Thwarted: The Biggest Terror Attack Ever On German Soil
On July 21, I ran a report warning that this was coming.
BERLIN — Three suspected Islamic terrorists from an Al Qaeda-influenced group nursing a “profound hatred of U.S. citizens” were arrested on suspicioun of plotting imminent, massive bomb attacks on U.S. facilities in Germany, prosecutors said Wednesday.
The three men had some 1,500 pounds of hydrogen peroxide — easily enough to make a bomb with the explosive power of 1,200 pounds of TNT, prosecutors said at a news conference.
“We were able to succeed in recognizing and preventing the most serious and massive bombings,” Federal Prosecutor Monika Harms told reporters.
She declined to name specific targets but said the suspects had an eye on institutions and establishments frequented by Americans in Germany, including discos, pubs and airports.
Earlier, Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung was quoted by ARD television as saying Frankfurt International Airport and the large U.S. air base at Ramstein, in southwestern Germany, were targets. Harms would not confirm the report.
Officials said the 35 percent solution of hydrogen peroxide, stored in a hideout, easily could have been mixed with other additives to produce a powerful bomb.
“This would have enabled them to make bombs with more explosive power than the ones used in the London and Madrid bombings,” Joerg Ziercke, head of the Federal Crime Office, Germany’s equivalent of the FBI, said at the news conference.
The three suspects — two German converts to Islam, ages 22 and 28, and a 29-year-old Turk — first came to the attention of authorities because they had been caught observing a U.S. military facility in Hanau, near Frankfurt, at the end of 2006, officials said.
All three had undergone training at camps in Pakistan run by the Islamic Jihad Union, and had formed a German cell of the group, which officials said was influenced by Al Qaeda.
The Islamic Jihad Union was described as a Sunni Muslim group based in Central Asia that was an offshoot of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, an extremist group with origins in that country.
“The group, which is influenced by Al Qaeda, set up a German cell in winter of 2006 with the goal of finding recruits here to carry out attacks,” Harms said.
The three had no steady work and were collecting unemployment benefits while their main occupation was the plot, officials said.
“This group distinguishes itself through its profound hatred of U.S. citizens,” Ziercke said.
He said members of Germany’s elite GSG-9 anti-terrorist unit arrested two suspects at a holiday home in central Germany on Tuesday.
A third suspect fled through a bathroom window but was apprehended about 300 meters (yards) away.
Germany, which did not send troops to Iraq, has been spared terrorist attacks like the train and subway bombings in Madrid and London — although its involvement in the attempt to stabilize Afghanistan has led to fears it might be targeted.
German and U.S. officials have warned of the possibility of a terrorist attack, and security measures have been increased.
In July 2006, two gas bombs were placed on German commuter trains but did not explode. Officials said that attack was motivated by anger over cartoons portraying the Prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper. Several suspects are on trial in Lebanon, and a Lebanese man has been charged in Germany.
Wolfgang Bosbach, a top legislator from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats, noted the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks next week, as well as deliberations by the German parliament in the next few weeks over whether to extend its troop mandates in Afghanistan.
“We are in a highly sensitive period,” he said.
Merkel said in an interview released Wednesday that German troops would remain in Afghanistan for several more years, despite recent setbacks in the region. “To walk away would send the wrong signal,” she told N-24 television.
Robert Payne at Fraport AG, which operates Frankfurt International Airport, said that it was “business as usual” but had no further comment about the arrests or any details about the alleged claims of the facility being a target.
Navy Capt. Jeff Gradeck, spokesman for the U.S. military’s European Command in Stuttgart, said German authorities had contacted them concerning the alleged plot, but he had no further information.
Ramstein is one of the best-known U.S. Air Force bases worldwide because it serves as a major conduit for U.S. troops moving in and out of Europe, Asia and the Middle East. It is a key transit point for injured troops from Iraq and Afghanistan who are flown there to be taken to nearby Landstuhl.
The news of the arrests came a day after Denmark’s intelligence service arrested eight alleged Islamic militants with links to senior Al Qaeda terrorists, saying it had thwarted a major attack.
Ziercke said that although there were similarities to the group arrested in Denmark, no direct connection between the two has been established.
AP
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There should not be any American bases in Germany to be bombed. Let them pay for their own defence. Put that big base in Arizona or Texas on the Mexican border and those billions of dollars will improve the lives of the poorest people in the United States Of America.
September 5th, 2007 at 6:55 amThe rich countries of Europe are using us to keep their economies going and backstabbing us at the same time. Bring them home.
Holy shit.
September 5th, 2007 at 7:02 amUhe, Aubrey, if your asking a German wether he prefers having an US umbrella above Germany or none, he would say NONE, therefore who wants you there ? ask your government and the UN ; I don’t think Germany is a threat anymore, except their eastern hooligans for the colored foreigners
September 5th, 2007 at 7:12 amAubrey,
September 5th, 2007 at 7:31 amIsolationism went out when the V-2 came in.
I wonder how many plots are planned for this short run up to 9/11 and Petraeus’ report.
I hope we are removing threats out of the sight of the media.
September 5th, 2007 at 7:38 amAubrey and Buchanan sitting in a tree
K - I - S - S - I - N - G
Fist comes love, then come marriage, then comes
September 5th, 2007 at 7:43 amAubrey lost in isolationism
Guys like DePalma and Mark Cuban will only increase the hate. It’s not bad enough that so called American trash and blame this country for just about every bad thing that happens in this world.Now these two want to paint an entire military as brutes and rapists. Any American that is killed or hurt in any way from the showing of this trash, these two should be held responsible, and brought up on charges.I think they both should be charged with treason.
September 5th, 2007 at 8:06 amYa but we didnt participate in ze libreation of Iraq, we chickened out, but ze Muzzies still hate us? Vat is going on I dont understand. Peace ya.
September 5th, 2007 at 8:10 amFrance the retour:
Got news for you Frenchy. One of the reasons why German unemployment is so high is because all of those German jobs at US bases are gone. Several German local governments have begged the US to stay…so as not to lose more German jobs.
I got this info when I was in Heidelburg a year ago.
And because of the loss of those jobs German pensioners have seen their wages cut. No jobs? No pension security monies comming into the German government coffers.
Try again Frenchy. Germans are more pragmatic than your knee-jerk response.
September 5th, 2007 at 8:24 amDan (The Infidel)
Do you really believe Germany needs your country’s money to keep their economy running? Wirtschaftswunder and Exportweltmeister have nothing to do with US bases located in Germany.
But I love your keep-it-simple economics. No bases, no dollars, no pensions and no jobs for anybody at all. And Mercedes Benz is an Austrian company right?
September 5th, 2007 at 8:45 amDan (The Infidel)
Do you really believe Germany needs your country’s money to keep their economy running? Wirtschaftswunder and Exportweltmeister have nothing to do with US bases located in Germany.
But I love your keep-it-simple economics. No bases, no dollars, no pensions and no jobs for anybody at all. And Mercedes is an Austrian company right?
September 5th, 2007 at 8:47 amOne other thing:
Most of those bases are gone. My old Kassern is long gone.
However those bases serve as a stop-over point for injured soldiers and as a foward deployment area for units going into the Mideast. And with the rise of the Russian bear and Muslim Islamofacism in SE Europe, they become even more important.
Oh and let it be known, to anyone who has not spent copious amounts of their life in Germany, that the Germans and the Japanese both have said many times to US officials, that the only reason why Nazism and Japanese militarism has never taken hold again in their countries is because of the presence of US forces.
And you wouldn’t hear that last bit of info unless you spent time a NATO HQ or were priviledged to be involved in a senior command position in Europe or Japan.
It’s those officers who shared that last bit of info with me.
Leaving those bases at this time is not feasable. BRAC has already closed down and consolidated many German sites.
September 5th, 2007 at 9:03 amBut we aren’t giving up Grafenwoer anytime soon. Nor should we. It is probably the one of the best training area for mobile units in the world. Dusty, shitty and cold though it is, it is a great place to mass an Army and blow shit up.
American Military bases in Germany are their at the invitation of Germany, They are part of the NATO alliance which formed after WWII and continued through the Cold War. It has been questionable these past two decades the role for NATO since the end of the COLD WAR. However, because Muslim Extremists have filled a portion of the former Soviet power vaccum, beginning with Chechen and Kosovo, NATO has decided that the Taliban (AQ) in Afghanistan/Pakistan are a threat to Europe. Some may call it a stretch for NATO but the reality is no European country has a military that they could actually rely on, only NATO. The best any European country could do is perhaps 1 or 2 battalions in any given theater, thus the alliance proves to act as a combined (EU) force with American strategic capabilities thrown into the mix (i.e. satellite, supply and most importantly air support). That said the pay off for the United States to have NATO bases allows for stop-over points close to distant theaters of operation, a much more economical way to support such efforts.
September 5th, 2007 at 9:08 amDan
as far as Germany economy is concerned, Michel is right,
see that link, it says that Germany has the best rate for export in EU, even above US per inhabitant (I know, you can read frech)
http://wm2006.deutschland.de/FR/Content/Le-pays-hote/Allemagne-en-bref/l-allemagne-pole-economique.html
so, military business doesn’t bring much
Well I was looking for what reason part of your caserns are still there, NATO, (BA HOKOM gave the explanation)
September 5th, 2007 at 9:48 am“And you wouldn’t hear that last bit of info unless you spent time a NATO HQ or were priviledged to be involved in a senior command position in Europe or Japan.
It’s those officers who shared that last bit of info with me.”
Oh, just stop Dan. I actually agree with you, but why do you always try and cite to some sort of shady “privileged” source for your information?
First, do you think the “senior officers” (if they exist) would appreciate you sharing their private conversations with with strangers on the internet?
Second, we have no reason to believe you actually have these sources you always use - why not cite to a verifiable third-party source other people can check, rather than just taking “Dan the Infidel” at his word on all of the conclusory statements you like to pepper your posts with?
September 5th, 2007 at 1:38 pmFrance/Michel:
Oh pppppppuuuuuuuuuuuuullllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzze. Feed someone else your crap. If it wasn’t for the United States of America, the F’ing world would starve. Next.
September 5th, 2007 at 1:47 pmirish gal, yeah, we need your dollars, oops sorry, taels, roubles, pesos…
please, buy our wines ; they are good for your health ;
:roll: 
I bet your coffee makes your liver becoming green
September 5th, 2007 at 2:10 pmIt would be interesting to see how Germany would respond if they were attacked. I wonder if they’d resort back to their old ways and start a Blitzkrieg in the Middle-East and put all the Muslims in concentration camps. (That wouldn’t be good, BTW).
I can just see some US soldiers standing around in what, five minutes before, was an Iraqi city and just kind of looking at each other like, “What the fuck?” As German soldiers sweep through the country, leaving only ISF and US bases alone, on their way to Iran.
September 5th, 2007 at 2:18 pmWhen Germany could Blitzkrieg the muzzies were allies. Islamofascists love old Adolf and his jew hating horde. Mein Kampf is the second largest selling book after the Cooran in Muslim countries.
September 5th, 2007 at 3:27 pmMust be moving up in sales across the Channel in anti-Semetic Fraunce too.
clyde corneed,
favorable rating of the jews :
France 86
US 77
http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?PageID=831
your owned
September 5th, 2007 at 4:02 pm@Irish Gal:
Well I could respond in a unfriendly way, but I won’t. So I just want to know from you if you can prove ” If it wasn’t for the United States of America, the F’ing world would starve.”
Just give me something. If you can prove it it is true.
September 6th, 2007 at 2:59 am