Germany tightens anti-terrorism measures: concern remains about U.S. role in multinational peacekeeping operations.

The German government and military forces are prepared to assume more responsibility in the U.S.-led war against terrorism, said officials.

"It is clear that international terrorism cannot be countered with conventional defense strategy," said a senior intelligence official from the German Ministry of Defense.

In 2002, the Bundestag, Germany's parliament, appropriated 1.5 billion euros for international anti-terrorism efforts, in addition to passing into law more than 10 anti-terrorism bills, including the introduction of air marshals and increased oversight of monetary transfers to potential terrorist organizations.

Germany committed 3,500 troops to Operation Enduring Freedom. While the United States is training the new Afghan army, Germany is taking on the task of training and equipping the country's new police forces. The program will cost Germany 10 million euros.

German special forces are currently on the ground in Afghanistan, performing various missions. Germany has one battalion-sized infantry task force operating in Kabul, supported by an air transport unit out of Uzbekistan.

This is the first time in 50 years that German ships and maritime patrol aircraft have been involved in a deployment like the one in Afghanistan. Since January, the German Navy has had three frigates, one fast patrol boat group and four supply ships operating out of Djibouti, in the Gulf of Aden. Also, a German A-310 Airbus is on alert in Germany for use as an emergency evacuation platform. Three German maritime patrol aircraft recently began conducting reconnaissance operations from Mombassa, Kenya, and two German Sea King helicopters are based in Djibouti.

Unlike most of its NATO allies, the Bundeswehr, Germany's armed services, enforces mandatory conscription for all men, for a minimum of nine months, though a substantial percentage of German youths write objection letters and then are released from military service. After the initial nine months, conscripts can choose to re-join the military for another tour, after which time they can retire. Others decide to remain in the military for the lengths of their careers.

As far as defense priorities are concerned, the terrorist threat is one among several problems confronting Germany.

Within the nation's borders, terrorism "is not the only threat we're facing," said the German official. Far worse, he added, is the potential for breakup of government structures, especially in the new democracy of the reunified German Republic. Cultural and religious extremism presents a "high risk at this point," he said. The fact that many of the alleged hijackers of September 11 spent time in Germany is an indicator that the country houses a variety of religious extremist groups, defense experts said.

"The core of what we do made sense before September 11, and it makes sense after," he said.

Germany has been dealing with terrorism and extremism in many forms for the past decade, but has not experienced a terrorist attack of the magnitude as the one on September 11.

A representative of the U.S. Embassy in Berlin said that Europeans felt "shock and outrage at 9/11, but they did not feel the sense of loss that all Americans felt."

Europeans felt that September 11 alerted Americans to a "great challenge, which led America to develop a new national purpose," and the German people's perspective was "I guess we should help them because we're friends."

When U.S. President George W. Bush visited Berlin in late spring, he praised the work of German Chancellor Gerhardt Schroeder, for bringing Germany into the international coalition to fight terrorism. "The magnitude of our shared responsibilities makes our disagreements look so small," said Bush, in a speech to a special session of the Bundestag.

Peacekeeping Operations

Germans believe that for transatlantic alliances in peacekeeping to be successful, the United States needs to cooperatively engage with its European allies, said the German official.

A member of the German Parliament said that the NATO alliance is the pathway to assure common understanding of issues such as anti-terrorism policies. "Europeans should not give Americans advice about what should be done, but Europeans should increase their contribution to NATO to strengthen the alliance," he said.

A NATO spokesman, meanwhile, recently pointed out that peace-keeping operations in places such as Afghanistan have "a long way to go."

A recently released report by the International Crisis Group charged that the war in Afghanistan is far from over, even though a fragile peace exists through the Loya Jirga, the tribal leaders council.

The German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development is providing $3 million to the United Nations Fund for the Reconstruction of Afghanistan, to implement the Loya Jirga. The funding was requested by the UN Special Envoy to Afghanistan Lakhdar Brahimi, according to the German Embassy in Washington. Germany has pledged $69.4 million in 2002 for reconstruction and a total of $278 million over the next four years.

Security inside Afghanistan is susceptible to crumbling on ethnic fault lines, said former president of Finland and chairman of the International Crisis Group, Martti Ahtisaari. The International Crisis Group, based in Brussels, is a private, field-based organization that seeks to anticipate, understand and act to prevent and contain conflict, by keeping teams of political analysts within or close by countries at risk of outbreak.

Similarities can be drawn between Afghanistan and Bosnia, Ahtisaari said, but the sheer size of Afghanistan is currently an impediment to permanent peace. "We know what a successful reconstruction and reconciliation looks like, but we also know what Afghanistan looks like," he said.

"We have to get specific about what countries should contribute" to the peacekeeping effort, said Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Countries that should get involved include Japan and future NATO aspirants, he said. "But those who propose it (mote peacekeeping commitments) have to be able to answer the objects of people like [Defense Secretary] Rumsfeld," who favors a more limited peacekeeping mission," he said. Upwards of 25,000 troops are needed to keep the peace and to rebuild institutions at a central level, he said.

The goal has to be to instill confidence in the regional militias. The threat of less aid, nor violence, should be the way the international force should maintain order, said O'Hanlon. "This may remind some of you of our experience in Somalia; this is a real problem. The alternative is to let the country remain in chaos...it's a very challenging mission," he said.

NATO is monitoring closely the success or failure of the international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, which is not strictly comprised of NATO countries, but is a U.S.-led force with NATO, and other countries involved. U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, said the NATO official, "is constantly saying that a war cannot be waged by a committee, but it is a proven fact that the peacekeeping skills utilized by NATO in Kosovo represent a successful military operation."

Outside of NATO, however, there is much disagreement on what constitutes a "successful" peacekeeping operation. And there is considerable debate about the role that the United States should play in peacekeeping missions.

Another member of the German Parliament said it would not be good if the U.S. remains the world's only superpower indefinitely. "If it remains the only superpower, things will become dangerous," he said. "It is a challenge of leadership and democracy... we have to be a partner and combine our military leadership," he said.

RELATED ARTICLE: Commerce Dept. Promoting U.S. Investment in Central Europe 

The U.S. Department of Commerce is working to convince former Eastern-bloc nations that they will benefit from buying U.S. weapon systems.

Specifically, the Commerce Department is interested in establishing industrial ventures between U.S. firms and the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and Austria.

"The U.S. defense industry is second to none. We've got terrific products at great prices. And if you study offsets, the agreement means nothing until maybe 10 years later, when American companies deliver the economic stimuli to purchasing countries," said Daniel Hill, director of strategic industries and economic security at the Department of Commerce.

Hill spoke at the InWest Forum, a conference recently held in Washington, D.C., to explain to U.S. executives the realities of the economic investment climate in Central Europe.

Offsets, of which Hill is a proponent, are forms of industrial compensation required as a condition of purchasing defense articles or services. There are two types of offsets: direct and indirect. Direct offsets are most often agreements to produce parts for defense technology in the purchasing country, but can also include "technology or assistance, advice, cooperation, anything that will help with interoperability," said Hill.

Indirect offsets are not related to the weapons platforms being purchased. Sometimes companies are asked to simply write a check as an offset. For example, an American company was once asked to fund the inception of a national park system for a small country, he said. Some countries, Hill said, feel that the offset package is the "most important part of the deal, because it stimulates the economy."

Hill explained that one of his office's main priorities is to ensure a strong, technologically viable U.S. defense industrial base. Hill serves on a NATO industrial policy committee in Brussels, where a new policy is being honed, called a "security of supply system," which is based on current U.S. commerce policies, he said.

Central and Eastern Europe are growing in importance to America, not just for business but for transatlantic security, said Hill. "The internationalization of the [U.S.] defense industry to achieve interoperability in defense operations is a cornerstone of what this is all about," said George Handy, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, paraphrasing comments made by former Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition Jacques Gansler.

Interoperability with NATO is as important to the Central European countries as it is to the alliance, said Hill. NATO Secretary-General Lord George Robertson is pushing for even small NATO countries to contribute militarily to the alliance. Sophomore NATO member Czech Republic announced plans to acquire new fighter jets after it joined the alliance.

Companies such as EADS, BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin have met with Czech acquisition officials in recent months, said Stanislav Pavel, vice president of Odien Asset Management, a management consulting company based in Prague. A commission, set up for the purpose of awarding a contract for a fighter jet chose the Gripen, manufactured by a joint venture of Sweden's Saab and Britain's BAE Systems. The decision, however, was overturned by the Czech Senate, said Petr Janousek, spokesman for the Embassy of the Czech Republic. There is debate among that nation's political leaders about funding priorities and about whether the Czech Republic really needs new fighter jets, he said.

Pavel had strong words of warning for American investors planning to enter the Central European marketplace. In some countries, corruption throughout the public and private sectors is widespread, he said, so it is important for American companies to maintain "full control of companies through equity and board positions, as well as maintaining complete control over cash flow."

"you will have ready and willing new management, but you must have them under your complete control, and you must have a realistic understanding of internal corruption areas," he said. "you must have an on-the-ground presence and day to day interaction with management," in order to succeed in the region, Pavel said.--Elizabeth G. Book