Al Qaeda targets Germany

Der Spiegel:

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German intelligence agencies believe al-Qaida is planning attacks on Germans abroad and possibly in Germany ahead of the September 27 general election as revenge for Germany's military mission in Afghanistan and to put pressure on Berlin to withdraw its forces, SPIEGEL has learned.

The assessment is based on a warning by the US government that the leadership of al-Qaida in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan has decided to attack Germany, and that the North African branch of al-Qaida -- al-Qaida of the Islamic Maghreb -- has been tasked with carrying it out. Germany's domestic intelligence agency (the Office for the Protection of the Constitution) and the BKA Federal Criminal Police Office believe that German company offices in Algeria and German citizens across North Africa are especially at risk.

But authorities are also warning about possible attacks on German soil. The BKA has sent an updated risk assessment to all regional authorities in Germany. The Germans regard Al-Qaida of the Islamic Maghreb as particularly dangerous because it consists mainly of Tunisians and Algerians who have manifold contacts throughout Western Europe. But it's unclear how well organized the group is outside North Africa.

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They are organized enough and ruthless enough to engage in the mass murder for Allah business of al Qaeda. The Germans have been something of a wuss in their commitment in Afghan which makes them a potential target in much the same way Spain invited attacks with their socialist arguing against the liberation of Iraq.