Opinion: It's Time to Formulate the Lebanon Mission Clearly

It was a decision with "historical dimensions" for Germany. Those were the words Chancellor Angela Merkel used to describe the cabinet's consent to send naval units to the Middle East. Indeed, it is a historical decision to send armed German soldiers to the Mideast. For the last 60 years, such a mission would have been unthinkable because it was thought, for understandable historical reasons, that there should be as great a distance as possible between German troops and Israel.

That such a German foreign policy taboo could be broken may be astonishing. But de facto, Berlin had no other choice. If Germany had withdrawn from the mission, it would have laid the credibility of its foreign policy on the line and would have made Berlin's attempts to stabilize the situation in the Mideast in the past few weeks seem absurd.

Israel explicitly wished for the Bundeswehr's participation. That was not only the most important condition, it was an obligation. Without Israel's endorsement, Angela Merkel's cabinet never would have approved of the mission.

Nevertheless, there is still a clearly defined line on the ground that the German government has decided not to cross: There will be no ground troops in the Middle East. Other countries in the UNIFIL mission should and will take over this responsibility. They will have the difficult task of working together with the Lebanese army to keep Hezbollah in check. How that should be done is still not clear, however.

Losing focus of peacekeeping mission purposes

Berlin is steering clear of that dilemma and is concentrating on its naval mission, which is supposed to hinder the delivery of arms via the sea to Hezbollah militants. It is difficult to say at this moment how effective that will be.

Germany will lead a European naval flotilla that has been granted a robust mandate; it can stop and search incoming ships by force, if necessary. Despite the potential danger, the risk remains calculable. Yet only with this mandate will the parliament approve this week's cabinet decision, when it comes up for a vote next week.

That support nevertheless is guaranteed. The vote will then turn the Bundeswehr into an army that knows no borders. But Germany is paying a high price for this move, particularly when the choice of peacekeeping missions has become a bit random in nature. The interests in the Middle East are understandable. But is a peacekeeping operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo really necessary?

The large new mission in the Middle East with up to 2,400 soldiers could, like the operations in Kosovo and Afghanistan, last for years. And there is no guarantee for success. Such questions should make the German government clearly formulate its security policies. This mission provides the opportunity to develop a definite exit strategy. There is still time to do this.

Nina Werkhäuser is DW Radio's correspondent to the German parliament in Berlin. (jdk)