Germans bust terrorists without killing thousands

By Libby

I'm sure you've heard about the three young guys who were arrested for terrorism in Germany over what appears to be an actual serious plot to do some major damage. Everybody and their brother is weighing in so I'm not going to add much commentary.

Needless to say, the usual wingnuts are in a piss-soaked pants frenzy over it and think this is proof positive that Bush deserves more imperial powers to fight those evildoers who are going to cut off our heads and make us wear burquas but Sully reflects my thinking and puts it more eloquently, so I'll just quote him.

Congrats to the Germans. Some obvious points: these men are educated, two of three are German nationals, all seem to have been trained not in Iraq, Iran or Afghanistan, but in Pakistan, a putative ally. It is hard to see how the Iraq war - whether a failure or a success - would have any impact on this tiny cell's attempt at mass murder in the name of God. This is simply the religious violence we have to contend with for the indefinite future. All we can do is what the Germans did: keep up surveillance (with protections against abuse), and run as many to ground as we can.

Meanwhile, Steve Benen hones in on the other obvious point. The Germans busted this ring up with good law enforcement and superior intelligence work and without putting their entire citizenry under secret surveillance I might add.

Steve further collects the links to the historical references and notes that the law enforcement approach that was so effective for the Germans is exactly what Kerry was suggesting in 04, to much derision from Bush and his war profiteering cronies.

I know wishing for what could have been is a fruitless exercise, but I can't help but think that if more people had wised up sooner and Kerry had been elected, we'd be looking at far different world today.