German Defense Minister Peter Struck has announced that the German Army may “consider missions beyond its current peace-keeping and stabilization mandate” in the future (Deutsche Welle, June 6). In an interview with the German magazine Focus, published June 4, Struck declared that the German Army should be ready to act militarily in areas where it is currently deployed if the situation should deteriorate into violence. “For those of us who were born after the war this is an unfavorable idea but we must be realistic,” he was quoted as saying. “It is possible that we will consider going to other countries and separate warring parties by military means” (ibid.).
About 6,500 German troops are already deployed around the world, mostly in Afghanistan, Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina.