MND MacKay chides Germans...

...and Spanish and Italians, for not risking more in Afstan. Pretty tough stuff from a Canadian minister--excerpts from an interview at Spiegel Online (I wonder how much coverage our media will give to this--nothing as of 1600 EDT, March 26 ):

Canada's defense minister is ratcheting up pressure on his NATO allies in Europe, saying Germany's Bundeswehr and other militaries must join the fight in hotly contested southern Afghanistan. In an interview with SPIEGEL ONLINE, Peter MacKay argues that Germans should be doing more to stop the Taliban insurgency.

SPIEGEL: Canadian politicians have been very critical of the German decision not to send more troops into southern Afghanistan. Do you think of the Germans as quitters?

MacKay: I don't think of Germans as quitters by any stretch. Their contribution in Afghanistan is very valuable. However, our roles are different. Germany's presence there actually outnumbers Canada's. But they are based primarily in the north, near Kabul [hardly "near" Kabul, dear Peter--at Mazar, and Kunduz and Feyzabad provices, a fair distance and some mountains away--see maps here and here], while we are based in the south -- in Kandahar, where some of the heaviest fighting in Afghanistan is going on. The criticism centers around burden sharing, about that combat versus non-combatant role.

SPIEGEL: You mean: You don’t want to do the "dirty work" of fighting and dying anymore.

MacKay: I understand there are domestic challenges in Germany when it comes to troop deployment. Yet, there are also international responsibilities that we all share. Canada takes its role seriously, and we have had more than 80 casualties in Afghanistan. We are not criticizing other countries for not being there. We are simply suggesting that in a NATO mission such as this it puts a lot of pressure on a few countries if there is not the possibility to spread out the more dangerous parts of this mission. We don’t want to see a two-tiered NATO. All members have to contribute what they can.

SPIEGEL: You want more German troops in southern Afghanistan?

MacKay: Absolutely. We want more French, Spanish, Italian troops in the south, too. Just look at what countries are there or were there: The Romanians, the Estonians and the Danes [not to mention the Brits, Dutch and Aussies]. These are countries that arguably have less military capacity than Germany.

SPIEGEL: But that would be very unpopular with the German public. What case would you make to voters here?

MacKay: Germany is the beneficiary of a stable Afghanistan that is no longer an exporter of terrorism. All of us have a self-interest in containing that threat. That means ultimately: to sacrifice the lives of young men and women, as part of a broader effort that has the backing of a United Nations Security Council resolution...

Meanwhile French President Sarkozy continues his dance of the seven veils towards a combat commitment:

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said he will send more troops to Afghanistan to support Nato's mission.

Mr Sarkozy, who is on a state visit to Britain, said he would make the offer at next week's Nato summit in the Romanian capital, Bucharest...

In a speech to the British parliament in London, Mr Sarkozy said defeat to Taleban insurgents was not an option.

"In Afghanistan something essential is being played out," he said.

"France has proposed a strategy [that is new] to its allies in the Atlantic alliance to enable the Afghan people and their legitimate government to build peace.

"If these proposals are accepted, during the summit in Bucharest, France will propose reinforcing its military presence. Mr Sarkozy did not say how many more troops he was proposing to send..."

Nor where: south with the Canadians or east with the Americans? From the Financial Times story at the last link:

Mr Sarkozy, who begins a state visit to London today, has come under strong diplomatic pressure from Canada to send French troops to the south of Afghanistan to help hard-pressed Canadian forces.

But it is understood France's military would prefer to go to the east, where the Nato contingent is under US command.

This would make it easier for French troops to work with their compatriots in teams mentoring the Afghan army in nearby Wardak, Logar and Kapisa provinces.

A deployment in the east would also be easier to supply from Kabul, and would free US troops to help the Canadians.

France is also considering sending back a contingent of its special forces to join the US-led mission against al-Qaeda [emphasis added]...

That's the dreaded and distasteful Operation Enduring Freedom, folks.

Update: The Toronto Star's Allan Woods finally picks up the story, March 28. Nobody else has as far as I can see.

Upperdate: Matthew Fisher really slangs the Germans in this March 31 National Post piece.