The other senior official, who similarly spoke on the condition of anonymity, said: “This is the last thing NATO wanted to be involved in, but the Americans seemed to want everyone in on it. I guess they felt it gave them political cover.”
“They were sitting around there giving thumbs up or down, like gladiators in a stadium,” the second official said. “While it was meant to be a protection against civilian casualties, it made some of them very uncomfortable, particularly the Germans.”
While Germany has a significant contingent still in Afghanistan, it has always observed rules about avoiding engagement in offensive combat operations, which is forbidden by German constitutional law, with some narrowly defined exceptions.