100 billion for the Bundeswehr and a return to conscription?

In defense policy, too, hardly a stone is left unturned.

It is gratifying that there is no barrier to discussion.

But there can be no question that the German armed forces have been neglected so far.

For example, politicians have been struggling for many years to drive out any tradition from the German armed forces that had its roots before the founding of the Bundeswehr.

Soon, at most, a diverse deserter or a woker resistance fighter might be considered as the namesake for barracks.

The political leadership is also almost traditionally very busy with suspecting its own soldiers of extremism - most notably the elite KSK troop, which was only allowed to work "on probation".

There were inexcusable incidents that warranted investigations.

But here, too, there was a deep distrust and fundamental alienation towards everything military.

The actual task obscured

This continues with the attempt to portray the soldier's profession as one like any other.

But he is not.

The great support in flood relief and pandemic obscures the real mission.

The foreign assignments were mostly surveillance and training assignments - valuable as that is.

And even the war in Afghanistan has not raised the painful question not asked for more than three decades: Can we defend ourselves?

Is the Bundeswehr able to repel an attack on the alliance, an attack on Germany?

How must the German armed forces be set up to effectively deter an aggressor?

It's not primarily a question of money.

Unfortunately, it is not necessarily decisive who is currently at the head of the Ministry of Defense.

In-depth expertise and a lively interest were only exceptional prerequisites for being sworn in as the holder of the authority to command and command.

Force or enrichment?

It is a task for society as a whole, which also includes civil protection and disaster control and the question of general resilience.

The armed forces do not have to be a reflection of society, but anchored in it.

That was the case in the days of conscription - despite the fierce controversy.

In principle, everyone had to do military service, although a remarkably large number of later bearers of responsibility did not do so.

In the end, refusing military service (only) for reasons of conscience was actually an equal option.

After all, what some perceived as a compulsion, others perceived as an enrichment, stayed or used their knowledge elsewhere.

The new debate about compulsory service should be used to think about the value of our free state.

The war in Ukraine shows the power of nuclear weapons, but also the resilience of a people invaded by a major aggressor.

Citizens born defenders of their liberties - that's something you can't buy.