Photo Gallery Reflecting on the German Military's Afghanistan Withdrawal
In Afghanistan, dangerous combat has helped post-war Germany's reluctant armed forces gain self-confidence and expertise. But with the public and politicians loath to enter into new conflicts, what will the military's role be going forward?
The Bundeswehr has now begun to slowly withdraw troops from the country ahead of a December 2014 deadline, officially handing over command of the Kunduz base, in northern Afghanistan, to Afghan security forces in early October (shown here).
The remaining 900 German troops at Kunduz are expected to withdraw by the end of October, bringing the total number of German troops in the country to around 3,100. Here, an aerial view of the Kunduz base.
Germany -- the third-largest contributor to the US-led coalition in Afghanistan and the country responsible for Regional Command North -- has lost 54 soldiers since 2002, 35 of whom died during attacks or fighting. Here, Chancellor Angela Merkel pays her respects in May 2013.
German public support for the war has dropped significantly since the start of the conflict, from 65 percent in 2005 to 37 percent in 2011, according to the Bundeswehr Institute of Social Sciences. Here, German soldiers patrol on the outskirts of Kunduz in 2008.
For much of the war, military command did not adequately communicate to the German political leadership what the actual situation on the ground was -- a war zone -- and what equipment soldiers needed, says Roderich Kiesewetter, a conservative parliamentarian and former Bundeswehr officer. He cites the apparent failure of the military to correctly advise politicians about the war as a major factor in a controversial 2009 German-ordered air strike on two hijacked tanker trucks (shown here) that ultimately left dozens of civilians dead.
Here, soldiers on foot patrol in January 2013. German public opinion has reverted to an anti-war stance because Germans largely believe "it didn't work out," says Olaf Boehnke, head of the Berlin office of the European Council on Foreign Relations.
A turning point may have come in 2009, when former German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (shown here in 2010) became the first German official to label German operations in Afghanistan as a "war," bringing the reality back home to the German public.
"Afghanistan has been the most important experience for the German armed forces. It was the first time since World War II that the German military was involved in real combat action," says retired General Harald Kujat, the former Chief of Staff of the Bundeswehr from 2000-2002 and former Chairman of the NATO Military Committee from 2002-2005.
