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Bundestag Votes Overwhelmingly to Extend Enduring Freedom Deployment
The German parliament voted overwhelmingly and across all parties to extend the deployment of German Armed Forces in the anti-terrorism mission, Operation Enduring Freedom. Participation in Enduring Freedom is of great importance to Germany’s security and all countries who are threatened by terrorism, Defense Minister Peter Struck said in his speech to the Bundestag on November 12. The Bundestag vote marked the third time the parliament has approved extending the deployment since Germany joined Enduring Freedom in November 2001, when the international operation was launched in reaction to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The mission helps substantially in the elimination of terrorist retreat areas and has a stabilizing influence on the countries on the Horn of Africa. The deployment of German Armed Forces, with up to 3,100 soldiers, has been approved for an additional 12 months after November 15, 2004. German naval forces are deployed in the waters off the Horn of Africa, with Djibouti continuing to serve as a base for German soldiers. German Armed Forces also participate as needed in Task Force “Active Endeavor” in the Mediterranean. Currently, 290 soldiers are deployed, with more on standby. In the fight against international terrorism, the German Government is implementing a comprehensive set of approaches, including political measures, development policy and law enforcement, as well as military measures. Immediately after the attacks of September 11, 2001, the United Nations Security Council condemned the attacks as a threat to international peace and approved the right to individual and collective self-defense. NATO then invoked Article 5, the alliance clause which states that an attack against one ally is considered an attack against all NATO members. Then on November 16, 2001, in a historic decision, the German Bundestag voted to approve the participation of German Armed Forces, with the United States and other nations, in the anti-terror coalition. The vote by the Bundestag on November 12 to extend the deployment “sends an important signal out to our partners and to the international community: Germany will continue to stand by its international responsibilities for peace and human rights,” Foreign Office Minister of State for Europe Hans Martin Bury said in speech to the Bundestag. November 12, 2004
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