A Shameful Display

Fire of Liberty

The Wall Street Journal has a good editorial in Friday's paper which points out that the German government has disappointed the US once again on the War on Terror front by granting the release of terrorist Mohammed Ali Hamdia some 19 years after he was convicted to a life sentence for the 1986 hijacking of TWA Flight 847 and the subsequent murder of US Naval Petty Officer Robert Dean Stethem. Even while our soldiers are diligently fighting the terrorists in Afghanistan and throughout the streets of Iraq, we have the courts and parole system in Germany releasing some of the most horrific murderers of the planet thus sending a message to the terrorists that Germany is indeed a week wing of the coalition when it comes to holding terrorists responsible for their heinous deeds. I'd say that the WSJ summed up the horrific state of affairs in Germany when it comes to terrorism when they noted:

But the word "murder" doesn't adequately describe what Hamadi and his crew did to Stethem. "They singled him out because he was American and a soldier," said one eyewitness. "They dragged him out of his seat, tied his hands and then beat him up. . . . They kicked him in the face and knee caps and kept kicking him until they had broken all his ribs. Then they tried to knock him out with the butt of a pistol -- they kept hitting him over the head but he was very strong and they couldn't knock him out. . . . Later, they dragged him away and I believe shot him."

In 1987, Hamadi was detained at Frankfurt airport when customs officials found liquid explosives in his luggage. A U.S. extradition request was denied on grounds that he was liable for the death penalty. Instead, Germany meted out its toughest sentence: Life in prison. But as one German official acknowledged to us, there is no such thing as life imprisonment in Germany. The country's Constitutional Court requires prison officers to review life cases after 15 years and seek reasons for early release, including good behavior and expressions of remorse. Whether Hamadi has expressed remorse the official could not say.

Today there is a U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer named for Robbie Stethem. We salute the sailors who put their lives at risk for our liberties. As for our ally Germany, we trust that in the war on terror it has kept a clean conscience.

I just hope this is not a preview of what is to come out of Germany when it comes to fighting terrorism. When you start demonstrating time after time your softness towards terrorism, the terrorists will start taking you serious and won't be afraid to take you on in a more forceful manner like that of September 11.