【每日邮报】German soldiers are 'too soft', says the man……

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German soldiers are 'too soft', says the man who has to inspect the Bundeswehr
http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1193439/German-soldiers-soft-says-man-inspect-Bundeswehr.html
By Alan Hall   Last updated at 8:52 PM on 16th June 2009

'Too soft': A German ISAF soldier looks out from his binoculars while on patrol in Afhganistan (file photo)


German soldiers have been slammed as too soft, lacking discipline, hating responsibility and showing little desire to serve their country by the General Inspector of the armed forces.

Bundeswehr General Wolfgang Schneiderhahn told politicians in Berlin that the once-mighty German army had become a gang of gripers 'of all ranks and age'.

'We have given a good account of ourselves in Afghanistan,' said the general in best-selling daily Bild - but he quickly went on to criticise troops.

'We cannot guarantee an all-round,  feel-good feeling for our soldiers,' he said.

He cited trivial complaints reaching him about the quality of sleeping bags used in a deployment in the Congo as an 'embarrassment' to the parliament.

He also said that complaints were rising from professional soldiers at being sent on  missions overseas.  

But Herr Schneiderhahn’s blunt message was: 'There is no remedy for this – this is their profession.'

The inspector general, speaking before an audience of politicians, heads of industry and senior officers, complained of a tendency to delegate blame from officer to officer to other ranks with no-one willing to take responsibility for their actions.

The general urged soldiers to have 'a better feeling for discipline and to show a greater readiness to serve the state'.

The Commissioner for the Armed Forces of the Bundestag in Berlin, Reinhold Robbe, said at the meeting that the Afghanistan deployment of the German Federal Armed Forces was 'only appreciated at the fringes of society'.

He appealed to the German population to 'support this achievement more,' adding: 'The soldiers need more moral and human support.'

The Bundeswehr was formed after WW2 and has some 200,000 professional soldiers backed up by some 50,000 national service recruits each year.

The German post-war constitution initially mandated the Bundeswehr only to serve in protection of German borders.  After a 1994 ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court their remit was expanded to assist in crisis reaction and conflict prevention around the world as part of Nato and approved by the UN.

But in Afghanistan they are not allowed at the 'sharp end. of fighting with the Taliban. Berlin is under constant pressure from America and Nato to send more manpower and to fight on the front lines.