Last month I nearly killed a soldier of the German Army. I was driving alongside a parked army-convoi, when a soldier suddenly appeared on the street in front of me, running out from behind a truck. Fortunately I was able to brake just in time and prevent an accident. I thought about what might have happened, if I had really hit him. It would have meant a lot of trouble for me, but for the public there, it would just about have been worthy of a small note in the regional newspaper.
But I also thought about the possible consquences of this soldier dying in Afghanistan. There would have been a general outcry in the whole of Germany. The news would have been printed in every German newspaper with fiery debates about the need to withdraw troops as it has been the case after every deadly Taliban attack. I certainly understand that every life has its own worth, but I cannot understand that Germans merely accept that people die in road accidents, climbing, sailing etc., yet equate the death of a German soldier in the fight for freedom and security with an absolute catastrophe.
According to the statistics of the German Army, 26 (!) German soldiers died in Afghanistan between 2002 and 2008. In contrast, about 5000 Germans are dying every year in road accidents ("World" 2008-02-26). That means 30.000 dead people in the last 6 years. (For Non- Germans: There is no speed-limit on German freeways). No wonder, the German government is really concerned (about the 26 soldiers).
Although this comparison is no scientific statistic, it probably shows how far German public discussions about ISAF & Co have left all reality behind them. Maybe the time will come, when the number German soldiers dying will increase dramatically. Not on the day they finally reach the south. But on the day the first high-speed freeway is built in Afghanistan.
Uta Ermler is doing social work for the guardianship court in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.
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March 11, 2008
Donald Stadler, Self-employed, Diamond Contributor (1052)
Put it this way: how do Germans think this plays in the US, or Canada, or the UK? I am not happy about the 26 German soldiers who have died in accidents at all. But Germany's sacrifice is not unique or even particularly notable! I also remember that hundreds of thousands of US soldiers have been stationed in Germany under NATO auspices since 1948 (I won't count the post-war occupation as part f the NATO mission). Canada and the UK can claim a similar committment. How many of those Americans, Canadians, and Brits died in accidents in Germany. Whether in their 'civilian' lives or during the performance of their duties. I suspect the total number can be counted in the thousands, perhaps many thousands.
Germans feel the loss of their own peircingly. The accumulative losses of their NATO allies (whether in combat or for other causes) obvously counts far less to Germans, and that trend continues to this day.
Germans who wish to make Bush accountable for German loss of life should perhaps consider their own accountability - and possibly bite their tongues.