“Rebound” time?

For years, Germany did little to stem the flow of its nationals to jihad training camps, believing its decision not to participate in the war in Iraq meant it was off the jihadist radar-screen.

Western intelligence officers who met with their German counterparts after 9/11 say they received lectures about the country’s determination not to sacrifice civil liberties in the fight against terror.

The key members of the jihad cell now thought to be plotting attacks on Germany were recruited from a Hamburg mosque were 9/11 hijacker Mohammad Atta used to pray. The mosque was closed down after the 9/11 attacks, but then allowed to reopen (until they closed it down for good waaay later-blogger’s note).

That decision was an error.”

———-

But now for something completly different–the latest episode in the ongoing German Street View Saga: German Google fans are now throwing eggs at the pixelated homes (the real ones) of Germans who had decided to opt out of Street View. Never a dull moment around here I tell ya.

Gottcha!

Just kidding about that being a bomb yesterday, folks. Just testing, I mean.

Wasn’t that hysterical? And here you thought American companies couldn’t export any cool stuff anymore.

And today’s Fehlalarm (false alarm)? A suspicious object that wasn’t a bomb this time either caused an ICE train to be evacuated at Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof (sorry, the linking is acting up a bit at the moment: http://www.stern.de/politik/deutschland/terrorgefahr-in-deutschland-fehlalarm-im-ice-attrappe-in-namibia-1625680.html)

“BKA officials have examined it and the result is that it is a so-called ‘real test suitcase’ from a U.S. company. This company produces alarm and detection systems and these test suitcases are made to test security measures.”

That didn’t take long

Or as Stern puts it: How Concern Turns to Hysteria.

The Namibian Connection?

“Nothing is clear for now. It has not been determined if the package was bound for Germany, nor even if it contains a functional explosive device. It is also questionable if the package was about to be loaded onboard or not. The proper headline should read ‘suspicious piece of baggage discovered that might have possibly been destined for Germany.'”

“Namibia steht nicht auf der Terrorismus-Landkarte.”

“There are grounds for concern but not for hysteria”

So you know what that means, don’t you? OH MY GOD WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!

Funny how things clear up with time, don’t they? Just a few weeks ago warnings from “foreign partners” like this were “alarmist” and “abstract.”

Now security measures are being stepped up in Germany after Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said there were “clear indications” of a terror plot targeting Germany.

I don’t get it. I thought all this talk about international terrorism was nothing but Panikmache (fear mongering) all these years, Germany? Like take a chill pill already.

“Nach dem Hinweis eines ausländischen Partners Deutschlands solle Ende November ein mutmaßliches Anschlagsvorhaben umgesetzt werden.”

Germany to blacklist own airports

After pannicked German demands that the EU draw up a blacklist of unsafe foreign freight dispatchers and airports to help improve air cargo security following the recent bomb plots originating in Yemen and Greece, Germans everywhere were relieved to learn that many of their own airports would most likely be placed near the top of the list.

One of the said explosive devices recently passed undetected through a transfer point at Cologne-Bonn Airport and was later discovered at East Midlands Airport in the UK.

“National measures are not very effective,” said Thomas de Maiziere, Germany’s interior minister. “Well, at least ours aren’t. Please, somebody out there help us close these high risk puppies down ASAP!”

“Last month, the United States and Britain advised caution to travelers visiting Germany and France and intelligence sources spoke of plots against European cities involving al Qaeda and allied militants, some of them European citizens or residents. But de Maiziere then said he saw no immediate signs of a threat, talking instead of a general abstract danger.”

Still abstract?

The terror danger in Germany, I mean? It was a few weeks ago, and warnings about it where dismissed as being “alarmist.”

Now a suspicious package turned up at German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office, just a few hours after small mail bombs exploded outside the Russian and Swiss embassies in Athens. Honestly, isn’t it alarming how all packages are turning out to be suspicious these days?

Of course we do have to remember that these particular attacks are being blamed on far-left extremists and are therefore, technically speaking, not really terror attacks at all. Not here anyway.

“No link has been made with the recently discovered Yemen-based mail bomb plot, which used much more powerful devices.”

“Auch Deutschland in Gefahr?”

 Germany in danger too? How ya figure?

Wasn’t this the same German Interior Minister who claimed that warnings about possible Al Qaeda terrorist attacks in Germany were “alarmist” just a few weeks back?

Now he’s all alarmed himself and has cancelled a planned trip to Israel in order to address the alarming news that the package bombs from Yemen destined for New York were transferred in Cologne and nobody like, uh, was alarmed. Or even noticed.

I guess the main reason they’re all pissed off about not having known that they were dealing with bombs bound for the United States is that they couldn’t take the proper precautionary measures. Before going ahead and transfering them to flights bound for the United States, I mean. Ordnung muss sein (order is necessary).

„Wir nehmen den Vorgang ernst, auch wenn Deutschland wohl nicht Anschlagsziel war.“

Still abstract enough?

The non-threat, I mean? Not if you were one of the five or more German militants in Pakistan’s border area with Afghanistan who just killed in a drone attack. They may have been linked to a group that is thought to be planning attacks on European cities so the threat got very quickly very concrete for them. Opps, I meant European cities that aren’t German, of course.

What the US broadcaster Fox News and other media are putting out to the world as allegedly concrete warnings is negligent and damaging, and the substance is ridiculous.”

Disinformation in da nation

Let me repeat: No threat here. Not in Germany. It can’t happen here. It’s verboten or something. You would have to get an official Genehmigung (authorization) first and you know how long it takes to get one of those. So stop hyperventilating and relax already.

Forget reports about possible Al Qaeda terrorist attacks planned (being planned?) for Berlin’s Central Station, the TV Tower or Hotel Adlon. That’s all a bunch of American alarmist nonsense, honest (we’re talking about a FoxNews report here, after all). Sure there are “internal measures” being undertaken here in Germany right now anyway (whatever that means), just in case, but what’s that got to do with anything?

So move along and go quietly about your business (are your eyelids getting heavy yet?) and listen to what the Onkel (uncle) Interior Minister tells you.

„Für Alarmismus besteht, jedenfalls zur Zeit, kein Anlass.“