...Coming from a country, that has both experienced the reality of War and the reality of Terrorism (in the 70s), I have for a long time tried to understand, what can cause explosions of violence and what this means for a country and for its people.

Not that I ever found the ultimative answer. But a few things I learned: Our democratic basic rules are a high value. Amongst other things, they also protect our basic civil rights. As long, as a country follows this, their own basic rules (in Germany put into the "Grundgesetz" = constitutional law), the country functions.

It struck me as very remarkable, that at the beginning of the persecution ot the German citizens of Jewish religion under Hitler stood the denying of their civil rights. I saw only recently in a deeply touching exhibition the letters and official formulars, that put away from these Germans the German citizenship. Hitler-Germany started to leave the "democratic sector" and did go it's full way into a dictatorship...

 

...The German Terrorists of the 70s now accused the Government of the "BRD" (= Bundesrepublik Deutschland/Federal Republic of Germany) of exactly that: Being a dictatorship that is colored on the outside as a democracy. And it was their reason for declaring war to the German society. They argued, that at the moment, when the leading politicians are themselves endangered, they would react dictatoric and would so show their real, ugly face. That was the reason for the assassination or kidnapping of political and economical leaders of Germany.

For an agonizingly long time (well, it seemed long then, even if it was "only" a few weeks) at the height of the Terror in 1977, during the so called "Schleyer-Entführung" (Kidnapping of Schleyer) democratic Germany was in our opinion really in danger. The responsible Politicians could have given in to the demands of the kidnappers, or they could have simply stroke back with all military and police-force, no matter what the laws say. Both would have been desastrous - no country can let itself be blackmailed by criminals. The country would loose it's ability to rule itself. And no (democratic) country can - without severe damage - leave the frame of rules, it gave itself. That would indeed lead to: no rules, no right, no law - dictatorship.

It is - in my opinion - one of the great successes of the Government of Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, that they didn't give in to the demands of the Terrorists of the "RAF" (= Rote Armee Fraktion) and also, that they followed the Terrorists within the given possibilities of the law, brought them down and prosecuted them before an orderly, German court of law. Actually, there was a certain understanding for the aims of the "RAF" before they started to kill people. Then, this changed dramatically. The so called "ordinary" people can, imo, very well discern between a democratic demand and a criminal deed. Germany as a democratic state came out of the whole stronger than it was before - and that was the opposite, of what the Terrorists wanted.

In the light of these experiences, I hope, that the strong country America shows its strength and that of its people, in following the path of it's own constitution. America must - and I feel certain will - answer with all possible force to this war-declaration. And that is not revenge, but a duty. Revenge would be, to beat or kill American citizens or other countries citizens of Islamic religion, because of their religion.

 

rg 12. September 2001