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The War On Terror: Enemy
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Germans are Afraid, Very Afraid
by James Dunnigan
February 10, 2005
Discussion Board on this DLS topic
The March 11, 2004 bombings in Spain had a motivating effect on German
counter-terrorism efforts. The Germans have long been a hospitable place for
Islamic radicals, mainly because of generous social benefits, tolerance for
foreign communities, closeness to the Middle East and hospitable refugee
policies. But since September 11, 2001, German police have been trying to get an
idea of the scope of Islamic radicalism in Germany. Last years attack in Spain
reminded the Germans that if you lose track of a group of Islamic radicals, the
results can be deadly. So the Germans have been arresting more suspects, even
though their legal system makes it hard to hang on to them. In the past week,
police raids led to the arrest of 21 Islamic radical suspects, after a long
period of surveillance and investigation. Those arrested, including five women,
were accused of providing logistical support for Islamic radicals planning
terrorist attacks in Germany and other countries. The support was mostly in the
form of false identify papers for people in Germany illegally, and money for
living and other operational expenses. In addition to the arrests, some 57
buildings were searched and many documents were seized.
Germany
apparently has hundreds of foreign Moslems under surveillance, and many of them
were first detected because of their Internet activities. In the last five
years, the number of web sites devoted to Islamic radicalism has grown from
about a dozen, to over 2,000. The web sites are particularly popular with Moslem
students studying in foreign countries, like Germany. Students make the most
lethal terrorists, because they are educated and better able to deal with
difficult and complex situations. While the vast majority of young Moslems
visiting the radical web sites are merely curious, or just going through the
motions, some are serious. The Germans have found cells of terrorists being
formed in Germany, and other European countries, after individuals met via the
Internet, and discovered that they were living nearby each other. Most of these
groups lead to nothing but a lot of wild talk, but some have gone further. The
Germans fear that so many of these groups are coming together that they will
lose track of one or more of them, and a deadly terrorist attack will result.
This is one reason for the recent raids in Germany, to take out terrorist
support groups. Terrorists without the necessary support services, are much more
vulnerable to detection if they try to plan and carry out an attack.
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See Jim Dunnigan's interviewed about his latest book The Perfect Soldier on ireadnet.com
The Perfect Soldier: Special Operations, Commandos, and the Future of Us Warfare by James F. Dunnigan
More Books by James Dunnigan |
