Military chief
January 21, 2010
Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg will swear in Volker Wieker as the new head of the German military on Thursday in the capital Berlin. Wieker will become Guttenberg's closest advisor, especially with regard to German strategy in the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan.
Since October, the 55-year-old has been third in command at NATO headquarters in the capital Kabul, where he has been acting as chief of staff for the ISAF mission.
Ahead of his swearing-in ceremony, Wieker received praise from officials within Germany. The head of the German Federal Armed Forces Association, Colonel Ulrich Kirsch, said on public radio early on Thursday that Wieker was a "welcome choice for the top position."
"Wieker possesses a wealth of experience and has his heart in the right place," Kirsch said.
He added that it was an "excellent decision to choose a head of military command with real knowledge and experience of the current situation in Afghanistan."
Controversy pushes out predecessor
Wieker will take over for Wolfgang Schneiderhan, who was relieved of command in the wake of an airstrike in Afghanistan last September, which resulted in the death of up to 142 Afghans, many of whom believed to have been civilians.
On September 4, German Colonel Georg Klein approved an airstrike on two fuel tankers suspected of having been hijacked by Taliban members. The tankers had gotten stuck in a river bed, where civilians had gathered to siphon fuel.
Several German military officials, including Schneiderhan and then Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung - who was also forced to resign over the affair - are accused of withholding information regarding the civilian casualties resulting from the strike.
Schneiderhan maintains he did not keep any information secret, saying he had supplied current Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg with all details known to him when Guttenberg first assessed the airstrike as "militarily justifiable" in October.
Guttenberg, however, has since rescinded that assessment and has come under fire from opposition politicians who claim that he knew about the civilian casualties when he initially approved the strike.
glb/AFP/dpa
Editor: Kyle James