Markus Lanz Tonight: The Heated Conscription Debate and Surprise Guest Toni Feller

I settled in to watch Markus Lanz again last night – and let me tell you, it was far from your typical, low-key chat. Things got serious. The core question: Should military service become compulsory again for young men and women? Since the withdrawal from Afghanistan and rising tensions globally, this debate is well and truly back in Kiwi living rooms. And last night's episode was properly controversial, largely thanks to one guest: Toni Feller.

A Night with Fireworks

Lanz kicked off the show by revisiting the chaos in Kabul five years ago. Images of crammed military transports and desperate people clinging to aircraft – it's all still fresh in everyone's memory. The unspoken question hung in the air: Did the German military fail back then because it was a professional force without adequate reserves? That was the launching point for the debate. And then, unexpectedly, Lanz brought a man out from the sidelines, someone previously known mainly to insiders: Retired Colonel Toni Feller, a grey-haired veteran who'd served in Kunduz and Mazar-i-Sharif.

The Guests and Their Stances

Around the table with Feller were Green Party defence expert Anna-Maria Wagner and sociologist Professor Klaus Bittner, a long-time opponent of conscription. The battle lines were drawn quickly:

• Toni Feller (Retired Colonel): "Abolishing conscription was a historic mistake. We severed the connection between the military and society. When push comes to shove, we simply don't have the personnel to meet our alliance commitments. Young people need to learn responsibility for the common good again – and not just in an office, but, if necessary, in armed service."
• Anna-Maria Wagner (Green Party): "I deeply respect Mr. Feller's service, but we can't turn the clock back to the 80s. Compulsory service is a profound intrusion on personal freedoms. We need a modern, high-tech military, not conscripts spending nine months bored and not being particularly useful to anyone."
• Professor Klaus Bittner: "This isn't really about the military. It's about political symbolism. The Afghanistan deployments showed the professional army was already stretched thin – more people wouldn't have prevented that chaos. What we need is a thorough political reckoning, not knee-jerk reactions."

When Feller Got Personal

The tension really escalated when Lanz pushed Feller, asking if he'd truly be willing to send his own grandchildren to the front line. The old colonel didn't flinch: "I have three grandsons of eligible age myself. When I see how some of them carry on – glued to their phones, no concept of duty – I sometimes wish they'd have nine months to learn what discipline and camaraderie really mean. Not everyone has to handle a weapon later on, but we need them for civil defence, for disaster relief. This isn't about militarism." You could hear a pin drop in the studio. You could almost feel the other guests' discomfort.

Wagner countered immediately: "That sounds like a parenting strategy, Mr. Feller. The state isn't a correctional facility for spoiled kids!" Feller remained calm, fixed her with a look, and said: "Ms. Wagner, I was in Kunduz when we saw our wounded comrades burning. That wasn't about education. That was about life and death. Believe me, we can't afford that kind of arrogance."

The Lessons from Afghanistan

Interestingly, Lanz kept circling back to the 2021 withdrawal. He played clips of German soldiers describing their dependence on the Americans at the time. Feller seized on this: "That's precisely the point. A professional army quickly hits its limit. If we truly want to be sovereign, we need a force rooted in conscription, embedded across society. I'm not talking about a massive army, but one that has the capacity to expand in a crisis." Bittner dismissed this: "That's a militia idea completely out of touch with reality. We don't even have the equipment as it is!"

And so the debate raged on. By the end, everyone agreed on one thing: tonight's episode of Markus Lanz had once again highlighted just how deep the divisions on this issue run. No one changed anyone's mind, but perhaps some viewers reconsidered their own stance. I, for one, gained a lot of respect for Toni Feller. The man clearly knows his stuff – even if I'm not entirely convinced his solution is the right one.

Missed the show? You can catch up later – it's well worth a watch!