Looking Beyond Lebanon

The head of Germany's free-market, liberal Free Democrat Party (FDP), Guido Westerwelle, made one thing clear: He opposed the German troop deployment to Lebanon. But, he said, the FDP would respect a "yes" vote from the Bundestag. In this case, the whole parliament would stand behind the soldiers.

It was an important declaration for the Bundewehr troops who, fully aware of the history between Germans and Jews, have to take part in a mission where there is the possibility of a confrontation with Israeli soldiers -- even if it comes about inadvertently.

Shadow over vote

It is also important for the soldiers that the Bundestag voted in favor of sending them to the coast of Lebanon by a wide margin, rather than a narrow one. And more important yet is the knowledge that the action was hotly debated: No one had an easy time with this decision.

Yet there is a bit of a shadow hanging over the decision. The "no" vote by the FDP and Left Party had a tactical basis, because they know how unpopular the deployment ultimately is. The speaker of the third opposition party, the Greens' Jürgen Trittin, raised exactly this charge of populism when he confronted the Left Party with the stance of the Italian post-communists: They did agree to send their troops to Lebanon.

But even if populism did play a role in the FDP and Left Party decisions, the arguments opposing the Lebanon mission should be taken just as seriously as the argument in favor of it.

Prerequisite, not solution

Everyone -- above all Chancellor Merkel -- has made one thing clear in this debate: The deployment is not the solution to the Middle East conflict, but a prerequisite. Now, everyone's energy has to go toward a political solution. In the Bundestag, Merkel agreed to press US President Bush for a more active US role in the Middle East peace process. As she rightly noted, without the US, nothing can be accomplished in the region. In addition, there is consensus in the German parliament that Syria and Iran should be brought into the peace process to the greatest extent possible.

The Bundestag budget committee did manage to quickly free up funds to send German troops to the Lebanese coast. However, the move has pushed the military to its limits, financially and in terms of personnel. If the Congo mission lasts longer than planned, or if, say, an additional mission becomes necessary (the word Darfur did crop up in the Bundestag debate,) it would mean real hardship for the German military.

As a result, it is high time for Germany to open up a wider debate over the goals, possibilities, and limits of the country's international politics, beyond any individual decisions on military deployment.

Peter Stützle is bureau chief of Deutsche Welle Radio in Berlin. (jen)