ARD, public TV in Germany, wrote up a piece today, and debated the idea that it is no longer possible to hold summits in metropolitan cities.
Over Friday night, looting and more fires took place in Hamburg. In at least one case.....as the public tried to put out fires....they were threaten and assaulted by the revolutionary thugs.
If you read between the lines, most of the political folks are trying to avoid direct criticism but it's obviously an uncontrollable situation at present. Some are suggesting that more 'control' over the revolutionary (particularly noted in Hamburg and Berlin) might now be necessary, and putting them into the same category as the neo-Nazi gangs and the Islamic threat groups.....might be necessary.
As for the wisdom over picking Hamburg? Some will suggest that you need world-class facilities and there's only a couple of cities in Germany which fit that profile, if you were going to hold a G-20 Summit. Personally, I'd say less than seven cities (Berlin, Dresden, Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt, Koln, and Stuttgart). You also need a security plan and the willing nature to be aggressive on dismantling the threat with a massive show of police force. In the Hamburg case.....while they've brought thousands of police in from across Germany....I think it was barely half the number that you really needed.
Those arrested for violence? This ought to be the case where you get real jail-time, in the amount of not just weeks or months, but a couple of years in prison (if you assaulted some policeman).
How much of this translates into political loss for Merkel? If SPD's Schulz wanted to be aggressive and dump blame upon the Chancellor.....the question would be how you fix or repair this? The SPD doesn't exactly have bold plans on security or threats. So I doubt that a political debate will erupt over this.
So, we've ended Friday night, and the cops have maybe six to twelve hours to rest, and prepare for Saturday night.
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