The Red Army Faction and Al Qaeda are comparable neither in tactics, nor in ideology. In Time’s ‘Red Ghosts’, however, the two are put on par as regards their effect on civil liberties; a comparison that is just as fallacious.

There is an undeniable non sequitur in author Purvis’ conclusion; he states that the prevention of terrorism is “morally complex”, but that the best way to fight it is to let the law take its course.
I would agree that the best way to fight crime like terrorist acts is through due process of the law. That the prevention of terrorism is politically complex is true, but that it is morally so, is nonsense.

The extreme measures undertaken by West German police dealing with the RAF in the 1970’s contextualise current American hysteria in the war on terror. However, the article neglects to show how the benefit of this experience condemns Germany for not standing up for its citizens.

Most young Germans oppose both the early release of the RAF’s surviving leaders, and the tolerance of terror flights in German airspace. Mr Purvis should focus, not on the legally dogmatic German youth, but on the members of the Bundestag who are far too ready to accommodate both the RAF and the Bush administration.