Time to reel that neck in a little
The Black Rod is upset about reporting, or the lack thereof, concerning Route Summit in Kandahar. I too am no stranger to criticizing the media's coverage of the mission, and I too would like to see more publicity for such a critical project. But The Black Rod goes a little too far with this piece:
Uhhh, no. According to the folks out at the KPRT, as communicated to me by CEFCOM representatives in response to my query:
If the work is completed, the road is officially opened, the CF make a big event out of it and the Canadian press corps still refuses to publicize the event, I'll start swinging my rhetorical stick as well. This is a good news story, and it deserves to be reported...when the time comes. It hasn't yet, though, so the criticism is premature.
And while The Black Rod can certainly make a case against the Germans, as he does, I'm not sure it's particularly useful. Ask yourself why Canada involved the Germans at all - I mean, if we had really wanted to, I figure we could have built and paid for the whole damned road ourselves, right? The point is that we didn't want to. We wanted help, and the Germans provided it. If they want to hog a bit more of the credit than is their share, I say it reflects poorly upon them, but kudos and a place in the limelight isn't really why the CF is there.
While the Germans didn't put their soldiers' butts on the line, at least they had the good grace to put their money into the project, and I say that's better than nothing.
Criticism where it's due, for sure, but only where it's due, please.
Update: I've been pointed to the source of the confusion, and its a twit named Hans-Hermann Dube, regional director of GTZ International Services of the German government-owned Gesellschaft fuer Technische Zusammenarbeit, as reported by the German news agency DPA:
Pardon me, you frickin' weasel? "Completed without incident?" How about all the Canadian soldiers wounded on Route Summit? How about the six Canadians who died protecting that project?
Just because no Germans were attacked, because no German blood was spilled, that means the project was completed "without incident" and "without any interference from insurgents?"
If no Germans were hurt or killed in the construction of Route Summit, it's because the guys who kicked your asses all over Europe in two world wars showed up to defend them this time around. A little gratitude wouldn't hurt, Asshat.
This isn't about stealing the spotlight, it's about respect for those working alongside you. This one particular German needs to give his head a shake.
The biggest single reconstruction project in Afghanistan's Kandahar province, where Canadian troops are stationed, was completed one week ago Tuesday---to the total silence of Canada's mainstream media.
Uhhh, no. According to the folks out at the KPRT, as communicated to me by CEFCOM representatives in response to my query:
The work on Route Summit is not yet fully complete. The paving has been done, however, there are still drainage work and signage to complete. Any plans to mark the completion of work will be announced by Joint Task Force Afghanistan.
If the work is completed, the road is officially opened, the CF make a big event out of it and the Canadian press corps still refuses to publicize the event, I'll start swinging my rhetorical stick as well. This is a good news story, and it deserves to be reported...when the time comes. It hasn't yet, though, so the criticism is premature.
And while The Black Rod can certainly make a case against the Germans, as he does, I'm not sure it's particularly useful. Ask yourself why Canada involved the Germans at all - I mean, if we had really wanted to, I figure we could have built and paid for the whole damned road ourselves, right? The point is that we didn't want to. We wanted help, and the Germans provided it. If they want to hog a bit more of the credit than is their share, I say it reflects poorly upon them, but kudos and a place in the limelight isn't really why the CF is there.
While the Germans didn't put their soldiers' butts on the line, at least they had the good grace to put their money into the project, and I say that's better than nothing.
Criticism where it's due, for sure, but only where it's due, please.
Update: I've been pointed to the source of the confusion, and its a twit named Hans-Hermann Dube, regional director of GTZ International Services of the German government-owned Gesellschaft fuer Technische Zusammenarbeit, as reported by the German news agency DPA:
Germany finishes southern Afghan road without insurgent attack
Tuesday 06 March 2007 07:27
A 4.5-kilometre road, Germany's largest reconstruction project in southern Afghanistan, has been completed without incident in the restive province of Kandahar, a German official said Tuesday.
The constructions was finished in three months without any interference from insurgents, said Hans-Hermann Dube, regional director of GTZ International Services of the German government-owned Gesellschaft fuer Technische Zusammenarbeit, which works on international projects aimed at political, economic, ecological and social development. [Babbler's bold]
Pardon me, you frickin' weasel? "Completed without incident?" How about all the Canadian soldiers wounded on Route Summit? How about the six Canadians who died protecting that project?
Just because no Germans were attacked, because no German blood was spilled, that means the project was completed "without incident" and "without any interference from insurgents?"
If no Germans were hurt or killed in the construction of Route Summit, it's because the guys who kicked your asses all over Europe in two world wars showed up to defend them this time around. A little gratitude wouldn't hurt, Asshat.
This isn't about stealing the spotlight, it's about respect for those working alongside you. This one particular German needs to give his head a shake.
posted by Babbling Brooks at 1:35 p.m.
8 Comments:
The Germans are very antsy about being in the 'stan to begin with. Any hint that we're not singing Kumbaya with the locals and the German public will want their troops out of there. I think this report was less about 'dissing the Canadians and more about misleading the German public so that Germany can stay in the game.
The article you link to doesn't reveal the full interview. How do you know that it wasn't the journalist who didn't include any discussion of Canadians in this matter? The only line in quotes is "Not one euro more" (spoken to the taxpayers , I think)
Have you got the original discussion in german somewhere?
There is enough mention of Canadian + British forces, and the mounting casualties, in the german media. I wonder if the Canadian media will bother to mention this german involvement when the big-shots announce the project completion. We'll see.
"it's because the guys who kicked your asses all over Europe in two world wars..."
This pertains to this road project how? One million euros later and this is the converation? So write to your government and ask them to not work with german contractors in future. Pay for it yourself next time. Problem solved OK?
Most German NGOs do NOT want military protection from the Bundeswehr or anyone else. They say that the presence of soldiers is a risk for their project.
I do not know if this is the case of the GTZ as well, since it is a government agency more or less.
You pointed out "The German contractor handling the roadwork met with Taliban leaders in Kabul in November to convince them to leave the Germans alone."
So maybe he thought this is enough. No Canadian soldiers required.
BTW: I don't think the GTZ guy met the Taliban in Kabul, but rather somewhere closer to the road project.
Besides, perhaps the Taliban wanted to attack the Canadian soldiers rather than the road project.
Since the Canadians were guarding the road crews, the Taliban went to the road project and attacked them there.
If the Canadian soldiers had been somewhere else, the Taliban would have gone to that place to attack them.
Do you know of any official Canadian report of this matter?
Diemerbroucke, the article doesn't reveal the full interview, you're right. But unless the reporter is actually making things up, then Dube's statement was misleading.
My criticism is specifically for him, not for Germany in general. As I indicated in my original post, if the German gov't isn't willing to risk it's soldiers, at least it's willing to spend some money in the south. That's a good thing.
I think it's disrespectful to say that the project was completed without Taliban interference, when clearly the Taliban tried to interfere - to the everlasting detriment of at least six Canadian families.
That was my objection, not the German contribution itself.
Babbling Brooks,
What makes you think that the "Taliban tried to interfere" with the project?
As I pointed out in my last comment: Perhaps the Taliban did not want to prevent the road from being built but wanted to fight the Canadians.
They don't like to have foreign soliders in the place they call home.
Perhaps they want to take revenge for some previous battle.
Don't get me wrong: I am not on the Taliban's side.
I just don't know what the hell NATO forces are hoping to achieve in Southern Afghanistan.
It looks like an unwinnable war against a determined insurgency.
What is the point of risking Canadian lives every day?
Why should Germany send soldiers over there as well?
More about these questions in my blog, if you are interested: The West's Problems in Afghanistan and Underestimating Al Qaeda
Thanks!
And I am truly sorry for every single Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan.
Perhaps the Taliban did not want to prevent the road from being built but wanted to fight the Canadians.
Interesting idea. Perhaps you should suggest that for the next project Germany undertakes in the Canadian AOR, just to test your hypothesis out: have the Germans work without any Canadian soldiers nearby for protection. See how it works out for you.
I'm pretty certain, however, that the Taliban's strategy is to attack infrastructure and civilian security to undermine support for the current Afghan gov't, while simultaneously picking at the edges of the NATO forces to reduce domestic support for the mission and compel a politically-motivated withdrawal.
brooks
This is from Tagesshau.de: my translation
In the unstable provinces of the south, projects often are not attacked if they are agreed upon with the local inhabitants. For example, this week the German GTZ finished a road in the Pandschwai near Kandahar in the much-contested heartland of the Taliban, with a million euros of German Government money. This happened without incident said Hans-Hermann Dube of the GTZ a few days ago in Kabul.
"It is completely clear that it is because of the agreement. Certain other projects, only a few kilometers away, were constantly under attack. People there were killed. With us there was no-one hurt. Also our construction workers understood, after initial concerns, that the agreements we made with the opposite side would be kept.", said Dube.
He is clearly speaking only about the three month period from about mid-December to mid-March and only about the GTZ project. There were no Canadians killed during this period, thankfully. Do you have links to a source that proves that there were attacks on the project during this period? The blog "Black Rod" which you refer to in the post is very poor with details and references.
I still haven't seen an explaination about the comment:
"it's because the guys who kicked your asses all over Europe in two world wars..."
Then in your reply you say:
"My criticism is specifically for him, not for Germany in general."
That is a clear contradiction. What's up with that?
Diemerbroucke, much of the small-scale local reconstruction is done as part of the National Solidarity Program. Since NSP projects are driven by local input, they tend not to be attacked as often as other projects. But not all the important reconstruction can be done on a purely local level through the NSP. Route Summit is one such project, as is the Kajaki hydroelectric dam.
As far as the time frame is concerned, I'll have to trust you that he's talking only about the three month period to which you refer, as I don't read German, and your translated portion doesn't cover that aspect of the article. But it's a moot point, as far as I'm concerned. Artificially limiting your scope to a period that matches well with your message is somewhat dishonest, seeing as the project was not started and finished in that time frame. Does Dube honestly believe his workers could have completed the entire project unscathed without Canadian protection, without the sacrifices of Op Medusa last fall to lay the groundwork for the relative calm that prevailed this winter?
As far as my rant is concerned, there's no contradiction. I'm not criticizing all Germans, just Dube, as he seems not to understand that the same country that fought Germans has now protected Germans. Reread the text of my original piece, and you'll see that I've been quite careful to lay out what Germans in general should be proud of (paying for the road) and what they shouldn't (this twit Dube).
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