Germany Paves Way for Military Support

The Germany parliament voted by an overwhelming majority Wednesday to offer solidarity and military support to the U.S. in the fight against global terrorism. Germany's largest political parties - led by the Social Democrats and the Christian Democratic Union - approved a "provision of suitable military capabilities," with 565 of the Bundestag's 611 members supporting the decision.

The vote came after Chancellor Gerhard Schröder announced Germany was ready to accept the risks that a military response against international terrorist networks would entail. But he also warned that Germany was unwilling to engage in any military "adventures."

The German cabinet approved a DM 3 billion package of measures to increase domestic security and provide additional funding for the Bundeswehr, Germany's military.

Public supports retaliation

According to public opinion polls, most Germans support retaliatory military strikes against the U.S. However, support for the participation of the German military is significantly lower.

The first signs of possible military support came Sunday evening. German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder said he wouldn't "rule out" the possibility of deploying troops to support a U.S. retaliatory strike during a television interview with public broadcaster ZDF.

A dramatic risk

Even former pacifist and Green Party Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, who flew to Washington for talks with the Bush administration this week, told the public broadcaster he expected a "very bitter time ahead of us" and that a "fairly long-term" engagement would likely occur. In the interview, he emphasized a multilateral response with political, cultural and possible military components.

Fischer also indicated that Germany would consider the possibility of sending troops at a NATO level as well as a bilateral level. If terrorist actions are allowed to stand unpunished, they will represent a "dramatic risk" to the world order, he said.

Support from the opposition

The broad coalition that emerged around Wednesday's vote was significant in that it represented a marked shift in Berlin's political atmosphere. Germany's political parties have been deeply split over sensitive subjects like immigration, the budget and how to combat a stagnant economy in recent months. Only a month ago, Chancellor Schröder was barely able to scrape together enough votes to deploy a small number troops to Macedonia to disarm Albanian rebels.

A mission for Germany's elite force?

U.S. officials have reportedly asked German officials to consider deploying the country's elite, 400-strong KSK force in a possible military mission. The KSK is comparable to America's Delta Force, Britain's Special Air Service (SAS) and France's Dragons.

A German official told the Frankfurt Allgemeine Zeitung that the unit would be particularly useful in an American action because KSK forces are better trained in "repulsing terrorism and seizing persons" than its U.S. counterparts. Sources told the paper that as many as 300 KSK soldiers could be dispatched to Afghanistan to rescue the Shelter Now missionaries who have been jailed by the Taliban since August.

The force was created by the German government in 1996 after it had to call on Belgian paratroopers to rescue Deutsche Welle Radio journalists who were trapped in Rwanda.

The support the German military can offer is limited by comparison to American forces. While the U.S. has 1.4 million soldiers, the number of active soldiers in Germany is approximately 310,000.