And it has nothing to do with al-Qaeda, or Muslims, or Iraq. It was in Munich, where a group of six neo-Nazis were busted and are being charged with planning an attack on a Jewish synagogue being reconstructed. The synagogue was burned down in the notorious Krystalnacht riots of November 9, 1938.
German President Johannes Rau is scheduled to be present on November 9 of this year for the laying of the cornerstone for the new synagogue. Munich police found
explosives and weapons they believe belonged to the group. At least three of the suspects, including a young woman, are thought to be members of a rightwing group called Kameradschaft Süd.
The "brown" (neo-Nazi) groups in Germany today tend to be small, largely isolated groups. But that doesn't mean at all that they are not dangerous.
Nor does it mean that have no contact with other extremists. The Kameradschaft Süd group is thought to be led by a man named Martin Wiese. One of the suspects arrested had served prison time for a 2000 assault on two Africans in the eastern German state of Thuringia. Wiese's Kameradschaft Süd group is said by authorities to be the strongest of these informal groups in Munich.
Fighting terorism effectively is largely a matter of the kind of preparedness and
good police work that broke this case. Many of the most significant arrests of terrorists in the West the last two years have been in Germany, France, Spain and England. Keep that in mind the next time you hear some American jingo bad-mouthing the Europeans.
- Bruce Miller
Tags: terrorism, global war on terror, war on terror
Hearing: Steve Earle, "The Devil's Right Hand"
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