A letter writer from Ramstein, Germany, casts shame on Stars and Stripes for a front-page article that ran June 21 [in her edition]. The article quoted an Air Force report as saying that most military bases in Europe that store nuclear weapons do not meet Defense Department security rules. "That kind of information in the hands of the wrong people could result in a catastrophic incident," wrote Betty Schultz.
The article, by Scott Schonauer, did not go into detail on which bases were found to be deficient, and to what degree, but it did quote the report as saying that at some bases buildings, fencing, lighting and security systems needed repair. Public affairs offices for the Air Force and the DOD declined comment when Schonauer and later, I, asked.
I do not want to seem to dismiss Schultz’s complaint too glibly. As she noted at the end of her letter, it may be true that "terrorists read Stars and Stripes." But they surely read a lot more. The basis for the Stripes story was an easily available report on the Internet, and articles also appeared in Time magazine, the AFP and AP news services, and various media outlets in Germany and Belgium.
Furthermore, the internal Air Force report was released to the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) as the result of a Freedom of Information Act request. It was only slightly redacted. So the Air Force apparently did not think putting the report in the public domain was dangerous.
Schultz also objected to the fact that it was a "blog" entry that led to the Stripes story. But the author, Hans Kristensen, is a director for FAS and the blog was part of the organization’s official Web site.
Schultz’s concern is not totally misplaced. News organizations must weigh the benefit to the public of publishing a sensitive article against any harm that might be caused to the country. The nature of the information, its status as classified or not, and whether some or all of it is already public, all go into the decision whether to publish. Regarding this particular article, I do not see a reason for withholding publication. Readers’ opinions, pro or con, are welcome.
Water, water, everywhere …
A point of friction between the media and officials, any officials, often concerns when and how potential dangers to human health should be made public. The media invariably wants to get the word out fast, citing the public’s right to know. Unless there is imminent danger, officials tend to go slower, citing a need for facts to confirm a threat.
Stripes and the Navy in Naples, Italy, butted heads recently over just such a scenario. Reporter Lisa M. Novak wrote several articles in June about testing the Navy had done on water in servicemembers’ homes. There was fear of contamination owing to notoriously bad health conditions in Naples. Uncollected garbage was believed to be the biggest problem.
Rear Adm. David Mercer, Commander Navy Region Europe, wrote to Stripes, charging that the paper had "selectively misrepresented and combined facts to produce sensationalized and inaccurate articles that do not serve the community, challenge the integrity of those responsible for our families’ safety and impede our health evaluation efforts."
The admiral’s letter did not contain specifics, but Capt. Bruce Anderson, deputy commander, Navy Region Europe, provided some. He said Novak correctly reported that an unacceptable level of a solvent concentration, tetrachloroethene, was found in the water of one home, but she made an unnecessarily big deal over another test that showed an elevated but not necessarily dangerous level of arsenic in the home. (He earlier had complained that a Stripes headline erroneously said the family had been "forced" out of the home by the testing, whereas they had asked voluntarily to be moved. The editors corrected that headline.) Anderson also said one story made it seem the Navy was unduly holding back information when in fact it was waiting for a final evaluation of the findings.
Novak said the Navy didn’t even release arsenic findings until after her story appeared. A later story said that according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s guidelines on Risk-Based Concentrations (RBC), the arsenic levels were enough to indicate "a potential health concern." At the same time, though, the story did not state that the levels did not reach a more serious marker — the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL). That information would have been helpful. For its part, the Navy said the arsenic levels were consistent with naturally occurring levels in volcanic areas and posed no imminent danger. I think that would have been helpful information for the public as well.
A June 13 article reported that the Navy said it would release the findings in that week, but changed its mind. The article and its headline said the results were "being withheld." While literally correct, the impression was that the officials were purposely concealing something. A civilian employee was quoted as deploring the delay.
The Navy says it had to wait for an official risk assessment report to come from the service’s health center in Virginia. That sounds reasonable. But something apparently got lost in translation. In a subsequent story, Novak wrote that she never got a response to questions including who authorized the delay in reporting, and whether there was cause for concern for any of the residents whose homes were tested. Anderson said Novak’s deadline for the information was unrealistic.
And so it goes. In cases like this, the fact that both sides have the public’s interest at heart doesn’t necessarily translate into a common message to the people.
Readers' CornerColumn: Did a Stripes article help ‘the wrong peo
I am the proud father of Ms Schultz and ever since she was 18, she has worked for the military and various contractors in Germany.
My function was computer support for the USEUCOM-J2, USAF-INT and ODCSINT (AEAGB-SA) intelligence communities. I spent time in Germany from Oct 1969 – July 1973, July 1977 – July 1982 and March 1984 – Oct 1995 I was there when the Bader-Meinhof group placed bombs in strategic places in Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Heidelberg and Ramstein (and others).
I wouldn’t be writing this account if I had been where I was supposed to be on 24 May 1972. -- On Campbell Barracks looking at Capt Bonner’s new European Ford Capri. I was detained in Stuttgart by my Navy Lt in Stuttgart as her Opel cadet had developed a leaky water pump and I was asked to replace it (which I did).
I was going to apologize to Capt Bonner for missing my appointment and the 6 hours we had reserved on the HDB Computer to work a joint USEUCOM-USAREUR mapping project. I never had that opportunity. He was divided into 3 major pieces by the explosion in a plain ford sedan which was supposed to blow up the Cols office and the Col. as well. As the bomb went off around 6PM, all of the day workers (including the Colonel) had left for home. Capt Bonner parked his new car in the colonels parking place for the operators on duty to come out and view it without losing sight and control of the computer room. Only the programmers and computer operators working the swing shift were there. If you want more info, just look it up in the paper – S&S wrote it!
Arabs aren’t the only threat, most are “peace loving” people who just want to rid the world of all infidels as directed by their prophet.
(PBUH)
One thing I am certain of is that the “bad guys” both on and off the military places with storage capabilities have been looking since the recent “alert” was printed in the S&S. The “good guys” (black suits) have been (or soon will be) checking each and every possible location for the noted flaws and this will most certainly be used by the “bad guys” to update their maps and GPS the here-to-fore non-disclosed storage areas.
Following is a small portion of activities of the Baader-Meinhof group or as it likes to call itself “Red Army Faction”
Please take a bit more care in what you release.
For fun just look at the non-appropriated funds developed by the NCO club and you will see why the Ramstein AB has a wonderful Officers club as well as a beautiful Golf course. I have no ax to grind either way, but at least release of that kind of information won’t get anybody killed.
D Broaddus-Leininger, GS15e Ret 1996
22 October 1971
Hamburg
Police officer murdered RAF members Irmgard Möller and Gerhard Müller attempted to rescue Margrit Schiller who was being arrested by the police by engaging in a shootout [19]. Police sergeant Heinz Lemke was shot in the foot, while Sergeant Norbert Schmid, 33, was killed, becoming the first murder to be attributed to the RAF [20].
11 May 1972
Frankfurt am Main
Bombing of US barracks US Officer Paul A. Bloomquist dead, 13 wounded
12 May 1972
Augsburg and Munich
Bombing of a police station in Augsburg and the Bavarian State Criminal Investigations Agency in Munich 5 police-officers wounded. Claimed by the Tommy Weissbecker Commando.
16 May 1972
Karlsruhe
Bombing of the car of the Federal Judge Buddenberg His wife was driving the car and was wounded. Claimed by the Manfred Grashof commando.
19 May 1972
Hamburg
Bombing of the Axel Springer Verlag 17 wounded. Ilse Stachowiak was involved in the bombing.
24 May 1972 18:10CET
Heidelberg
Bombing outside of Officers Club followed by a second bomb moments later in front of Army Security Agency (ASA), U.S. Army in Europe (HQ USAREUR) at Campbell Barracks. Known involved RAF members: Irmgard Möller and Angela Luther, Andreas Baader (rip), Ulrike Meinhof (rip), Gudrun Ensslin (rip), Holger Meins, Jan-Carl Raspe. 3 dead (Ronald A. Woodward, Charles L. Peck and Captain Clyde R. Bonner), 5 wounded. Claimed by the 15 July Commando (in honor of Petra Schelm). Executed by Irmgard Moeller.
24 April 1975
Stockholm
West German embassy siege, murder of Andreas von Mirbach and Dr. Heinz Hillegaart 4 dead, of whom 2 were RAF members
4 January 1977
Giessen
Attack against US 42nd Field Artillery Brigade at Gießen. In a failed attack against the Gießen army base, the RAF sought to capture or destroy nuclear weapons present.[21] A diversionary bomb attack on a fuel tank failed to fully ignite the fuel, and the assault on the armory was then repulsed, with several RAF members killed in the ensuing firefight. The presence of U.S. warheads on German soil was classified and officially denied at the time, and the incident received little publicity. General William Burns, who commanded the base in 1977, detailed the attack in a 1996 interview.[22]
7 April 1977
Karlsruhe
Assassination of the federal prosecutor-general Siegfried Buback
The driver and another passenger were also killed. Claimed by the Ulrike Meinhof Commando. This murder case was brought up again after the 30 year commemoration in April 2007 when information from former RAF member Peter-Jürgen Boock surfaced in media reports.
30 July 1977
Oberursel (Taunus) The director of Dresdner Bank, Jürgen Ponto, is shot in his home during an attempted kidnapping.
1977 Palma de Mallorca resp. Mogadishu, Somalia
Landshut (hijacking), Lufthansa aircraft that was hijacked as part of the events in the German Autumn of 1977. 3 hijackers killed, hijacking was ended by German GSG 9 commandos in an operation called Operation Feuerzauber
18 October 1977
Cologne resp.
Mulhouse
Hanns-Martin Schleyer, chairman of the German Employers' Organization, is kidnapped and later shot 3 police-officers and the driver are killed during the kidnapping
22 September 1977
Utrecht The Netherlands
Shooting in a bar Arie Kranenburg (46), Dutch policeman
June 25, 1979
Mons, Belgium
Alexander Haig, Supreme Allied Commander of NATO escapes an assassination attempt
August 31, 1981
Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Large car bomb explodes in the parking lot of Ramstein Air Base
September 15, 1981
Heidelberg
Unsuccessful rocket propelled grenade attack against the car carrying the US Army's West German Commander Frederick J. Kroesen. Known involved RAF members: Brigitte Mohnhaupt, Christian Klar.
December 18, 1984
Oberammergau, West Germany
Unsuccessful attempt to bomb a School for NATO officers. The car bomb was discovered and defused. A total of ten incidents followed over the next month, against US, British, and French targets.[23]
August 8, 1985
Rhein-Main Air Base (near Frankfurt)
A Volkswagen Mini-Bus exploded in the parking lot across from the base commander's building. Two people are killed: Airman First Class Frank Scarton and Becky Bristol, a U.S. civilian employee who also was the spouse of a U.S. Air Force enlisted man. A granite monument marks the spot where they died. Twenty people are injured. Army Spec. Edward Pimental was kidnapped and killed the night before for his military ID card which was used to gain access to the base. The French terrorist organization Action Directe is suspected to have collaborated with the RAF on this attack. Birgit Hogefeld and Eva Haule have been convicted for their involvement in this event.
9 July 1986
Straßlach (near Munich)
Shooting of Siemens-manager Karl Heinz Beckurts and driver Eckhard Groppler
30 November 1989
Bad Homburg v. d. Höhe
Bombing of the car carrying the chairman of Deutsche Bank Alfred Herrhausen
The case remained open for a long time, as the delicate method employed baffled the German prosecutors, as it could not come from guerillas like the RAF. Also, all suspects of the RAF were not charged due to alibis. However, The case is receiving new light in late 2007 by the German authorities that Stasi, the East German secret police, played a role in the assassination of Mr. Herrhausen, as the bombing method was the exactly the same one that had been developed by the Stasis.
1 April 1991
Düsseldorf
Assassination of Detlev Karsten Rohwedder, at his house in Düsseldorf
As the chief of the Treuhandanstalt, a powerful trust that controlled most state-owned assets in the former East Germany, Mr. Rohwedder was in charge of privatizing the assets of the former German Democratic Republic.
27 March 1993
Weiterstadt
Attacks with explosives at the construction site of a new prison Led to a shoot-out three months later at a train station, between two RAF members, and law enforcement. RAF member Wolfgang Grams and a GSG 9 officer, Michael Newrzella, were killed. Birgit Hogefeld was arrested. Damage 123 million DM (over 50 million euro)
And on and on it goes!
Huh. I've been looking
Huh. I've been looking everywhere for this article. This proves exactly how the lack of communication can lead to serious problems. One would imagine that working with nuclear materials means that everything is in order and that these type of problems are not possible. Oh well, perhaps that's how the Chernobyl exploded killing all those people and affecting the health of most Europeans...
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