Judge Ottmar Breidling becomes yet another in a long line of non-Muslim judges to take it upon themselves to lecture jihadis about the true nature of Islam and jihad. The arrogance and presumption is astounding, and one wonders also whether Breidling has ever wondered where this “strange, hate-filled notion of jihad” came from, and why so many Muslims seem to adhere to it. “German court jails Islamists for foiled U.S. attacks,” by Matthias Inverardi for Reuters, March 4:
DUESSELDORF, Germany (Reuters) – Four Islamist militants who admitted planning “a monstrous bloodbath” with foiled car bomb attacks on U.S. targets in Germany were convicted on Thursday of conspiracy to murder.
A court in the city of Duesseldorf also convicted the men of belonging to a foreign terrorist organization, and sentenced them to between five and 12 years in jail for the plot in September 2007.
The three Germans and one Turk were in at an advanced stage of planning to use three car bombs with 250 kg of explosives each to attack U.S. targets in Germany to kill hundreds of people. They were known as the “Sauerland group” after the area of western Germany where they were caught….
“You were planning a monstrous bloodbath that would have killed an unfathomable number of people,” said Judge Ottmar Breidling at the conclusion of the 10-month trial. Their goal was to kill at least 150 American soldiers stationed in Germany, he added.
“Never before had there been a terror attack of that dimension in Germany,” Breidling said. “You were blinded by a strange, hate-filled notion of jihad and you turned yourselves into angels of death in the name of Islam.”
The four wanted to time their car bomb attacks to coincide with a vote in parliament on whether Germany should extend its military presence in Afghanistan. They wanted to influence public opinion in Germany against the Afghan mission. Breidling sentenced the group’s ringleader Fritz Gelowicz to 12 years in jail. He also handed Daniel Schneider a 12-year sentence because he fired at a police officer during an escape attempt. Both were converts to Islam.
And Misunderstanders of their new, peaceful faith!
The court also sentenced Adem Yilmaz, a Turkish citizen, to 11 years and Atilla Selek, a German citizen of Turkish origin, to five years. Prosecutors sought terms of 5-1/2 to 13 years.
All four, who were members of the radical Islamic Jihad Union, reacted without any visible emotion to the verdict.
The four had identified discos and airports, even the U.S. Ramstein air base, as possible targets. They had faced a maximum of 15 years in jail. Confessions and their cooperation with prosecutors reduced their prison sentences, the judge said….