged in in the conflict-torn region, saying it did the soldiers a disservice to resort to vague language. He also said he had had a frank conversation with Afghan President Hamid Karzai about the Afghan government's shortcomings.

Germany has some 4,250 soldiers in Afghanistan, the third-largest number of troops in the NATO contingent. Based near the northern city of Kunduz, soldiers have had to strike back against an increasingly fierce campaign by Taliban insurgents.

Perhaps most importantly, though, Guttenberg said that Germany needed to re-assess why it was in Afghanistan and how long it wanted to be there.

"I think we have to speak clearly about what our goals are," he said.

First, he said, Germany's goals needed to be coupled with goals for the Afghan government. Second, he emphasized the urgent need for a comprehensive Afghanistan conference.

"We can discuss what is working, what is not working, where is the status quo today," he said. "It's on that basis that we can define our new strategy, our new goals, and to be sure, a timetable."

Chancellor Merkel onboard

The statement echoed what Guttenberg's boss, Chancellor Angela Merkel, said recently about the international Afghanistan conference which is set for late January. She said she hoped participants there could agree on a plan to help Afghanistan eventually take care of its own security.

Later on Sunday night, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, leader of the Free Democrats (FDP), went further during a television appearance.

“We need to get to the point during this four-year legislative term that we are ready to talk about a potential exit strategy in Afghanistan. We don't want to be there forever," said Westerwelle.

Westerwelle's demand for a withdrawal plan within the next four years actually squared with that of the new CDU-FDP coalition's old rivals, the Social Democrats (SPD).

A broad consensus?

Meeting in Dresden for a party conference, the SPD called for the basis for a withdrawal to be established in the same time period.

The FDP, the CDU and the SPD are all beginning to talk exit strategy, joining the an already vocal "pull-out now" faction represented by the Left party.

The withdrawal debate in Germany is changing, and could be on a course that sees Germany getting out of Afghanistan earlier than many had thought.

mrh/dpa/AFP
Editor: Kyle James