Word: missionizing
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...Back in Germany, the attack served as a stark reminder of the dangers facing German troops in Afghanistan. The latest deaths bring the number of German soldiers killed in the NATO-led mission to 39 since the Afghan invasion of 2001. For Germany's new Defense Minister, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, who cut short a holiday in South Africa to fly home following the attack, it marked the first time he had to offer condolences to the relatives of fallen soldiers - a grim task for a young, up-and-coming minister. While expressing his deep regret for the deaths...
...Until now, Chancellor Angela Merkel's new center-right government has steered clear of calling the Afghan mission a "war," given the German public's deep loathing of the concept. But this started to change in February when the government came up with a new way of describing its mission, saying German troops were now engaged in a "non-international armed conflict." Then came zu Guttenberg's admission that the 4,300 German soldiers currently on the ground are actually engaged in what the rest of the world generally considers a war. "In the past, the Afghan mission was sold...
...ddeutsche newspaper praised the Defense Minister for his honesty, but posed the question: "What does war mean?" War is a tricky subject in Germany. According to the Defense Ministry, German soldiers are forbidden to engage in a "war of aggression" under the German constitution. Each foreign mission that includes the Bundeswehr - the German parliamentary army - is thus governed by a Bundestag mandate. In the case of Afghanistan, "proportional" military force can be used but German soldiers must adhere to NATO's rules of engagement. (See the top 10 news stories...
...government's decision to redefine the mission as a "non-international armed conflict" changes things, says Christian Schaller, a legal expert at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. Now, German soldiers will be operating within a clearer legal framework. For example, the troops will be able to use military force to fight against insurgents under international humanitarian law. But there could also be tougher penalties. "Germany's Code of Crimes Against International Law will apply, and in extreme cases, German soldiers could be prosecuted for war crimes," Schaller says...
...high fives, his deputy remained quiet. Chuck Messick, a Navy man, has worked on the HEU-retrieval program since its inception in 1996. The HEU, he reminded anyone who would listen, still had to find safe passage through the Panama Canal and be safely unloaded in the U.S. "The mission," he said, "is not over yet. The mission is not over...