The gruesome Berlin terror attack that saw 12 people killed and 48 others injured when a truck rammed through a crowded Christmas market on December 19 could have been avoided. Now, it can be confirmed, the deplorable terror attack was not only the result of failed immigration policies but also of security negligence by the German government. Morocco has twice warned Germany of the dangers of asylum seeker and terror act culprit Anis Amri but apparently the authorities did not pay attention to the intelligence information and security warning.
A Morocco official revealed in an interview with the Daily Sabah Europe on condition of anonymity that his government had sent correspondences to German authorities on September 19 and October 11 warning them about Tunisian Amri's desire to carry out a terrorist act given his extremist leanings.
Responsibility for the Berlin Christmas market terror attack was quickly claimed by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, ISIL and Daesh who called the truck driver as " a soldier" who had responded to the call to wage attacks against countries fighting the extremist group. German authorities launched a Europe-wide manhunt for the suspect Amri, who was killed only a few days after the Berlin attack in a shoot-out with Italian police officers in Milan.
There had been various red flags on Amri before the terror attack from notorious prison records including attempts to trigger insurrections to using various fake names and nationalities on his travels around Europe. And now comes this huge but not surprising revelation from a Moroccan official. This new disclosure simply adds to the growing belief that Germany has failed in protecting its citizens through intelligence and security lapses. Even prior to the killing of Amri, opposition and anti-immigration groups in Germany have squarely put the blame for the Berlin terror attack on German Chancellor Angela Merkel, even saying that she got " blood on her hands".
German authorities have announced recently that with the killing of terrorist Anis, they are now focusing their investigations into his possible accomplices in carrying out the crime. But it will become more difficult for German authorities now led by Merkel to justify not only their open borders policy that allowed the likes of Anis to get inside the country, but also how they could have not paid attention to such a stern and helpful warning that could have saved the lives of a dozen people and 48 others from injury, and the entire country, as well as the world, from the grief and trauma of a terror attack.
