Germany's beleaguered Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg has rejected reports claiming he wrongly forced the resignations of two top officials linked to a controversial airstrike in Afghanistan believed to have killed civilians. Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg told Bild am Sonntag weekly that the officials had withheld crucial information regarding the airstrike on September 4 in Kunduz. "For that the two gentlemen have taken responsibility," he said. The two men - the head of Germany's armed forces, General Wolfgang Schneiderhahn and Deputy Defense Minister Peter Wichert - stepped down last month over the affair which has sparked a heated political controversy in Germany.But Germany's Der Spiegel news magazine and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung refuted the minister's account, reporting that the two officials had given Guttenberg an account of all available reports about the airstrike when he inquired about it.> The latest controversy comes after media reports on the weekend said the target of the airstrike was a group of Taliban leaders, not a pair of hijacked tanker trucks as originally reported by the German government.
Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg told Bild am Sonntag weekly that the officials had withheld crucial information regarding the airstrike on September 4 in Kunduz.
"For that the two gentlemen have taken responsibility," he said.
The two men - the head of Germany's armed forces, General Wolfgang Schneiderhahn and Deputy Defense Minister Peter Wichert - stepped down last month over the affair which has sparked a heated political controversy in Germany.
But Germany's Der Spiegel news magazine and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung refuted the minister's account, reporting that the two officials had given Guttenberg an account of all available reports about the airstrike when he inquired about it.
> The latest controversy comes after media reports on the weekend said the target of the airstrike was a group of Taliban leaders, not a pair of hijacked tanker trucks as originally reported by the German government.
...and new revelations are flowing in:
Could the media bring down Guttenberg in the end?
It's possible of course, but I'm reminded of the Kießling Affair. If Merkel remains true to her mentor she'd have no problems with damaged goods in her cabinet. The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman
