The big news over the past few days has been al Qaeda's threats against Germany, possibly in an attempt to influence the elections. Obviously, they weren't particularly successful as Angela Merkel was recently re-elected this week.
Al Qaeda, in an attempt to dissuade the Germans from participating in Afghanistan, offered the following proclamation:
[Afghanistan is not] a beer tent to celebrate Oktoberfest in all year round."
Christ, with the 3600-man German contingent in Afghanistan consuming nearly a million pints of beer over the course of a year, it's kind of hard to tell the difference. Nevertheless, the police presence has been increased this month, particularly in Munich, where Oktoberfest is primarily celebrated. Indeed, only a dastardly organization like al Qaeda would seek to defile a holiday dedicated to drinking beer. Fortunately, there's an upside to the threats and increased police presence:
Susanne Seitz, 30, a communications manager from Munich in a black "dirndl", a traditional southern German dress, agreed: "It won't spoil the party, people are having just as good a time as they have always done."
"The police are clearly doing all they can to protect us, but if it happens, I don't think there is really very much anyone can do about it," Seitz told AFP.
"On a lighter side, police have virtually stopped fining people for being drunk on their bikes or not having their lights on while cycling, they seem to be more pre-occupied about catching the terrorists."
Ha, take that, Nanny State!
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