GERMANY'S MILITARY TO TAKE ON GLOBAL ROLE...

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Douglas W. "Popeye" Frederick - 25 Oct 2006 06:53 GMT

What a -great- time it is to be alive. :-)

==============

Germany in radical shake-up of military

By Hugh Williamson in Berlin

Published: October 24 2006 22:17 | Last updated: October 24 2006 22:17

Germany will on Wednesday adopt the most radical restructuring of its
military since 1945, turning the Bundeswehr into an international
intervention force, according to an internal cabinet strategy paper obtained
by the Financial Times.

The paper, which will be endorsed at a special cabinet meeting in the
defence ministry, is the product of a review - the first of its kind since
1994 - begun by Angela Merkel, chancellor, after she won office last
November. It will see Germany's military officially abandon its primary
postwar task of defending the country's borders in favour of a more robust
role for German troops on international missions.

The military's most sensitive international deployment since the second
world war came this month when the German navy took control of patrolling
Lebanese waters to stop weapons smugglers. The military has taken part in
other international missions in Afghanistan and Kosovo, for example, but has
largely avoided direct involvement in war zones.

The 133-page strategy paper argues that the capacity of the Bundeswehr must
be expanded to allow for the deployment of a total of 14,000 troops to five
international missions simultaneously.

This will be achieved by drawing troops previously deployed on national
defence into units involved in staffing or supporting overseas missions.

The Bundeswehr has about 250,000 military personnel, including about 50,000
conscripts. About 9,000 troops are currently overseas in Afghanistan,
Kosovo, Congo and elsewhere.

The paper confirms conscription will be retained.

Henning Riecke, European security specialist at Berlin's DGAP foreign policy
institute, said the paper will "give German policymakers a way of handing
increasing international pressure to join overseas missions".

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006

=======================

125 From: Popeye - view profile
Date: Thurs, Aug 26 1999 12:00 am
Email: buzcutt...@aol.com.Byteme (Popeye)
Groups: rec.scuba

>>>I knew that you guys are taught a slightly distorted picture of WWII
>>>(just as probably every one else is), but I didn't realise that it was
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>>*that* inaccurate.

>Do you not think that answers your question ?

Sooo... you agree that your nationalistic view of your country's role in the
war is as prejudicial as ours may be

P.S. Now that the two Germanys are once again united, I hope... you are REAL
good freinds with them...

Signature

Popeye
It was when Lucifer first congratulated
himself upon his angelic behavior that he
became the tool of evil. -Hammarskjöld
www.finalprotectivefire.com

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Douglas W. "Popeye" Frederick - 25 Oct 2006 22:20 GMT

Oh, -sh.t-.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Two Israeli warplanes and a German navy vessel have
clashed off the Lebanese coast, the Defense Ministry in Berlin said on
Wednesday without giving further details.

Germany daily Der Tagesspiegel earlier on Wednesday quoted a junior German
defense minister as telling a parliamentary committee that two Israeli F-16
fighters flew low over the German ship and fired two shots.

The jets also released infra-red countermeasures to ward off any rocket
attack, the paper quoted him as saying.

The minister did not say when the incident happened or what had caused it,
the paper said.

"I can confirm that there was an incident," a ministry spokesman told
Reuters on Wednesday.

An investigation was underway and he therefore was unable to provide further
information, he added.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said she was checking the report.

Germany assumed command of a United Nations naval force off the coast of
Lebanon 10 days ago and has sent a force of eight ships and 1,000 service
personnel to join the international peace operation in the region.

The naval force is charged with preventing weapons smuggling and helping
maintain a ceasefire between Israel and radical Lebanese-based Islamic group
Hezbollah.

Signature

Popeye
The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate
to the stormy present. - Abraham Lincoln
www.finalprotectivefire.com

"Douglas W. "Popeye" Frederick" <Popeye@finalprotectivefire.com> wrote in
message news:...

> What a -great- time it is to be alive. :-)
>
[quoted text clipped - 64 lines]
> REAL
> good freinds with them...

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Douglas W. "Popeye" Frederick - 25 Oct 2006 22:29 GMT

Border Excursion imminent.

France is all done.

Matthias, where can I send money to the Wehrmacht ?

Germany orders inquiry into Afghan skull photos
Wed Oct 25, 2006 2:40pm ET

BERLIN (Reuters) - Newspaper pictures purporting to show German soldiers
desecrating a human skull in Afghanistan caused outrage in Germany on
Wednesday and prompted the government to launch an immediate investigation.

A photograph of a smiling soldier in fatigues posing with a skull was
splashed on the front page of top-selling German daily Bild under the
headline:

"Shock photos of German troops".

The images, apparently taken more than three years ago, were published as
the German army seeks to expand its global role nearly 60 years after World
War Two amid public skepticism.

Other photographs showed an unidentified soldier clutching the skull next to
his exposed penis and the skull resting on the front wing of a light armored
vehicle.

Bild said the soldiers were on a routine tour around the Afghan capital
Kabul.

Armed forces General Inspector Wolfgang Schneiderhan said a soldier and a
former soldier were being investigated.

State prosecutors in Potsdam said they had launched a probe into a possible
case of desecrating the dead following the Bild report.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said the pictures were repulsive.

"Such behavior is inexcusable," she said on the sidelines of a defense event
in Berlin. "The government will investigate the soldiers involved and take
rigorous steps against them."

Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung told a news conference at which a new
long-term security strategy for Germany was presented that the pictures
aroused

"disgust and horror". Continued...

Signature

> Oh, -sh.t-.
>
[quoted text clipped - 96 lines]
>> REAL
>> good freinds with them...

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