Surprise visit

Defense Minister Guttenberg arrived on an unannounced visit to Kabul on Thursday and quickly said that the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai must show that there is discernible progress in the country. Guttenberg was on his maiden visit to the country, where over 4,300 German troops are deployed.

“The Karzai government has to fulfil certain conditions," he asserted, adding that "we must see successes."

Guttenberg, who assumed his new role as defense minister just over two weeks ago, had a busy schedule of meetings with President Karzai, top NATO commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal, Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak, the German ambassador to Afghanistan, members of the EU police mission (EUPOL), as well as the heads of German aid agencies and non-governmental organizations.

Guttenberg also traveled to Mazar-i-Sharif, where some of the German troop contingent is stationed. The minister reiterated recent comments in which he said that German soldiers were "at war" in the region. His predecessor, Franz Josef Jung, had always been careful to avoid that term.

Guttenberg said, however, that it was important to clearly explain to the troops and to the people at home what was going on in Afghanistan.

Troops appreciate minister's clear words

His comments were welcomed by troops, with one of them saying that they "were exposed to danger every day and therefore it is appreciated when things are called by name."

Guttenberg also made clear that he approved of the increased US elite troop activity in the region around Kunduz where German troops were also deployed. Their presence had brought additional security and the coordination was good, he said.

The defense minister is scheduled to fly to Kunduz on Friday to visit German reconstruction teams which are facing a growing Taliban insurgency in their area.

After his meeting with Karzai, Guttenberg said the topics discussed had included the widespread corruption in the country and the style of governance.

Guttenberg is the latest in a series of foreign ministers and world leaders who have publicly pressured Karzai, coupling financial and military support to his willingness to battle corruption and tackle reforms.

Karzai is to be sworn in on November 19 for another five-year term, but under the increased scrutiny of the international community.

Large-scale fraud that marred the August 20 presidential election highlighted the scale of corruption in Afghanistan's government and has led to condemnation of Karzai’s administration and demands that he tackle graft.

Change of strategy

Guttenberg surprised many in Germany soon after he assumed his new role as defense minister when he described Germany's engagement in Afghanistan as a "combat operation." He told the mass-circulation Bild newspaper that there was a "war" in Afghanistan.

Guttenberg's visit comes at a time of intensifying debate in Germany over the Bundeswehr mission in Afghanistan, with Berlin's deployment of troops to the Hindu Kush region increasingly unpopular at home.

It also follows news that a NATO probe into a September airstrike that killed dozens of Afghan civilians showed that the German commander who ordered it broke military rules of engagement

The September 4 strike on fuel trucks in the northeastern Kunduz province was the most deadly operation involving German troops since World War II. The attack was ordered by German Colonel Georg Klein and carried out by a US fighter jet. German federal prosecutors are set to look into the incident, after a NATO report condemned the airstrike.

The German army has backed Klein's decision, saying he acted out of concern for German troops, while Guttenberg described the strike as "appropriate in military terms."

Call for clear goals for NATO

Ahead of his Afghan trip, the German defense minister called for an international conference on Afghanistan to set what he called "clear goals" for the NATO-led alliance's deployment there.

The comments come as US President Barack Obama weighs his country's strategy for the Afghan conflict, after tainted elections cast NATO's support of President Hamid Karzai into doubt.

"If we should have to realign our objectives after such a conference, then we would also have to think about our own capabilities there," Guttenberg said.

The German parliament is set to debate the renewal of the army's Afghanistan mandate before mid-December. Any increase of German troop levels that may be requested by the US when it has decided on its own strategy is bound to be highly controversial, given the public perception of the Bundeswehr's engagement there.

Guttenberg also said: "We must not be shy about using the word exit strategy."

gb/rb/dpa/AFP
Editor: Susan Houlton