NEW AMERICAN TRUTH: October 2007

The German Lesson 2007
Carl Hospedales

September 4th, 2007, Europe; Germany

Just after 1400 CET (Central European Time) on Sept 4th, 2007, 3 Islamic terrorist, Fritz Gelowicz (28) Cell Leader, Adem Yilmaz (28) and Daniel M. Schneider (22) were arrested by GSG9, Counter Terrorist Unit, in Oberschlendorn, north of Frankfurt. This German terrorist cell is part of the Islamic Jihad Union, a radical Sunni group based in Central Asia that split from the extremist Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. GSG9 or “Grenzschutzgruppe 9” translated into English “Border Marksmen Group 9” now part of the Bundespolizei (German Federal Police) since 2005 known now as just GSG9. This Counter Terrorist Unit was born from the ashes of the Munich Olympic Disaster in 1972 and established in April of the following year 1973, with the assistance of the British SAS (Special Air Service) and the Israeli Sayeret Matkal (General Staff Reconnaissance Unit). GSG9 are Headquartered north east of Bonn at St Augustin in Nord Rhine-Westphalia. The Group has 3 main Units, 1; Counter Terrorist, 2; Maritime Operations and 3; Aviation Operations, with an additional HQ and Operations Support and Training units. Further information is available from www.bundespolizei.de and www.gsg9.de.

The spectre of home grown terrorist raised its ugly head, as 2 of this group were German nationals, born and raised and the third member a Turkish national, raised in Germany with German Residency Status. This cell was arrested in the final stages of planning and preparing attacks on US military assets in the Frankfurt area, centred on the Ramstien Airbase, with 1500 lbs of Hydrogen Peroxide based explosives. The target selection was of symbolic significance as the Air Base is not only home to US military personnel based in Germany but, it’s also the junction point for US troop deploying and returning from both Iraq and Afghanistan. Fortunately, the terrorist cell popped up on the security-intelligence radar, and was flagged, when they conducted reconnaissance on potential targets, in December 2006. In February 2007 GSG9 and the German Intelligence Service started target (Terrorist Cell) surveillance, which became the largest Counter Terrorist covert operation in German history, with up to 40 targets. This long term operation gave the German Intelligence Service the opportunity to discover the extent of this terrorist network. The cell had managed to accumulate 12 barrels of Hydrogen Peroxide, which they planned to utilize in 3 vehicular bombs.

The decision to end the covert operation was due to the Terrorist Cell discovering they where on a government watch list, during a routine police traffic stop, for driving with their high beams on, the OPSEC (Operational Security) had been compromised, apparently due to poor COMSEC (Communications Security), by the Traffic Police Officer conducting the traffic Stop, thereby forcing GSG9 to move in and arrest the terrorist cell.

The idea of German and Turkish Islamic terrorist at first glance, looks and sounds odd, to say the least, especially to the Germans, who were feeling comfortable with the Turkish Muslim community and were against involvement with the Iraq military Operation, but are active in the Afghanistan Operation. If you look at the recent history of Germany, in the 1980’s before the reunification of East & West Germany, you could have seen this coming, with the influx of Turkish Muslims this was seen as one of the possible futures for Western Germany; they say hind sight is 20/20. The immigration of such a large number of Turkish Muslims, caused concern, to some within the German federal government of the day. In the 1980’s there was a very large immigration of Turkish Muslims into Germany and from other Muslim countries. So the government of the day conducted a survey, the out come of which, showed that at the then current rate of immigration of Turkish-Middle Eastern immigrant the next generation of government personnel including elected official would be of Turkish-Middle Eastern Muslim descent. This however become null and void after the reunification of East and West Germany in the late 1980’s, never the less the seed of Islamic religion & culture had fertile ground to germinate and grow in Germany. Currently there are 2.7 Million people of Turkish descent with 900,000 being German citizens. This discovery of the Terrorist cell has sent shock waves through both communities, but some Turkish community leaders aren’t totally surprised because they are seeing signs of a growing militant Muslim youth being woed by radical Islam from various media sources and groups. An example of which is the terrorist cell leader, this home grown German Terrorist, 28 year old Fritz Gelowicz, born and raised near Munich, came from a middle class family, his mother was a doctor and father an engineer. Following the break up of his parent’s marriage at the age of 18, he converted to Islam and changed his name to Abdullah. He was drawn to radical Islam through visiting a Multi-Cultural Centre in Neu Ulm. From there he visited Pakistan where he received training at the camps in the Waziristan area and meet up with Adem Yilmaz.

So what ramifications does this have for us in North America, if you think about it, a great deal…? The camp in Waziristan area where these terrorist received their training, boasts that its recruits come from the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada and the US. As young, idealistic, lost souls, disenfranchised, societies outcasts, misfits and the lonely, looking for a place in the world, looking to have a sense of belonging, it’s a natural human trait. For both Fritz Gelowicz and Daniel Schneider, the Islamic faith was there for them at their time of need.

The Islamic faith welcomes new converts with open arms, and with that the new converts drive to belong and establish themselves to their new faith, leading them right to the open arms of the Islamic radicals and its alternative militant interpretation of the Islamic religion. From there, it is just a, hop, skip and jump to the world of Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism, justifying the suffering and death in the name of religious ideology.

Any of this sound familiar… the modus operandi of street gangs, prison gangs, pseudo religious cults etc… A point of note within the US prison population this is fast becoming one of the largest recruiting grounds to the Muslim faith, what better recruiting ground, a captive audience, societies disenfranchised, the outcasts, misfits and lonely, with lots of spare time on their hands, especially noticed within the Afro-American population. It is well known that the Al Qaida franchises are actively looking for westerner to recruit, as it easier for these people to travel, through western countries. From personal experience, during the Bosnian conflict in the 1990’s, Bosnian Muslim fighter were made up of local Bosnian Muslims and combat hardened veterans of the Mujahideen from the Afghan war with the former Soviet Union, Hezbollah and Hamas, this force were some of the most effective combatants I saw during that conflict, an example of which was the Muslim 9 Brigade. There were many times it was very difficult to visually differentiate between Bosnian Muslims from any of the other warring combatants, such as Serbians and Croatians until you saw their unit patch insignia. This was due to the country being ethnically diverse. An ideal source for Muslim recruits with a western appearance. After the end of the Bosnian conflict those foreign Muslim fighters (Mujahideen/Hezbollah/Hamas) who stayed in Bosnia and attained Bosnian citizenship, now live all over Bosnia with the bulk living around Zenica and Brcko.

This is further evidence, if further evidence is needed, that the Terrorist threat is a true global problem and any incident that takes place, regardless of its geographical location should be analysed and the results acted upon. To marginalize these events, because it took place in another country, thousands of miles away should not be lightly dismissed. So gentle readers I hope this has given you something to think about and consider in your future Counter Terrorism Analysis and Threat Assessments.

Stay Safe

“Being unprepared will bring about Defeat”
SunTzu
6th Century BC

About The Author:
Born in London, England Carl Hospedales moved to Canada in September 2001 after retirement from a 22 year career with the British Armed Forces where he gained his training and experience. He now writes and provides lectures and training to US & Canadian Law Enforcement and Security Professionals. Currently as a Consultant, he sits on the Executive Board of the Michigan Tactical Officers Association as the Training Director. His lectures provide Protective Security, training, management and design & analysis in: Firearms, Less-Lethal weapons, Anti-Terrorism, Executive Protection, Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and Risk Analysis. Within Aviation provide management, design & analysis in: Air Operations both fix wing and rotary, Aviation Safety & Security, Emergency Response and Electronic Communications. He also writes for International Police Services and Security agencies on Terrorism, Close Protection, Firearms, Body Armour, Helicopter Operations and WMD.

He is a member of the following Associations:
International Counter Terrorism Officers Association
International Association for Counterterrorism & Security Professionals
International Law Enforcement Educators & Trainers
National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians
International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors
American Society for Industrial Security International
Associate Member Royal Aeronautical Society

He will be lecturing at the West Coast Bi-Coastal Counter Terrorism Summit at San Diego State University November 5th-9th 2007. To sign up for the Counter Terrorism Summit visit www.thehalocorp.com.