(6.1.2016) The deliberations by the German parliament in early December over sending troops to a foreign war were notable for perhaps one aspect above all: the ease with which Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government gained approval to deploy 1,200 German troops to help in the fight against the militant group that calls itself the Islamic State (ISIS). The government overwhelmingly won a vote in the lower house of parliament, or Bundestag, which must approve all military operations.