Soldiers like to bitch, I guess. But German soldiers seem to be pushing it a bit these days. Or at least that’s the impression their boss seems to have of them.

“We cannot guarantee soldiers that they will have an all-round feel-good experience,” Germany’s most senior officer General Wolfgang Schneiderhan has said about the German moaning when it comes to tours abroad.

No, they may not be able to guarantee it, but if you read about the unbearable conditions these guys have to live under “down there” in Afghanistan, for instance, it comes pretty close. Unbearable to read, I mean.

“We have to tell a professional soldier who complains about his third tour of overseas duty that he has to get a grip — this is his profession.”