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US-German rift emerges over Afghan deaths case
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 06 - 09 - 2009


An airstrike by U.S. fighter jets that
appears to have killed Afghan civilians could turn into a
major dispute for NATO allies Germany and the United
States, as tensions began rising between them Sunday over
Germany's role in ordering the attack, according to AP.
Afghan officials say up to 70 people were killed in the
early morning airstrike Friday in the northern province of
Kunduz after Taliban militants stole two tanker trucks of
fuel and villagers gathered to siphon off gas.
Afghan and NATO investigations are just beginning, but
both German and U.S. officials already appeared to be
trying to deflect blame.
German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said the
Taliban's possession of the two tankers «posed an acute
threat to our soldiers.» German officials have said the
tankers might have been used as suicide bombs.
«If there were civilian casualties or injuries, of course
we deeply regret that. At the same time, it was clear that
our soldiers were in danger,» Jung said in comments to
German broadcasters. «Consequently, I stand clearly behind
our commander's decision» to order the air strike.
Meanwhile, Rear Adm. Gregory J. Smith, the top U.S. and
NATO spokesman in the country, said German troops let too
many hours pass before visiting the site of the bombing
Friday.
He explained that it's important to hold the ground after
a strike and determine what happened before the enemy comes
out with its own version of events.
The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, U.S. Gen.
Stanley McChrystal, visited the site Saturday where two
charred trucks and yellow gas cans sat on a riverbed. He
asked a top commander in Regional Command North about the
response time.
«Why didn't RC-North come here quicker?» McChrystal
asked Col. Georg Klein, the commander of the German base in
Kunduz.
«I can honestly say it was a mistake,» Klein answered,
in a discussion witnessed by an Associated Press reporter.
On Sunday, Smith said that in McChrystal's judgment the
response time «was probably longer than it should have
been.»
German troops in Afghanistan have long been criticized for
avoiding combat operations, even as militants have
increasingly infiltrated northern Afghanistan the last
year, destabilizing the once-peaceful region.
Taliban militants stole two fuel tankers late Friday that
became stuck on a riverbed outside Kunduz. Villagers _
either forced by the militants or enticed by offers of free
fuel _ gathered near the trucks, even as U.S. jets
patrolled overhead.
German commanders watching images from the U.S. aircraft
could see about 120 people, McChrystal said Saturday. The
commanders decided that the people were militants and
ordered the airstrikes, Smith said, even though images
provided by the U.S. aircraft would have been grainy and
difficult to see.
Whether the German commanders or the U.S. pilot are at
fault for any civilian casualties may turn into an
inner-NATO tussle.
Smith said the ground force commander «is the decision
maker for close air support. That's doctrine.» But he also
conceded that a pilot can refuse an order to drop a bomb.
Klein, in an interview with The Associated Press on
Sunday, declined to say whether images provided by the U.S.
jets had been clear enough for weapons to be seen among
Afghans on the ground, citing the ongoing investigation.
A German Joint Terminal Air Controller, or JTAC, who spoke
on condition that his name not be used because he wasn't
authorized to speak publicly, said the rules for ordering
an attack clearly state that the ultimate decision rests
with the ground commander.
But rules also require that both the pilot and the JTAC
get a good positive identification of the target before the
commander can order a weapon deployed, the JTAC said.
«Only when both are sure that what we see is a target,
only then will the pilot drop the bomb,» the JTAC said.
The German Defense Ministry, meanwhile, pushed back
against a story published in the Washington Post that
German officials said painted their commander in a poor
light and played up the U.S. version of events. The
ministry said the article «will definitely influence at
least the preliminary investigation by the various
bodies.»
«The Defense Ministry is very surprised about the unusual
procedure of using a journalist as a source to reveal
initial investigation results,» the ministry said.
Kris Coratti, director of communications for the
Washington Post, said in an e-mail: «The story speaks for
itself.»
Smith said a trip to Kunduz by military officials from
Kabul was not an official investigation but a fact-finding
trip.
«And I think it's much, much better for people to
understand the facts,» he said of the decision to allow a
journalist to witness the discussion among military
officials.
No NATO officials will yet say how many civilians they
think may have died. Smith on Saturday said the preliminary
overall death toll was believed to be 56. Afghan officials
say it's in the low 70s.
Smith said he hopes a U.S.-German rift does not develop
over the strike. «I hope everyone allows the investigation
to proceed and we'll determine what we know more precisely
and move on from there,» Smith said.
The director of an Afghan human rights group criticized
NATO's International Security Assistance Force for the
deaths. «It was carelessness in terms of ISAF using force
without doing enough to investigate whether this is a
civilian location,» Ajmal Samadi of Afghan Rights Monitor
said.
German troops have long been criticized for restrictions
that limit the battle their troops see. A U.S. based
military analyst, Anthony Cordesman, said German troops
don't have «the situational and combat experience» to
confront Taliban on the ground.
«They're as oriented toward staying in their armored
vehicles as any group I've met,» Cordesman said. «They're
not active enough to present much of a threat to the
Taliban most of the time.»
Klein rejected the claim that his troops lacked combat
experience.
«Since I arrived here we have unfortunately seen many
combat situations and my soldiers performed very well,» he
said.
«But the thing that's always given us a very good
reputation in the civilian society here is that we tried as
best as possible to exclude any civilian casualties, and
I've got very good feedback on that from the Afghan
people,» he said.


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