Germany woke from its dream of Islamic terrorist immunity when police recently uncovered a failed plot to ignite explosives on two German trains.

The plot began to be exposed after a search of an unattended suitcase at a train station in Dortmund on July 31 revealed explosive devices. German authorities issued a notice to search all unclaimed suitcases at rail stations, which led to the discovery of a second suitcase of explosives in a train in Koblenz. Fears of an Islamic terrorist plot were confirmed when videotape from the stations led to the capture of two men in August, one of whom had fled to his native Lebanon.

The plot failed because of a technical glitch in the bombs, not from any star performance of security agencies. Their lucky break is making German officials reevaluate how secure their nation is.

The terrorists have “blow[n] away any lingering illusions that Germany is an island not on terrorists’ maps,” said Margret Johannsen, a senior research fellow at Hamburg University’s Institute for Peace and Security Policy. “We need to wake up and make a political contribution in the war on terror” (Bloomberg, August 25).

These plots on German targets bely the widely held view that the war in Iraq is the cause of Islamist terror. Germany has not supported the U.S.-led Iraq war. Terrorist groups are merely using Iraq as a smokescreen and playing off the general antiwar nature of Western liberals. But the fact is, they do not seek a specific set of political concessions. Their actions prove they are waging a general war intended to bring all non-Muslims to heel.

Many Germans are coming to realize they can’t wish the terrorist threat away any longer. Germany is being forced to face the reality that as a prominent, largely Catholic, nation of the West, it is a target.

This latest attempted terrorist attack on home soil will provide added impetus to measures already underway in Germany to deal with the growing threat. It will likely give lawmakers grounds to push through stricter anti-terrorism laws than would otherwise be possible.

Toward this end, the German parliament is debating plans to increase video surveillance in public areas and to create an anti-terror database accessible to police and intelligence agencies. Earlier this year, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a controversial citizenship quiz proposed for one German state to become law nationwide (Daily Mail, March 21). More recently, Germany’s interior minister proposed a constitutional amendment that would allow security forces to shoot down hijacked airliners (cbs News, August 16).

By all indications, the threat of terrorism in Germany will only grow. We can expect this gathering problem to stir up many of the same insecurities Germans felt prior to World War ii. The measured steps Germany has taken to address the threat are sure to become more forceful as the threat grows more menacing.

Germany got lucky with the most recent terrorist plot, but it is only a matter of time before some creative terrorists pull off an attack. When that happens, how will Germany respond? The last time Germany felt threatened by a race of people and started amending its constitution, a horrific war ensued. Sometime soon, we can expect to witness a steep learning curve as Germany realizes the only way to stop terrorism is to go after the cause.

The Bible speaks of a future time when Germany will no longer put up with terrorist intimidations. Germany will stop debating political solutions and will deliver a death blow to radical Islam. This prophecy is explained in our free booklet The King of the South. A look at the Second World War provides a peek at what we can expect in the time just ahead.