West Germany Debates the Bundeswehr

...Efforts aimed at reducing the gap by modernizing equipment and reorganizing forces-"do?ing more with less"-have been hampered by the country's low level of military exports...

...In addition, a plan that revolved around a German push into War?saw Pact territory would greatly in?crease the danger of nuclear escalation...

...Moreover, they were violating a strict taboo of the new German Army-exhibiting dis?respect for civilian (especially parliamentary) authority...

...There is no argument between the civilians and the men in uniform, however, about the fact that the size of the Soviet force assembled in Central Europe greatly exceeds any defensive needs...

...Some 30 per cent of West Ger?many's population and 25 per cent of its industrial capacity lies within 65 miles of its 1,180-mile border with Warsaw Pact countries...

...Be?sides defending an unpenitent Nazi, the two generals were insulting one of the SPD's most prominent figures, a man who broke with his Com?munist past more than 30 years ago and has been in the forefront of the struggle for the democratization of postwar Germany...

...The West has 1,900 combat planes...

...On a more immediate level, a recent government "White Paper" on defense stressed that because of the lack of backup forces, West Ger?many can not afford a strategy call?ing for retreat and relinquishing territory at the outbreak of hostilities...

...But they are much less certain that the Russians would resist the temptation of using their guns if the diplomacy fails...

...Unfortunately, incidents such as the Rudel-Krupinski-Franke af?fair do not to hasten the day when they can be taken up without look?ing backward...

...The U.S...

...They also realize, however, that the smaller Western Europe's contribution in conventional armaments to its own defense, the lower the threshold for using tactical nu?clear weapons against an aggressor...

...ELIAHU SALPETER, a regular contributor, is currently a European correspondent for Israel's Ha'aretz...

...So instead Bonn has adopted a strategy of "push-back": German and other NATO forces would ab?sorb an attack (by conventional weapons, if possible) close to the frontier and develop a counterof-fensive within West German territory...

...German commanders managed to keep military issues out of the recent election campaign here...

...Last year Germany exported $150 million worth of armaments...

...Normally, this would suggest that military planners should prepare to carry the battle from the very out?set to enemy territory...

...Yet there is no deny?ing that in supporting a neo-Nazi Krupinski and Franke revived some of the genuine (and all of the Communist-inspired) suspicions about the true sympathies of Bundeswehr senior officers...

...But just as congratulations seemed in order, two gen?erals suddenly thrust themselves into the middle of party politics, setting off a barrage of criticism throughout the Western European press...

...the Soviets and their allies command an incredible total of 19,000 tanks...

...That concerns the real purpose of the enormous Soviet military buildup in Central Europe...

...But Air Force Operations Chief Lieutenant General Walter Krupinski (perhaps not incidentally, Rudel's "wing man" in World War II) and his deputy, Major General Karl-Heinz Franke, responded to questions from journalists by declaring Rudel had a right to express his views "just as ex-Communists" have a right to speak...

...It is seldom discussed publicly, but the other West European countries have a distinctly ambivalent feeling about the primacy of German strength in their common defense effort...

...That, in turn, would increase the danger of an all-out nuclear war...

...the Communists 3,800...

...Defense Minister Georg Leber- one of the more conservative top-level SPDers-reacted swiftly, dis?missing the two offending generals...

...Like armed forces all over the world, the Bundeswehr tries to bol?ster esprit de corps by creating links between present units and their predecessors...

...The commander of the old outfit, retired Colonel Hans-Ulrich Rudel (who, of course, would be among the top guests at the affair), was not only Nazi Germany's most decorated officer and a favorite of der Fuhrer, but his memoirs so stridently proclaim Nazi ideals that they have been banned from public and school libraries as totalitarian propaganda...

...Perhaps not less important, there is an inherent difficulty in building and training an effective fighting force on the basis of a "no-retreat-but-no-advance" doctrine...

...The idea of Russian tanks rolling across the border seems inconceivable...

...Thus when the Immelmann air-reconnaissance wing decided to hold a reunion at its base near Freiburg with veterans of the World War II Immelmann dive-bomber wing, red lights went on at Air Force headquarters...

...Foreign arma?ment sales are used by all major powers to cut per-unit costs of production, stretching defense budgets and making possible frequent up?grading of weapons and communications systems...

...Meanwhile, the ratio between the Communist and NATO forces ranges from about 2-1 to 3-1...

...THE COMMUNISTS' overwhelming numerical superiority in conventional weapons obliges West Germany to search for other ways to lessen the critical imbalance...

...But Bonn, mindful of the still-sensitive memories of the Nazi jug gernaut, avoids any hard-sell of its military hardware abroad and retuses orders from conflict areas...

...They cited as an "example" Herbert Wehner, floor leader of the Social Democratic party (SPD) in the Bundestag...

...The Soviet buildup is intended, they believe, to serve both alternatives: the political as well as the military route to taking over Europe...

...What makes this particularly sig?nificant now are the differences of opinion between the military and the civilians, diplomats and many government politicians, on a much larger plane...

...The civilians seem quite convinced that its intent is political...

...West German military experts agree that the Soviets are preparing for "gunboat diplomacy...

...There are 27 NATO di?visions in the region, against 58 for the Warsaw Pact...

...The Opposition criticized his action as "too harsh...

...Nobody at Harthoehe, the West German Pentagon near Bonn, was greatly surprised to hear, therefore, that the routine request for the re?union had been unroutinely denied...

...The matter might have ended there with a minor intraoffice inquiry...

...Bonn, recognizing that this handicap has kept its industry from making the defense contribution it is capable of, has supported weapons standardization in NATO...

...Thirty years after the Nazi horrors the policy remains wise morally and practically: Nothing could harm Western unity more than fears of resurgence of German militarism...

...NATO has 6,100 tanks...

...And the proximity of this huge Soviet military machine is at the root of all West German strategic planning...

...The Germans, of course, know that they supply about one third of all NATO strength without getting much gratitude in return...

...The military here-and indeed the military of all NATO countries -considers it axiomatic that the Kremlin hopes to dominate all of Europe within the next 10-15 years...

...Now real hell broke loose...

...Possible offensives against enemy territory are simply not included in any planning, training exercises or maneuvers...

...There is always a danger in this, since the heroes of three decades ago did win their medals fighting for Hitler and are not necessarily reconstituted pillars of post?war democratic Germany...

...There was considerable surprise, though, when the press reported that the refusal somehow failed to reach Freiburg, that the reunion was held and that Rudel was its star, using the occasion to autograph his pro-Nazi memoirs...

...Yet here again the conflict between the shadows of the past and the needs of the present-besides heightening the debate between the civilians and the military-severely limits options: The German Army has scrupulously avoided develop?ing an "offensive doctrine...

...One need only look at the statistics to understand why...

...HAUNTED BY THE PAST West Germany Debates the Bundeswehr BY ELIAHU SALPETER BONN THE PROBLEM of creating a sense of tradition while avoiding identification with the Nazi Wehrmacht has landed the Bundeswehr in hot water...

...would not risk a nuclear holocaust except as a last resort, it might well be emboldened to undertake "minor" acts of aggression in Central Europe...

...West German officers seldom dis?cuss problems of this kind in public, but they are surely aware of them...

...Al?though Germany is second in size of material (and also manpower) contribution to Western defense, it is sixth in armament exports...

...heads the list, shipping $8 billion-$9 billion annually, followed by France with $3 billion...

...In the competition to sell standardized supplies to NATO, though, German industries would be at a considerable advantage and its allies are well aware of this, too...

...The other NATO members would not countenance such an approach even if Germany wanted to pursue it...

...The invaders would be repelled from NATO territory, and then it would be possible to "reestablish nuclear deterrence.' This strategy does have serious shortcomings...

...And since the Soviet Union can be expected to presume, not unreason?ably, that the U.S...

...The first in line of a potential Soviet attack, Germany must now rely on her al?lies for supplies, ammunition and spare parts...

...There is something fundamentally counterproductive about telling a potential enemy in advance that if his aggression fails, he will only be pushed back to his original starting point...

...In their view, the Kremlin seeks to project an overpowering image and there?by persuade Western Europe, and notably West Germany, to submit peacefully to Soviet wishes...

...New military camps are named for old Kasernen that existed in the same town, new brigades bear names recalling past (preferably World War I vintage) glories, and members of the old units are invited for get-togethers with their current successors...