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| German troops ’hid like rabbits’ in Kosovo riots | |
| 2004-05-09 | |
| The UN forces Kerry wants to turn our security over to... German troops serving with the Kfor international peacekeeping contingent in Kosovo have been accused of hiding in barracks "like frightened rabbits" during the inter-ethnic rioting that erupted in the province in March. calling Jimmy Carter! A hard-hitting German police report sent to the Berlin government last week criticises the troops for cowardice and for their failure to quell the rioting in which 19 people died and about 900 others were injured. The charges - the most serious made against the German army since the Second World War - have been levelled by police officers serving with Unmik, the United Nations civil administration in Kosovo. During the two-day riots between Albanian and Serbs, an Albanian mob burnt and looted 29 Serb churches and monasteries in the southern city of Prizren, and caused several thousand Serbs to flee their homes. Leaked excerpts from the report on the conduct of the 3,600-strong German contingent based in Prizren disclose that Unmik police were left to fend for themselves at the height of the rioting. "Despite continuous appeals for help from Kfor, nobody from the military appeared to back up the police," the report said. "Kfor proved to be incapable of carrying out the duties to which it has been assigned." Further damning evidence, based on interviews with Unmik officers, Serb church leaders and unnamed UN officials in Prizren, was published in Der Spiegel magazine. The magazine concluded: "The German soldiers ran away and hid like frightened rabbits in their barracks. They only reappeared in armoured vehicles after the Albanian mob had wreaked its havoc and left a trail of destruction." Col Dieter Hintelmann, who heads the German Kfor contingent in Prizren, insisted that his men had simply obeyed Kfor rules of engagement. They prohibit troops from protecting buildings and allow the use of firearms only in self-defence. "We were acting exactly according to the rules," he said. However, the Unmik officers claim that the Kfor troops had breached their rules of engagement because they failed to protect them even though they were legally bound to do so. The allegations have come as a severe embarrassment to Gerhard Schroder’s government, which in the past has gone out of its way to praise the German Kfor contingent for the role it played in the troubled province through its excellent contacts with local people. After the rioting, Serb Orthodox church leaders in Kosovo described the German deployment in the region as a mistake, and demanded the troops withdraw. So far, the German government has refused to acknowledge publicly the complaints made in the police report. However, the defence ministry is believed to be recommending that the law be changed, allowing soldiers to use tear gas grenades for riot control. Jeebus....how hamstrung can the peacekeepers be? Ridiculous rules of engagement, corrupt and inept leaders, unrealistic goals...yadda yadda
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| Posted by:Frank G |
| #9 Bad News: The German army no longer has effective field strength Good News: No more Holocausts |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-05-09 9:01:27 PM |
| #8 A German senior officer who refused to do the right thing because he was just following orders-what a suprise! Seriously,I could easily sympathize w/the Col.If he did send his troops out,and civilians were injured,he would have been accused of inflaming the situation.Also,I do not see any indication that more senior officers ordered him to intervene-surely calls to higher HQ's were made.Transcription of radio traffic would be interesting. |
| Posted by: Stephen 2004-05-09 5:50:25 PM |
| #7 One of the strengths of the US military is that the troops always know what they are fighting for. They may not agree with the objectives, but they always know what's expected of them and that's why they're willing to fight and, if need be, to die. A government with no moral center and no clear understanding of its future cannot expect its soldiers to fight and die for nothing. It's hard to blame German soldiers for not going in harm's way when they are sent forth by their government without purpose, without undertstaning, and without clear direction. For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? 1st Corinthians 14.8 |
| Posted by: RWV 2004-05-09 5:11:29 PM |
#6 EU army initiativesAnonymoose - isn't that a double oxymoron? :-p |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-05-09 10:49:09 AM |
| #5 Barbara, Violent agreement has been achieved. |
| Posted by: Mr. Davis 2004-05-09 10:46:12 AM |
| #4 Calling military men "cowards" has interesting consequences. Depending on the severity of the ego bruise, this could put a damper on a lot of EU army initiatives--the implication being that the "impotent" EU military cannot project strength, so national militaries must be preserved. No bloc can hope to be a "power center" in the world through economics alone--that is a fantasy of bureaucrats, who want everyone to follow them because they can taste test the difference between brands of caviar. Imagine a pissant like Saddam, marching across Europe and conquering nations; or, more realistically, insurgent groups rising up and overthrowing those weak nations from within. Most likely through just intimidation--even threats terrify pasty-faced, bulbous socialists. "Give us this or we will riot." "Give us that or we will plant bombs." Contemptous of those who bow before them, and rightfully so. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2004-05-09 10:45:23 AM |
| #3 Mr. Davis - if they did get it back and all they did was go after Frogistan again, I wouldn't care. Poland or the Czech Republic, on the other hand.... |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-05-09 10:37:36 AM |
| #2 Don't count on the Germans being less militaristic. They have just lost the edge that experience brings. I'd prefer they didn't get it back. |
| Posted by: Mr. Davis 2004-05-09 10:30:13 AM |
| #1 Well, we wanted to make the "militaristic" Germans less so. Guess we succeeded. And the UN is who Kerry and the LLL want to turn our security over to. Guess again, assholes. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-05-09 10:09:06 AM |