The German army seems to have come down a few rungs from the crack Wehrmacht of the blitzkrieg that overran most of Europe in 1940, according to a report in the British paper the Daily Mail. In fact, it seems that many of the 3,500 German troops fi ghting as part of NATO forces in Afghanistan are channeling portly Sgt. Schultz of the 60s sitcom Hogan’s Heroes more than Prussian uber-goosestepper Otto von Bismarck.

“Plainly put, the soldiers are too fat, exercise too little and take little care of their diet,” summarized Reinhold Robbe, Germany’s parliamentary commissioner for the armed forces.  ey also smoke too much, eat too much sausage and drink too much beer, he added.

German troops in Afghanistan, allotted two pints of beer a day, went through more than 1.7 million pints in 2007, along with 90,000 bottles of wine. By contrast, American and British forces are forbidden alcohol.

Napoleon did say an army travels on its stomach, but then, he was French…