The German Defense Minister wants to draw lessons learned from Germany’s mission in Afghanistan

German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karnbauer seeks to draw lessons learned from the German army’s mission in Afghanistan.

In a statement to the German news agency (dpa), Kramp-Karnbauer said in Berlin: “In any case, I want to address in a frank, intense and transparent manner this issue and its controversies for the sake of the German army… There are lessons we can learn from all the things that have succeeded and that did not Succeed”, explaining that this is also important in view of future missions.

“Of course Afghanistan has not evolved into a model country like the European model,” Kramp-Karnbauer said. “I think we have to be very explicit: This was not a realistic idea from the start, but there is remarkable progress… There are elections, and we see that there are women in high positions… This is a tangible shift”.

Kramp-Karnbauer stated that the question is how to preserve this, pointing out that the coming weeks and months of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) until the end of the withdrawal next September should be used in preparing the Afghan security forces for independence, and she said: “Will this ultimately lead to a permanent calm for the country?

This cannot be achieved militarily, it must be solved politically and between the internal parties in Afghanistan.