Afghanistan Expensive for Germany Too

Germany's army, the Bundeswehr, has cost Germans $3.27 billion U.S. through the end of 2007 for "deployment related additional expenditures" to the federal budget. The budget calls for a further spending for the ISAF mission in 2008. Actual expenditures for this year, however, will be considerably higher because the budget only includes expenditures through the end of the current deployment mandate, which ends on Oct. 13. Despite the cost, Germany's parliament, the Bundestag, is expected to extend the mandate by an additional 14 months. So far, Germany's military spending in Afghanistan has been almost four times greater than what it has contributed in civilian development aid.