Intelligence: March 7, 2005

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Alarmed at the growing number of Islamic radical groups in Germany, several hundred German military intelligence analysts are being transferred to a civilian counter-terrorist organizations. Many of the troops will retain their military status, but will work in civilian clothes. Since September 11, 2001, German police have been looking more closely at the activities of Islamic radical groups in Germany. They found a lot more than they expected. German law makes it difficult to make arrests unless there is a lot of proof that a crime has been committed, or is well along in its planning. Given the language and cultural differences, the police have been unable to pick up a lot of Islamic militants who appear to be planning terrorist attacks. So the additional analysts will enable the police to find more terrorist suspects, build stronger cases and allow more arrests to be made. Many Germans blame the United States for all of this, feeling that it Iraq had not been invaded, the Moslem community would not have become so pro-terrorist. However, as the police dig more deeply into Islamic radical activities in Germany, they find much of it predates 2003, and September 11, 2001 as well.