Berlin - Germany announced cuts in its armed forces yesterday after an official report condemned the conscript army as too ill-trained and ill-equipped to defend the nation or back up its NATO allies.
A government-appointed independent commission headed by the former president, Mr Richard von Weizsaecker, handed Chancellor Gerhard Schroder a lengthy report, already widely leaked, that proposed slashing Bundeswehr troop strength from 340,000 to 240,000, and dramatically reducing the draft. The Defence Minister, Mr Rudolf Scharping, facing stiff political opposition, is unlikely to go that far but he pledged to make some cuts.