Germany (catch all, incl. terrorism)

[Azor]

Ah...a tad aggressive are we...

Well, your insinuation is in the realm of conspiracy theory I'm afraid. It isn't even in the same dimension as Ockham's Razor.

Amri may well be self-radicalized, which would not be unusual. Daesh takes credit for various lone wolf attacks throughout the West.

BUT...how would you know that the FSB/SVR has in fact reactivated their key Stasi former agents? That is not a truly proven and known fact outside a certain group...actually some of these former agents are active in the German neo right AfD...

It is a reasonable assumption based upon Russia’s increasing intelligence operations in the West during Putin’s tenure. Having said that, there is a major difference between a German person acting on behalf of the GDR and/or Communism, and one acting for Russia.

Over 15% of the population of the GDR informed to the StaSi at one time or another, so that would not surprise me. Yet both the GDR and FRG allowed many former National Socialists to occupy key military, political and intelligence positions. The Poles were much more thorough with their lustrationpolicy.

I would imagine that the SVR/GRU would have more luck recruiting Germans in the wake of the Iraq War, when anti-American sentiment was sweeping through Western Europe. Disapproval of one’s own side’s conduct provides fertile ground for being turned, as the Vietnam War and the crushing of the Prague Spring demonstrated.

1. Germany is the paymaster for EU and follows what the pay master leads on...and right now the pay master wins every single sanctions debate within EU

Yet there is dissent. Do you have any data on how the EU Council has voted with respect to the sanctions, and whether that vote has changed over time? At least 1/3 of the votes would be decidedly against sanctions, given the statements made by those EU members’ leaders.

2. Yes Russia has EU support including the German SPD but Merkel has been largely able to isolate the SPD in those demands but using Russia's own actions in eastern Ukraine and Syria.

Merkel and the CDU/CSU will likely be ousted by a combination of the SPD, Greens and The Left. The CSU would be open to any re-alignment that promises tough immigration and border control policies.

3. YOU have failed to notice that NATO has already triggered Article 5 ONCE...only once before ...to support the US right after 9/11...check your records...so why would not Article 5 be again triggered for a major attack on another NATO member...precedent has be already set...

Which is exactly my point. A Russian act of terror in Berlin would would be grounds for Article V. So why would Russia conduct such a risky operation?

IF they did not assistance then why has Russian unleashed a cyber and info war against Merkel...What is interesting is that in the face of all previous attacks and this one she has not taken a major hit on her popularity thus still presents a serious threat to Putin and keeping the sanctions in place...

Yet Merkel also relies upon censorship and cooperation with social media to suppress discussion and reporting on the migrant crisis. Germany’s definition of what constitutes expressions of hate has expanded over the decades well beyond that associated with National Socialism, allowing swathes of free expression to be criminalized. There are good reasons why the First Amendment is enshrined in the US Constitution, even though this freedom is abused by all types of supremacist and separatist groups.

5...stretched to the limit...not sure exactly what you mean by this...effectively by the end of Sept ALL 1.2M refugees have been biometrically handled and recorded ...security around the refugee centers is done largely by private security companies...

I mean that law enforcement is unable to protect migrants in their facilities from violence by other migrants, nor Germans from migrant violence, of which Koeln and Freiburg are examples.

Given the censorship noted above, I can only assume that statistics on ethnicity and crime in Germany are manipulated.

I know that you will have quite the response to my statements here, but I have been following this issue in Europe for many years before the recent wave of migrants, including the official disinformation on the subject. Angie may be concerned about rumor and gossip, but free press and social media would be preferable to Germans relying upon foreign sources, including British and Swedish tabloids.

If it was easier for Russia to get what it wants then why the massive spending on info warfare and the large number of cyber attacks in the last.
year?

Putin can hold a grudge for many years and revenge informs much of his aggression. But what keeps him up at night? The United States? Nope. Germany and China. Putin knows that birthrates and economic activity are more pertinent to Russian national security than tanks and submarines. As far as the AFD and NPD are concerned, they are mere sideshows, Russia’s real target is sympathetic elements of the CDU/CSU and SPD.

AGAIN back to the core issue...this attack is not your norm IS attack for a surprisingly large number of reasons...and that alone is strange...WHAT bothers me is actually the US role in this attack..if the attacker has been as NYTs reports on the US NF list for months..apparently this was not passed to the Germans...

It is not unusual as far as a Muslim supremacist terrorist act is concerned, irrespective of whether he had contact with Daesh or other groups.

Information falls through the cracks. Allegedly the Russians warned DHS or the FBI about the Tsarnaevs…

Perhaps the US shared the information and it was lost by the Europeans or Germans. If the Americans didn’t, there may be valid reasons. At present there is no “US role”.

German surveillance did in fact pickup his plans to either commit a robbery and or sell drugs in order to get money for a weapon and or weapons...that led then to the twice 90 day surveillance which resulted on no evidence that could convict him of anything...

So the BND had no mandate to surveil a non-citizen beyond 90 days? At this point, it appears as though the Germans dropped the ball on this one, despite their proficiency compared to the French. GSG-9 can tear-ass around Germany all they want. It won’t bring back any of the dead. And why were there no vehicle barriers?