How effective was the Waffen-SS as a military force?I know they were fanatical in their racial and political beliefs, but how good were they as...

The most usual answer to this is that the Waffen SS was
not very militarily effective at the beginning of the war.  However, it became an elite
unit by the end of the war.

At the beginning of the war,
the Waffen SS did not have good training or good NCOs.  The organization had been
created more as a police force and its membership was based more on racial and political
purity than on military prowess.  Because of this, the emphasis in its training had been
more political than military.

However, as the war went on,
the Waffen SS came to be much better trained.  This training, along with its higher
levels of morale, helped make it an elite force.  In many areas of the Eastern Front,
for example, it came to be used as an emergency reserve that would be sent wherever
there was serious trouble.

So, the Waffen SS started out
ineffective but later became the fighting force that was given the hardest assignments
because it was so effective.