The issue of fighting as a coalition in Afghanistan has been problematic since NATO first assumed a greater role in securing the country. Goldfarb and I have discussed these issues here and here, and I’ve mentioned “caveats”--the restrictions NATO countries place on their troops to limit when, where, and how the units can fight. Today, Germany's Spiegel tells the story of how a German caveat that prevents their special forces from killing Taliban commanders is destabilizing the peaceful Northern provinces, where German troops maintain security.

German troops had a Taliban commander, known as the “Baghlan bomber” for his role in the largest suicide bombing in Afghanistan to date, in their sights but refused to kill him. “The German government considers its allies' approach as ‘not being in conformity with international law,’" Speigel reported. “A fugitive like the Baghlan bomber is not an aggressor and should not be shot unless necessary,” a German Defense Ministry official told the magazine.

The Taliban are aware of the German’s lack of vigor, and in response they are growing bolder in the North:

Maulawi Bashir Haqqani, 40, the Taliban's military commander in Kunduz, told SPIEGEL: "The Germans are the most important enemy in the north. If they leave their base, they will find booby traps and bombs waiting for them on every road. They will have to carry many more bodies in coffins on their shoulders if they don't come to the realistic conclusion that their forces must withdraw from our country."