Ex-German Chancellor Slams Western Military Mission In Afghanistan

Berlin, June 10, IRNA -- Former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder lambasted the western military operation in Afghanistan, the online site of the daily tageszeitung (taz) reported Saturday. The Berlin-based paper quoted Schroeder as saying that "nothing is good in Afghanistan." Good means that all the objectives have been achieved (in Afghanistan) which of course they have not, he added. The ex-chancellor who sent thousands of German troops to Afghanistan in early 2002 following the fall of the Taliban regime, had repeatedly defended the controversial western military mission in the war-stricken country. Germany has deployed around 5,000 troops in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Dozens of German soldiers have reportedly been killed and hundreds more injured in Afghanistan since the start of the western war in that country in late 2001. Most Germans remain deeply opposed to the Afghan military campaign. The Berlin government has vowed to pull out its combat forces by the end 2014./end