Airstrike probe

The inquiry committee was formed this week to investigate the events of September 4, when German Col. Georg Klein ordered an airstrike near the northern Afghan city of Kunduz that killed up to 142 people, including an unknown number of civilians.

Germany's opposition Social Democrats want to question Merkel as they deepen their scrutiny of the government's role in and knowledge of the controversial airstrike. The SPD has said it plans to call around 50 witnesses to testify before the panel, which is made up of 34 members from all Germany's major political parties.

The controversy has already resulted in the sacking of the head of the German military, Wolfgang Schneiderhan, the former Deputy Defense Minister Peter Wichert, and former Labor Minister Franz Josef Jung, who was defense minister when the attack took place.

Now members of the opposition are calling for the resignation of Germany's current Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg.

'Healthy thing'

Merkel is to be questioned by parliament about how much she knew about the circumstances of the Kunduz bombing. But it is unlikely her fate will be the same as the ministers', according to Sebastian Harnisch, a political scientist at Heidelberg University.

"I don't think it's a major blow to Merkel," Harnisch told Deutsche Welle. "It's part of our parliamentary system that the executive branch has to answer tough questions. It is a healthy thing."

In her defense, the German defense ministry has said Merkel was only informed about the bombing five days after it occurred. The inquiry, however, will look into why Merkel was unaware of a letter written by Klein to Schneiderhan giving the details of the fatal airstrike the day after it happened.

Her possible ignorance of the letter raises questions of how open the channels of communication are within the German government, Harnisch said.

"It might show that the information flow in those departments of the chancellery and defense ministry wasn't good but I don't think so," he said. "These are professionals. On the other hand, it would be politically devastating, showing she wasn't concerned enough or briefed enough by her staff."

Aggressive pursuit

Media reports have alleged this week that the goal of the Afghan bombing was to kill Taliban militants and not to destroy the two stolen fuel trucks that Klein had said he feared would be used in attacks against his troops. Such a move would have overstepped the Bundeswehr's Afghan mandate.

If insurgents were the target, the SPD opposition has argued, it would point to a redefinition of the German mandate in Afghanistan; from peacekeeping and reconstruction toward an unauthorized war.

"In the face of the explosiveness of the questions, we want to hear the chancellor and Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, right from the beginning, possibly in January," said Rainer Arnold, the SPD parliamentary spokesman for defense issues.

He has warned the center-right governing parties against trying to thwart Merkel from answering the committee's questions, saying that the opposition was ready to deploy "democratic and legal instruments to have its way."

Merkel faces a growing barrage of accusations from members of the left-wing opposition who charge that she has the blood of Afghan civilians on her hands. She has also received criticism for saying little publicly about the airstrike.

Berlin's Tagesspiegel newspaper has called Merkel's approach to the controversy "unseemly" and accused her of "bashfully sitting out matters of life and death and war and peace."

In a tight spot

The hearings come as Germany is weighing a US request for European nations to beef up their troop levels in Afghanistan, in addition to the 30,000 troops US President Barack Obama has pledged for Afghanistan. NATO has pledged to send 7,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, though it remains unclear which of the alliance's members will deploy their soldiers.

Germany has the third-biggest NATO contingent in Afghanistan with close to 4,500 troops stationed there. Merkel has said she will not make a decision until after a UN-sponsored international conference on Afghanistan on January 28. She is said to be counting on the conference to produce a road map for Afghans to assume more responsibilities themselves, so that foreign troops can go home.

The majority of German voters believe that Germany should not be involved in the Afghan war at all. A survey conducted by German public television station ARD revealed that 69 percent of Germans favor a quick withdrawal of Germany's forces. Despite the public disapproval and the airstrike controversy, Merkel may be compelled to accept US requests for a stronger presence in Afghanistan, Harnisch said.

"I think the government will go for it in the end," he said. "Otherwise Germany, and Europe, will have to come up with an alternative, which they don't have right now. They are hoping that the noise about the airstrike controversy will go down before they have to make a decision."

Author: Faith Thomas

Editor: Sean Sinico