GERMANY:THE GERMAN government has signed off on plans for a constitutional amendment to allow domestic military deployments for the first time since 1945, writes Derek Scallyin Berlin.
After years of debate and a long-running cabinet row, a compromise - once agreed by parliament - will allow German soldiers to help out local police in limited circumstances such as natural disasters.
West Germany's post-war Grundgesetz or Basic Law expressly forbids military deployments in response to Nazi abuse of the military to secure and retain power.
Hitler transformed the Weimar-era army, the Reichswehr, into the Wehrmacht, reporting directly to him and used for political as well as military purposes.
The modern Bundeswehr, with no ties to the old Wehrmacht, was founded in West Germany 1955 with a restricted mandate.
Agreement to send the Bundeswehr to Balkans in 1999, the first foreign deployment since 1945, was reached only after an emotional debate that nearly brought down the then Social Democrat (SPD)-Green government.
The current grand coalition of SPD and Christian Democrats both broadly support wider deployment of the army but disagree over the details.
CDU leaders were pushing for a wider mandate, with interior minister Wolfgang Schäuble in favour of a military role in times of domestic terrorist threats. Most of these demands were thrown out in the horse-trading.
The final proposal would allow the government to draw on the army in times of national emergency, such as marines aiding the coast guard during a flood.
"The federal government is empowered to give instructions as long as it is for the effective fight of particularly serious accidents," reads the text of the cabinet agreement.
The Bundeswehr could use "military force" only when "police forces no longer suffice", but is not to be used as "a general military authorisation".
Germany's political opposition disagree sharply with the proposals, with the Greens calling it the "militarisation of domestic politics".
Birgit Homburger, military spokeswoman for the liberal Free Democrats (FDP), said: "The SPD is throwing sand in citizens' eyes to claim this is only about the deployment against dangers in the air or at sea."
The Bundestag meanwhile has agreed to extend Germany's military mission in Afghanistan by another year and to increase by 1,000 soldiers to 4,500 the ISAF force on the ground.