The [daily newspaper the Süddeutsche Zeitung] cited a draft copy of a policy paper titled "Concepts for the Bundeswehr," which recommends a fundamental reorganization of the German military to ensure it "makes its contribution to national security provision."
For more than a decade, the Bundeswehr has focused mainly on overseas deployments, including peacekeeping duties in several conflict zones. But in future, national and international alliance defense should be put on an equal footing, the report said.
First of all, I was unaware that the Germans had emphasized "international security" which had left the German military unprepared for national security. Just where are those German troops standing on the ramparts abroad fighting for the West?
Second, I believe that national and international defense are already on an equal footing--abysmal and embarrassing.
Third, there's going to be a problem with this plan:
But the [defense spending] proposal would still leave Germany far short of a NATO target of 2 percent of GDP, which has been demanded by US President Donald Trump.
The center-left Social Democrats have so far rejected the spending plans, which must be decided by July 4, when the German Cabinet is due to consider longer-term expenditure.
So the spending plan is inadequate and the German Left may not approve even that.
Fourth, the German defense minister is perhaps not the best person to make the German military combat effective.
And fifth, please for God's sake just stop this nonsense:
As a legacy of World War II, Germany has restrictive guidelines for its military activity, leading some to question whether spending 2 percent of GDP would make sense, given the limitations on what kind of missions the Bundeswehr can participate in.
Behold the "why bother spending on defense when we'll never use it" attitude.
Let me (again) apply the clue bat to the Germans over that "legacy" and the current situation:
I keep reading that the Germans hate their militaristic past so much that they don't want to fight.
Let's try applying the clue bat to Germany's collective skull on this issue.
Conquering and setting up death camps under the shield of a powerful military? That's bad. By all means, don't do that.
Having a military capable of fighting death cult enemies or stopping the Russians from moving west? Well, that's a good thing. Try doing that.
Still, as a self-proclaimed "glass half full" kind of man, I should welcome a German proposal that seeks to base their military around the concept of "national security." Even with their "legacy," West Germany during the Cold War managed to have a damn fine military ready to fight.
Maybe Germany will be a reliable and capable ally again. Or maybe it just doesn't make sense for me to hope for that.
