Is Germany Assisting America's Drone Wars?

The Air and Space Operations Center at Ramstein Air Base in Germany monitors and assesses assigned airpower missions throughout Europe and Africa. PHOTO: FILE

Germany Shies Away From Comment On Possible Role In US Drone War -- Deutsche Welle

It looks like a computer game, but it's deadly serious news in Germany: US soldiers control drone attacks with a joystick. According to new media reports, military bases on German soil play a key role in the drone war.

The attacker has a decisive advantage: he can attack without being in personal danger. Everything is controlled remotely off-site and the opponent can be thousands of kilometers away. Drones have become an essential part in the US's post-September 11 war against terror in Afghanistan and other regions, but their use is ethically and legally controversial.

According to reports from German TV news show "Panorama" and the daily newspaper "Süddeutsche Zeitung," the US use their German military bases to conduct attacks and targeted killings. The United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), based in Stuttgart since 2008, and the US Air Force base Ramstein in particular are said to play substantial roles in the drone war.

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My Comment: United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) is based in Stuttgart .... so I will have to assume that there must be some coordination from Germany. But is Germany a willing participant .... I suspect not for the simple reason that they are not needed.

Update: Berlin not aware of U.S. drone strikes from German bases -- Reuters

Germany To Limit Terror Intelligence And Information Sharing With The U.S.

Drone Killing Debate. Germany Limits Information Exchange with US Intelligence -- Spiegel Online

Angela Merkel's government has come under pressure following the deaths of German Islamists in Waziristan through American drone strikes. Berlin has responded by restricting the type of information that German intelligence agencies may pass on to their US counterparts.

When death came, delivered from the sky, Bünyamin E. was sitting in the back room of a building in the mountains of Waziristan. A few friends of his were staying at the property, a farm on the outskirts of Mir Ali, including Shahab Dashti, who had slipped away from Hamburg at night to embark on a "holy war."

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My Comment: While the focus is on Pakistan and its decision to limit intelligence sharing with the U.S. after the Bin Laden raid, on the other side we have a country like Germany .... a NATO ally .... deciding to limit intelligence with U.S. intelligence officials on German nationals who are actively involved with terror groups like Al Qaeda or the Taliban.

Something is definitely wrong here.

Wikileaks Reveals A Joint U.S. - German Spy Satellite Recon Program

Germany Planning Secret Satellite Recon? -- Foreign Policy

The Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, which announced late last month that it had obtained full access to the WikiLeaks CableGate archive, has already caused a stir with this cable from Feb. 15, 2009, which discusses a planned German satellite reconnaissance system (my emphasis):

Germany is taking concrete steps to achieve a full-spectrum, overhead reconnaissance capability by adding a space-based HIgh Resolution Optical System (HiROS) to their already impressive suite of space-based radar and multi-spectral systems. The German Government believes that full spectrum overhead reconnaissance is an effective force multiplier, provides an instrument of national power, and politically frees Germany from dependence on foreign sources of imagery. Germany anticipates that their emergence as a world leader in overhead reconnaissance will generate interest from the USG and envisions an expansion of the intelligence relationship.

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More News On This Joint U.S. - German Spy Satellite Recon Program

Aftenposten: Germany, US plan secret spy project -- Forbes/AP
US and Germany in joint spy satellite project: cable -- Breitbart/AFP
US, Germany developing secret spy satellites: cables -- AFP
Leaked Cables Show US-German Spy Satellite Program -- Voice of America
Cables point to German-French battle over satellite technology -- CNN
Germany denies it plans secret spy project with US -- AP
Reports of spy satellite project inaccurate, says Germany -- M&C