In two years, what went badly in around twenty years of deployment of Bundeswehr soldiers in Afghanistan and culminated in a hasty evacuation in 2021 should be processed. At the start, the chairman of the committee, Müller, is diplomatic.
The Bundestag commission of inquiry on the mission in Afghanistan not only wants to look into the past, but also to make suggestions for a more critical monitoring of current and future missions. “We all know that a lot has also been achieved,” emphasized the SPD member of the Bundestag Michael Müller, who was elected chairman of the commission at the constituent meeting in Berlin, at the start of his work, which he considers successful. “We were able to give many people a perspective over these 20 years that they would not have had without this international commitment,” he said at the constitutive meeting in Berlin. But a lot of things didn’t work out either, the SPD politician stated. In this way, lasting security and stability in the country could not really have been ensured.
Müller referred to the questions that the Commission will now consider. “Were the orders clear enough? How did the forces network? Was there a permanent evaluation?” said Müller. It is important that these questions are now being asked, also because of the further commitment in the world. “We are witnessing the debate about Germany’s leadership role,” said the politician. “It is desired that we support and help.” He cited Iraq as an example.
The Commission is made up of 12 MEPs from all political groups and 12 experts. With scientific support, they should question the sense of the almost 20-year-long mission in Afghanistan and derive lessons for the future from it. The results and recommendations for action should be available by autumn 2024 at the latest.
Shortly before his election as chairman, Müller had already clearly addressed the failures of Afghanistan policy over the past twenty years in a less diplomatic manner on ntv’s “Frühstart” in the morning. “It has not been possible to find allies on the ground to stabilize the successes over the long term, and now after the withdrawal the situation is the same as before, or even worse.” Something like this should never happen again. “Germany is expected to play a leading role. This means that we will also be active in other countries in the future.”
He also told the editorial network Germany: “Before the Afghanistan mission, the country’s culture, history and society were obviously not dealt with sufficiently,” he said. “In addition, the order was changed more frequently. And finally, many successes were measured against the big cities like Kabul and Kandahar. It was overlooked that many changes in the area of ??the country were not accepted at all.”
In addition to the Commission of Inquiry at the beginning of July, the Bundestag Committee of Inquiry into Afghanistan also started its work at the beginning of July. It is intended to shed light on the frantic evacuation from Kabul in the summer of 2021. It is also about the fate of the local workers who are still waiting for an opportunity to emigrate to Germany.
According to a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior, 3,480 former local workers from Afghanistan have arrived in Germany so far, including 16,217 people with their families. In addition, according to the information, 1,827 people were included in the so-called human rights list, including their family members, 7,212 people.
The Bundeswehr withdrew from Afghanistan at the end of June 2021 after almost 20 years. The Taliban took power in the capital Kabul in mid-August without much resistance from the Afghan armed forces.
