We are not cowards
Sir: Officers in today's German army are not cowards — much less the one I cited at the beginning of my article on the Bundeswehr (Tear of fighting', 19 August). In my inter- view with him, Lieutenant-Colonel Blotz, the commander of Light Infantry Battalion 581, stressed to me repeatedly that he would have no qualms about doing his duty for his coun- try when called upon. An edit of the article conveyed the opposite impression by inter- preting one of his remarks as suggesting that he was 'afraid to fight'.
Far from demonstrating the 'cowardice' of the German army (a word I did not use in the submitted article), my intent was to show the paradoxical position of the Bun- deswehr as a conscript army in a country dominated by pacifist public opinion. Its career officers endured even my stupidest questions with a frankness and friendliness entirely uncharacteristic of many other sec- tions of German officialdom. As I noted in my article, it is precisely this thoughtfulness which can sometimes boomerang against them. Yet such openness should only aug- ment our respect. Every soldier I have ever met has experienced fear. Few are coura- geous enough to admit it.
Christian Caryl
Apostel-Paulus-Strasse 41, D-10823 Berlin, Germany
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