Germany's opposition Social Democrats (SPD) accused Chancellor Angela Merkel today of dithering over whether she will accede to U.S. President Barack Obama's request for more troops in Afghanistan, Reuters reported. The SPD, who were in government when Germany sent soldiers to Afghanistan eight years ago, now oppose boosting the number of combat troops from nearly 4,500 and insist Merkel should set out a timetable for them coming home. Conservative Merkel is due to make a statement to parliament on her Afghanistan strategy on Wednesday, ahead of an international conference about Afghanistan in London on Jan. 28, but it is unclear how much detail she will give on troop numbers. SPD chairman Sigmar Gabriel said Germany would be stuck on the sidelines at next week's conference, which Britain says may set a timetable for transferring responsibility for some areas to Afghan control. "Anyone heading to London without a strategy is going to end up on the sidelines," Gabriel said at a public conference on Friday on whether the SPD should support any proposal to raise the number of troops in Afghanistan. "It's completely unacceptable that the government can't come up with a coherent Afghanistan strategy. One moment the defence minister calls for more combat troops but then the foreign minister says he won't go to London if it's about combat troops. "This has been going on for weeks," he added. "And the chancellor stays silent the whole time." Other German opposition parties, some media commentators, and even a few members of her own party, have made broader accusations against Merkel of failing to give direction on a number of policy fronts, from tax policy to Afghanistan and health reform.
