Germans Arrest al Qaeda Cell that was Preparing to Attack U.S. Targets UPDATED At Least Ten More Suspects Outstanding

Two Germans (both converts to Islam) and a Turk were arrested in Germany yesterday for plotting to bomb civilian and military jets while they were on the ground. The three men are said to have a "profound hatred of US citizens," and belonged to the terrorist group Islamic Jihad, which reportedly joined forces with al Qaeda in 2001 or 2002. One of the men attacked a German police officer and took his gun before being subdued.

The German authorities believe the men were planning attacks to "celebrate" the attacks of 9-11. The Germans had apparently been watching the group for several months.

Some excerpts, from The Daily Mail piece:

The force of the planned explosions would have been worse than the train bombings in Madrid and the Tube and bus attacks in London on 7 July, 2005, according to German security sources. Those attacks killed 191 and 52 people respectively.

Three men aged 22, 28 and 29 have been arrested in Germany days before they planned to strike, and bomb-making equipment and explosives have been seized.

[snip]

Federal prosecutor Monika Harms said the three suspects had bought 700kg (1,500lbs) of hydrogen peroxide to make massive bombs. She said: "We have prevented what we believe would have been the worst terror attacks ever on German soil".

She declined to name specific targets but said the suspects had an eye on institutions and establishments frequented by Americans in Germany, including discos, pubs and airports.

[snip]

"There are clear indications that at a minimum Ramstein and the Frankfurt airport were possible targets and that they would not have waited long to strike," leading conservative politician Wolfgang Bosbach told German television station N24, adding the attacks could have been timed to coincide with the anniversary of September 11.

It looks like we owe the Germans a big one. You have to wonder if these arrests and searches have anything to do with the arrests of an al Qaeda cell in Denmark yesterday, but I don't believe in coincidences. Is it possible they were waiting until 9-11 was upon us to grab all these scumbags at once?

Hot Air has several good updates.

SPIEGEL Online has a scary scenario:

It would have been an inferno. The explosive material the men had would have sufficed to make bombs with a higher explosive power that those used in the attacks in Madrid and London, according to Ziercke.

The three men had planned on mixing the explosive material so as to produce a bomb with the power of 550 kilograms (1,200 pounds) of TNT. The federal prosecutor's office ordered all three men arrested Tuesday afternoon. The police forces struck in a spontaneous raid because the men, who were already under observation, intended to begin preparing chemicals to make a bomb and to leave their hideout.

The article says that one of the men has been under surveillance since New year's Day in 2006, when he was spotted reconning a U.S. base in Hanau, Germany.

Remember that, in July, DHS Sec. Chertoff had a "feeling" we might get hit this summer. In August, al Qaeda warned of a "big surprise." There have been many reports recently that Middle Easterners are being smuggled into the U.S., that they are merging with drug cartels from Mexico and Latin America, and in April, the UK Times Online warned of a "large-scale" attack in the UK over the summer.

In May of this year, we were warned that a terrorist attack in Germany was "imminent." That particular alert was for aviation, and reported that air Marshals were "flooding" German and British flights.

This is the real thing, folks. These people are serious and they are willing to die to kill as many of us as possible. They are here, they are among us and they are planning to kill us. We are at war, whether some people think so or not. Surrendering in Iraq, leaving with the issue in doubt, not killing these where they live, instead of where we live, would be a grievous, and bloody, mistake.

We all had better remember that when it comes to vote for our next leaders.

Related posts:

• al Qaeda Cell Disrupted in Denmark
• South Carolina Terrorism Suspects Charged
• FBI Seeks Info on Suspicious Ferry Activity
• al Qaeda: 'Wait For the Big Surprise'
• Middle Easterners Being Smuggled Into the U.S.
• al-Qaeda Poised to Hit Western Targets
• Terrorist Attack in Germany 'Imminent'? UPDATED
• 'Tango' cell in New Jersey UPDATED
• al Qaeda in the news

Also posting:

• Wake up America
• Michelle Malkin
• Rounds Out!
• Right Truth

***UPDATED***: My Way News reports that there are at least ten more suspects on the loose.

Authorities believed "some 10" further suspects provided support to the two German converts and a Turkish citizen who were arrested Tuesday, August Hanning, a top security official, told the ARD broadcaster.

"This is the network that we are aware of at the moment," Hanning said, adding that authorities believe the splintered cell - which includes more converted Germans, Turks and other citizens - no longer poses a direct security threat.

The three arrested suspects had military-style detonators and enough material to make bombs more powerful than those that killed 191 people in Madrid in 2004 and 52 commuters in London two years ago, prosecutors said Wednesday.

And there is probably more than one cell out there, too. With the anniversary of 9-11 coming up, we'd better be on our toes.

Thanks Germany! And you, too, Denmark.