(8 of 11)
There is no simple or definitive answer as to why West Germany has become such a fertile breeding ground for urban terrorists. Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, speaking of terrorism generally to a group of European industrialists and TIME editors, correspondents and executives last week, suggested as a cause the loss of a sense of relevance by today's youth, combined with a loss of authority by democratic governments since the early postwar years. Many West German observers believe that the 1968 generation of student protesters developed an idealistic hatred of their country's sleek materialism during the "economic miracle." For many, this was a first step toward radicalism. Beyond that, Frankfurt University Political Scientist Irving Fetscher argues, young middle class German rebels were "spoiled by the rapidity of change in a technological world and by a permissive education that created revolutionary impatience." Perhaps so—but the theorists leave unanswered the question of why only a tiny minority of students make the crucial transition of character from intellectual dissenter to murderer. Some senior U.S. intelligence officials maintain that international terrorist forces, spurred by the Kremlin, have been concentrating on West Germany in an attempt to disrupt its government and undermine its citizens' confidence in democracy.
The constraints and balances of West German democracy make it unusually easy for terrorists to operate freely. With memories of the Nazi past still fresh, Bonn is reluctant to increase its police powers, fearing an outraged reaction at home and abroad. Other Europeans understandably remain very apprehensive about the re-emergence of the "bad German." The Federal Republic, moreover, has only limited authority over most police matters. Reason: the country's postwar constitution deliberately created West Germany as a relatively loose federation of states, to prevent a recurrence of Hitler's oppressive centralization. West Germany's decentralization also hinders coordinating intelligence reports on suspected terrorists.
Exploiting West Germany's permissive judicial system, accused terrorists and their lawyers have disrupted court proceedings and have even planned new acts of terror from inside their prison cells. Some 70 radical lawyers are suspected of aiding terrorists. Most celebrated may be Klaus Croissant, 47, Baader's attorney, who is believed to have carried messages from gang members inside prison to those outside. Arrested last July, Croissant jumped bail and fled to France, where, after nearly three months underground, he was caught by police in late September. He now faces possible extradition to West Germany.