Our German problem, and theirs

It’s 10 p.m. Do you know where the German Army is?

If it’s the few thousand social worker-servicemen in Afghanistan, they’re probably tucked securely into bed. That’s because German soldiers serving with the U.S. and other allies have a curfew, among other “national caveats” that prevent them from making a serious military contribution to the fight against the Taliban.

Chancellor Merkel is certainly better than her predecessor in showing solidarity with the U.S. She has silenced much of the carping criticism of American foreign policy; rapidly censured Russian aggression against Georgia this past summer; and offered important intelligence cooperation in the war against Islamofascism. And Germany has been surprisingly stalwart in standing by Israel in the ongoing fighting against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

But on crucial issues Germany still lags, especially by continuing to trade with the Iranians and especially in Afghanistan, where their obduracy is helping to jeopardize the fight against the Taliban and thereby bringing into question the very future of NATO.

Following World War II, of course, the Germans were the very model of cooperation. They acted as good democrats in supporting NATO and the progressive unification of Europe; as penance for the War, they made extensive reparations to individual victims of Nazism, to Israel and to others; and as the largest economic power in Europe, they were generous in helping to revive the continent.

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