German troops in Afghanistan drank more than 1.8 million pints of beer last year

Telegraph.co.uk ^ | 17 Nov 2008

[Joiseydude]

Almost 70,000 litres of wine and seat, a German sparkling wine, was also shipped to the soldiers, the defence ministry figures showed.

The figures imply that the 3,600 German troops in Afghanistan as part of Nato's ISA operation are each drinking around 490 pints or beer as well as 128 normal measures of wine.

The revelations have provided ammunition to critics of Germany's role in the Afghan mission.

Some claim that German troops spend too much time in the relatively safe areas in the north of the country.

British soldiers are only allowed to drink moderate amounts of alcohol while US soldiers are banned from consuming it completely.

The German defence ministry defended their troops, saying that consumption was well within the allowed limit, The Guardian newspaper reported.

Alcohol consumption among German soldiers is expected to increase as the country increases the number of its troops engaged in operations in Afghanistan by a further 900.

[AmericanInTokyo]

gee, i wonder how much of that ended up as p*ss?

(never mind....)

[USAFJeeper]

As a MSgt before I retired I had kids moving off base as airmen, getting in over their heads financially and you know why? Then they could get drunk off their butts in their apartment AND get DUIs driving to a friends apartment. I argued, let them walk across the damn street to the Enlisted Club instead and keep em in a more controlled environment and pump money in the club system at the same time.

[Freedom4US]

Then all foods are poisonous! We only live once after all.. “Eat right, stay fit, die anyway..” They talk funny in Franconia, btw.

[alarm rider]

Well, in many ways, beer and wine are food.

Liquor could be classified as medicine.

[swarthyguy]

You made too much sense.

Nannyism brooks no common sense.

[muawiyah]

“Ish isht nichts spreche kleine beche deutsche.” ~ which, when you were dressed in Rad clothes would usually get any German NOT from Franconia to persist in asking you a question.

[mikrofon]

The figures imply that the 3,600 German troops in Afghanistan as part of Nato's ISA operation are each drinking around 490 pints or beer as well as 128 normal measures of wine

"Wein auf Bier, das rat' ich dir. Bier auf Wein, das lass' sein."

[Loosely: "Liquor before beer, you're in the clear; beer before liquor, never been sicker."]

[patton]

LOL - “Wein nach Bier, das rat ich dir - Bier nach Wein, Lass es allein!”

“Win AFTER bier, ok, Bier AFTER wien, forget it.”

Sheesh. GI german gets everything backwards.

[ViLaLuz]

I proudly contributed to that amount...

[Sarajevo]

Off base Stateside and the inability to blow off a little steam and have a drink in a war zone are different issues. You hit it correctly when you wrote that an 18 year old can be responsible for millions of dollars of equipment, can be told to kill, but cannot drink a beer. That sux!

As late as 1987, I was patrolling the former East German/Czech border. After 1700, the beer light came on. We were all there, weapons and all. It's an issue of leadership and responsibility.

[Cheburashka]

No booze, no porn - what were we fighting for?

---

The Taliban’s worst nightmare - standing in front of an American Army deprived of beer and porn. And the only way to get it is over the Taliban’s dead bodies. Literally.

[Wilhelm Tell]

Germans think beer is food.

Beer is just liquid bread.