A German Perspective on Afghanistan War

A retired general officer of the German Bundeswehr (German Army) has wrote an article entitled "German Perspective On Lessons Learned From Afghanistan - Analysis", posted on Eurasia Review - News and Analysis, on March 10, 2102. The author is LtGen (Ret) Dr. Ulf von Krause, a retired officer of the German Bundeswehr. The article describes the scope of deployments of the Bundeswehr to Afghanistan ranging from 100 members of German Special Forces (GERSOF) in the early part of the war to over 5,000 troops to participate in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). At first German troops were stationed in and around Kabul but eventually the German forces moved into Northern Afghanistan and commanded Regional Command North (RC North). The author discusses the Rules of Engagement (ROE), types of missions, the multilateral aspect of German commitment to the Afghan conflict, German support of the NATO alliance, the difference in objectives of ISAF (stabilization and political reconciliation) and the US (combat operations), the German populations' perception of the war, parliamentary process and the escalation of the German participation, lessons learned, and the future of Afghanistan after 2014. A very good read. Access the article here.