SPECIAL ASSESSMENT - THE WEST GERMAN RED ARMY FACTION PART II OF III

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP87T00434R000300270010-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 28, 2010
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: September 5, 1985
• Content Type: CABLE

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SUBJECT: SPECIAL ASSESSMENT - THE WEST GERMAN RED ARMY FACTION
UNCLASSIFIED
STAT
STAT
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STAT
1. PHASE TWO OF THE RAF'S EVOLUTION WAS INITIALLY MARKED BY
INACTIVITY AS THE ORIGINAL LEADERSHIP ELEMENT ATTEMPTED TO CONTROL-
THE GANG THROUGH A COMPLEX COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM, OPERATED PRIMARILY
THROUGH PRIVILEGED ATTORNEY/CLIENT COMMUNICATIONS. A SEARCH OF RAF
PRISONERS' CELLS IN 1973 PROVED THAT THE SYSTEM USED WAS EXTENSIVE
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AND SOPHISTICATED. THE 1972 DISASTER, WHEN THE ENTIRE LEADERSHIP
CADRE WAS ARRESTED, BOTH DIMINISHED THE CAPABILITIES OF THE RAF AND
SHIFTED THE FOCUS OF ITS STRATEGY AWAY FROM ATTACKS ON THE STATE'S
INFRASTRUCTURE AND TOWARDS ACTIONS DESIGNED TO FREE THE IMPRISONED
TERRORIST LEADERSHIP. LITTLE RAF ACTIVITY WAS EXPERIENCED IN 1973
AS THE GANG ATTEMPTED TO RECOUP ITS LOSSES. THE IMPRISONED LEADERS
WERE MORE SUCCESSFUL IN TURNING OUT REAMS OF MATERIAL CONCERNING
IDEOLOGY, OPERATIONAL TACTICS AND POLITICAL RHETORIC. BAADER, FOR
EXAMPLE, DEVELOPED THE CONCEPT OF CONDUCTING REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITY
AT THREE DISTINCT LEVELS; (1) ILLEGAL, (2) SEMI-LEGAL, AND (3)
LEGAL. EACH LEVEL WOULD HAVE A PRECISELY DEFINED ROLE TO PERFORM IN
THE REVOLUTIONARY PROCESS. DESPITE THE EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
SYSTEM, THE LACK OF STRONG LEADERS IN THE UNDERGROUND LIMITED THE
INITIATIVE DEMONSTRATED BY THE ORGANIZATION.
2. IN FEB 74 NINE MINOR RAF MEMBERS WERE ARRESTED AS THEY WERE
PREPARING FOR A BANK ROBBERY. INCREASES IN RAF ACTIVITY AT THIS
TIME CAN BE TRACED TO THE INVOLVEMENT OF RAF ATTORNEYS SIEGFRIED
HAAG AND KLAUS CROISSANT IN THE ORGANIZATION'S OPERATIONS. HAAG AND
CROISSANT, NO LONGER CONTENT TO SERVE MERELY AS COMMUNICATIONS
CONDUITS, BEGAN CONSOLIDATING CONTROL OVER THE COMMANDO ELEMENT,
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RESULTING IN A MUCH MORE AGGRESIVE RAF. IN MID-1974 A HUNGER STRIKE
WAS INITIATED BY RAF PRISONERS TO ELICIT PUBLIC SYMPATHY AND GAIN
POLITICAL PRISONER STATUS FOR THOSE IMPRISONED. IN NOV 74, HOLGER
MEINS DIED AS.A RESULT OF.THE HUNGER STRIKE, AMID SPECULATION THAT
HIS?DE'ATH WAS THE-RESULT OF-NEGLIGENCE BY MEDICAL PERSONNEL ON DUTY.
PUBLIC SYMPATHY FOR THE PRISONERS HAD BEEN BUILDING DURING THE
HUNGER STRIKE AND CRESTED WITH THE DEATH OF MEINS. HOWEVER, ON 10
NOV, GUENTHER VON DRENKMANN, THE RESPECTED PRESIDENT OF THE WEST
BERLIN SUPREME COURT, WAS MURDERED WHILE RESISTING A KIDNAPPING
ATTEMPT BY THE 2 JUNE MOVEMENT, A SEPARATE BUT ESSENTIALLY PARALLEL
TERRORIST ORGANIZATION. VON DRENKMANN WAS KNOWN FOR HIS LIBERAL
VIEWS AND HAD BEEN AN OPPONENT OF HITLER AND NATIONAL SOCIALISM.
HIS MURDER OFFSET THE GAINS MADE BY THE HUNGER STRIKERS AND HELPED
TO FURTHER ISOLATE TERRORIST GROUPS FROM THE MAINSTREAM OF LEFTIST
DISSENT. ALSO IN NOV, POLICE CONDUCTED A SERIES OF RAIDS IN WHICH
98 APARTMENTS WERE SEARCHED AND 19 SUSPECTS ARRESTED.
3. INCREASES IN RAF ACTIVITY WERE NOTED IN EARLY 1975 AS OPERATIONS
WERE MOUNTED TO FORCE THE RELEASE OF IMPRISONED TERRORISTS. IN
FEB, THE 2 JUNE MOVEMENT KIDNAPPED WEST BERLIN MAYORAL CANDIDATE
PETER LORENZ WITH RAF ASSISTANCE. DEMANDS WERE MADE FOR THE RELEASE
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OF SIX IMPRISONED TERRORISTS TO INCLUDE RAF FOUNDER HORST MAHLER.
SIGNIFICANTLY, NO DEMANDS FOR THE RELEASE OF BAADER OR MEINHOF WERE
ISSUED. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THEY WERE IN THE PROCESS OF LOSING
CONTROL OVER THE GANG AND THAT A NEW GENERATION OF LEADERS WAS
EMERGING THAT HAD LITTLE DESIRE TO EFFECT THE RELEASE OF COMPETITORS
FOR SUPREMACY IN THE TERRORIST MOVEMENT. WEST GERMAN AUTHORITIES
UNCLASSIFIED
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ACCEDED TO THE DEMANDS AND RELEASED FIVE IMPRISONED TERRORISTS.
MAHLER REFUSED RELEASE, DECIDING INSTEAD TO COMPLETE HIS SENTENCE.
THE RELEASED TERRORISTS WERE FLOWN TO SOUTH YEMEN WHERE THEY MADE
CONTACT WITH PALESTINIAN GROUPS. RELEASED TERRORISTS GABRIELE
KROECHER-TIEDEMAN AND HANS-JOACHIM KLEIN LATER PARTICIPATED IN THE
"CARLOS" LED OPEC OIL MINISTERS KIDNAPPING IN VIENNA. BASED ON THE
WEAKNESS DISPLAYED BY THE WEST GERMAN GOVERNMENT, TERRORISTS BECAME
EMBOLDENED AND IN APR A SECOND OPERATION TO FORCE THE RELEASE OF
IMPRISONED TERRORISTS WAS MOUNTED BY SIX FORMER MEMBERS OF THE
HEIDELBERG BASED SPK. CALLING THEMSELVES THE "COMMANDO HOLGER
MEINS," THEY ATTACKED THE WEST GERMAN EMBASSY IN STOCKHOLM AND
SEIZED 12 HOSTAGES, INCLUDING THE AMBASSADOR, THE MILITARY ATTACHE
AND THE ECONOMIC ATTACHE. THEY THREATENED TO KILL THE HOSTAGES
UNLESS 26 MORE TERRORISTS WERE RELEASED. THIS TIME THE DEMANDS WERE
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REFUSED CAUSING THE TERRORISTS TO KILL THE MILITARY AND ECONOMIC
ATTACHES TO PRESSURE THE AUTHORITIES TO CAPITULATE. SQON AFTER THE
DEADLINE PASSED, TWO EXPLOSIONS WERE INITIATED AND THE TERRORISTS
ATTEMPTED TO ESCAPE IN THE CONFUSION. FIVE WERE CAPTURED AND ONE
WAS FOUND DEAD IN THE RUINS OF THE BUILDING. THE LEADER, SIEGFRIED
HAUSNER, SUBSEQUENTLY DIED OF WOUNDS SUSTAINED DURING THE OPERATION.
THE RAF SUFFERED ANOTHER SETBACK IN MAY WHEN POLICE IN COLOGNE
INTERRUPTED A CAR THEFT IN-PROGRESS. DURING THE ENSUING GUN BATTLE
ONE POLICE OFFICER WAS KILLED AND ANOTHER SEVERELY WOUNDED. ONE RAF
TERRORIST. WERNER SAUBER, WAS KILLED AND TWO OTHERS CAPTURED.
4. ON 21 MAY 75 THE TRIAL OF BAADER, MEINHOF, RASPE AND ENSSLIN
BEGAN IN A SPECIALLY CONSTRUCTED COURTROOM IN STUTTGART CONNECTED TO
STAMMHEIM PRISON BY AN UNDERGROUND PASSAGEWAY. FIVE DAYS EARLIER
SIEGFRIED HAAG WENT UNDERGROUND AFTER BEING CHARGED IN THE STOCKHOLM
ATTACK. TRIALS OF OTHER MAJOR RAF FIGURES WERE CONDUCTED THAT SAME
YEAR, BUT RAF ACTIVITY RETURNED TO A LOW EBB, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF
A FEW MINOR BOMB ATTACKS PERPETRATED BY A SELF-PROCLAIMED "RAF
BATTLE GROUP SOUTH" LED BY FORMER RAF DEFENSE ATTORNEY JOERG LANG
AND FOUR BANK ROBBERIES WHICH NETTED THE RAF A TOTAL OF DM 394,320.
5. THE ONLY SIGNIFICANT RAF RELATED EVENT OF 1976 WAS THE 9 MAY
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SUICIDE OF ULRICKE MEINHOF WHO HANGED HERSELF IN HER PRISON CELL.
SHE WAS REPORTED TO HAVE BEEN IN A STATE OF DEPRESSION AND ESTRANGED
FROM THE OTHER RAF PRISONERS. HER SUICIDE, HOWEVER, SUCCEEDED IN
TRIGGERING MASSIVE RADICAL LEFTIST DEMONSTRATIONS IN WEST GERMANY.
THE ENTIRE YEAR OF 1978, LIKE THE SECOND HALF OF 1975, PROVED TO BE
A PERIOD OF RECUPERATION FOR THE RAF FOLLOWING THE DEBACLE OF THE
STOCKHOLM ATTACK. MAJOR RAF ACTIVITY WAS LIMITED TO FOUR BANK
ROBBERIES, WHICH NETTED DM 271,000 AND 1.2 MILLION AUSTRIAN
SCHILLINGS. WEST GERMAN POLICE CONTINUED THEIR OFFENSIVE AGAINST
TERRORISM AND SUCCEEDED IN MAKING UNDERGROUND LIVING A HAZARDOUS
OCCUPATION. TWO YEARS OF RELATIVE INACTIVITY (APR 75 - APR 77) BY
THE RAF DEMONSTRATES THE EFFECTIVENESS OF POLICE COUNTERMEASURES IN
FRUSTRATING RAF ATTEMPTS TO CONDUCT TERRORIST OPERATIONS.
6. SIEGFRIED HAAG, IN CONJUNCTION WITH KLAUS CROISSANT, ASSUMED
CONTROL OF THE REMNANTS OF THE RAF WHEN HE RETURNED TO WEST GERMANY
IN LATE 1976, AFTER RECEIVING GUERRILLA TRAINING IN SOUTH YEMEN.
HAAG WAS IN CHARGE OF OPERATIONS AND PLANNING, WHILE CROISSANT,
STILL LIVIN$ A LEGAL EXISTENCE, WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR RECRUITING AND
OTHER PERSONNEL MATTERS. HIS LAW OFFICE IN STUTTGART SERVED AS AN
UNCLASSIFIED
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SECTION4=:002 OF 003
SUBJECT: SPECIAL ASSESSMENT - THE. WEST GERMAN RED ARMY FACTION
EXHILARATION OF THEIR SUPERIORITY OVER THE REPRESENTATIVES OF
AUTHORITY. YOUTHFUL IDEALISM. THE EXCITEMENT AND MYSTIQUE OF
UNDERGROUND LIVING, AND LIBERAL DOSES OF FREE SEX ALL CONTRIBUTED TO
THE POPULARITY OF THE MOVEMENT AND BENEFITED RECRUITING ACTIVITIES.
7. LIKE ANY REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT, THE BMG FOUND ITSELF IN NEED OF
AN IDENTITY AND IDEOLOGY. MEINHOF, BECAUSE OF HER JOURNALISTIC
BACKGROUND, BECAME THE PRIMARY POLITICAL IDEOLOGUE AFTER MAHLER'S
ARREST. SHE AUTHORED A PUBLICATION, CALLED "ROTE ARMEE FRAKTION
DAS KONZEPT STADTGUERILLA" (RED ARMY FACTION - THE CONCEPT OF THE
URBAN GUERRILLA). IT IDENTIFIED A VANGUARD OF ELITE REVOLUTIONARIES
(THE BMG) WHO WOULD PREPARE THE WAY FOR A MASS UPRISING THAT WOULD
TOTALLY DESTROY OPPRESSIVE AUTHORITY. IT ALSO GAVE AN IDENTITY TO
THE MOVEMENT BY NAMING ITSELF - THE RED ARMY FACTION (RAF).
8. WHILE MEINHOF WAS ESTABLISHING THE GROUP'S POLITICAL IDEOLOGY,
THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR TACTICAL THEORY ALONG WITH COMMAND AND
CONTROL OF THE GROUP WAS ASSUMED BY THE CHARISMATIC BAADER. AFTER
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MAHLER'S ARREST, BAADER BECAME THE UNDISPUTED COMMANDER OF THE RAF.
BAADER RELIED HEAVILY ON THE WRITINGS OF MAO AND BRAZILIAN TERRORIST
CARLOS MARIGHELLA (THE PRIMARY PROPONENT OF THE URBAN GUERRILLA
CONCEPT) TO DEVELOP A THREE STAGE MASTER PLAN, BASED ON THE THEORY
OF PROTRACTED STRUGGLE, FOR THE CONDUCT OF THE RAF'S WAR AGAINST
UNCLASSIFIED
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SOCIETY. IT WAS ACKNOWLEDGED THAT CONDITIONS WERE NOT FAVORABLE FOR
AN ALL-OUT OFFENSIVE, SO BAADER DETERMINED THAT THE RAF SHOULD
ATTACK "SINGLE WEAK POINTS".IN ORDER TO "DESTROY THE MYTH OF THE
OMNIPOTENCE OF THE STATE AND DEMONSTRATE ITS VULNERABILITY". THIS
CONSTITUTED THE "DEVELOPMENT" STAGE OF THE MASTER PLAN TO BE
FOLLOWED BY "CONSOLIDATION" AND "OFFENSIVE" STAGES. TO SUMMARIZE
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE RAF, IT CAN BE SAID THAT MAHLER FOUNDED THE
OR$ANIZATION, MEINHOF GAVE IT A POLITICAL IDENTITY AND PROVIDED
IDEOLOGICAL GOALS, AND BAADER DEVELOPED THE CRIMINAL TACTICS AND
CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP NECESSARY TO PROPEL THE GANG INTO ACTION.
9. 1971 WAS MARKED BY AN EFFORT TO REFINE IDEOLOGY AND TACTICS,
WHILE BUILDING UP THE GANG'S INFRASTRUCTURE. RECRUITING PERSONNEL
AND THE ACQUISITION OF WEAPONS, FORGED DOCUMENTS, CARS AND MONEY
BECAME HIGH PRIORITY TASKS. BANK ROBBERY WAS THE PREFERRED METHOD
OF FINANCING, SINCE IT WAS BOTH AN ATTACK ON THE ULTIMATE SYMBOL OF
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CAPITALISM AND A LUCRATIVE METHOD OF-UNDERWRITING AN EXPENSIVE
LIFESTYLE. ON 15 JUL THE RAF SUFFERED ITS FIRST CASUALTY WHEN PETRA
SCHELM TRIED TO RUN A POLICE ROADBLOCK, FAILED AND WAS KILLED IN THE
SUBSEQUENT SHOOTOUT. MANY OTHER GANG MEMBERS WERE CAUGHT THAT YEAR
BUT THE LEADERSHIP MANAGED TO ELUDE ITS PURSUERS. MEINHOF CONTINUED
TO WRITE POLITICAL TRACTS JUSTIFYING THE CRIMINAL ACTIONS OF THE
RAF, ONE OF WHICH BORE THE INNOCUOUS TITLE, "TRAFFIC REGULATIONS AND
INFORMATION BROCHURE," BUT WHOSE REAL TITLE WAS "CLOSING THE GAPS IN
THE REVOLUTIONARY THEORY BY CREATION OF THE RED ARMY."
10. ON 24 JUN 71 A POLICEMAN WAS SHOT AND WOUNDED WHILE MAKING A
ROUTINE TRAFFIC CHECK IN WIESENBACH (NEAR HEIDELBERG). THE SUSPECT
FLED ON FOOT, LEAVING A LARGE QUANTITY OF FORGED DOCUMENTS IN HIS
CAR, MANY OF WHICH COULD BE TRACED TO BURGLARIES CONDUCTED BY
MEINHOF THE PREVIOUS YEAR. IN ADDITION POLICE WERE ALERTED TO THE
ACTIVITIES OF DR. WOLFGANG HUBER, A SLIGHTLY ECCENTRIC PSYCHIATRIST,
WHO HAD BEEN DISMISSED FROM THE HEIDELBERG UNIVERSITY CLINIC BECAUSE
OF QUESTIONABLE GROUP THERAPY TECHNIQUES. IN EARLY 1970 HE FORMED
APPROXIMATELY 150 PATIENTS INTO A GROUP CALLED THE "SOZIALISTISCHES
PATIENTEN KOLLECTIV (SPK)" (SOCIALIST PATIENTS' COLLECTIVE) AND
ESTABLISHED A"TREATMENT CENTER" IN HEIDELBERG. THE EMOTIONAL AND
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MENTAL PROBLEMS EXPERIENCED BY GROUP MEMBERS WERE DETERMINED TO BE A
RESULT OF THE "ADVANCED CAPITALISM" OF SOCIETY WHICH WOULD HAVE TO
BE RADICALLY CHANGED BEFORE MENTAL HEALTH COULD BE RESTORED.
THERAPY WAS PRACTICED IN.WORKING GROUPS WHICH DISCUSSED TOPICS SUCH
AS MARXISM, EDUCATION, RELIGION AND SEXUALITY. A SPECIAL CADRE
BEGAN MEETING IN HUBER'S HOME IN LATE 1970 TO PLAN RADICAL ACTIONS
DESIGNED TO ASSIST IN THE DESTRUCTION OF THE SOCIETY WHICH WAS
DEEMED TO BE THE CAUSE OF SO MUCH MENTAL INSTABILITY. RADICAL
LITERATURE, SUCH AS THE "MINI-MANUAL OF THE URBAN GUERRILLA," WAS
DISCUSSED AND PREPARATIONS MADE FOR UNDERGROUND RESISTANCE. THE SPK
ALSO BEGAN TO IDENTIFY WITH THE RAF AND EVEN PRODUCED A PAMPHLET,
DATED 8 JUL 71, WHICH STATED, "MAHLER, MEINHOF, BAADER ARE OUR
LEADERS." THE GROUP MANAGED TO PROCURE WEAPONS, FALSE DOCUMENTS.
COMMUNICATIONS DEVICES AND EXPLOSIVES IN ADDITION TO REHEARSING LONG
RANGE DETONATION AND ARSON ATTACKS. PLANS FOR KIDNAPPINGS AND BANK
ROBBERIES WERE MADE IN COOPERATION WITH CRIMINAL ELEMENTS WHOM HUBER
CONSIDERED TO BE A "SUPPRESSED MINORITY" IN NEED OF THERAPY.
PRESUMABLY THEY WOULD ALSO BE USEFUL RECRUITS SINCE THEY COULD
PROVIDE CRIMINAL SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE WHICH THE SPK DESPERATELY
NEEDED. ON 21 JUL 71 HUBER, HIS WIFE AND SEVEN GROUP MEMBERS WERE
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ARRESTED, BUT SOME OF THE ELITE CADRE ESCAPED. A SEARCH OF HUBER'S
APARTMENT UNCOVERED WEAPONS, EXPLOSIVES, COUNTERFEITING AND BURGLAR
TOOLS, AND RAF AND OTHER RADICAL LITERATURE. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF
THE SPK LIES IN THE FACT THAT IT WAS THE MOST ADVANCED INDEPENDENT
GROUP TO ANSWER THE RAF'S CALL FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ADDITIONAL
URBAN COMMANDO UNITS. FOLLOWING THE BREAKUP OF THE SPK, MANY FORMER
"PATIENTS" JOINED THE RAF AND OTHER TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS.
11. IN 1972 THE RAF PROGRESSED FROM INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT TO
TERRORIST OPERATIONS DESIGNED TO SPREAD FEAR AND TERROR IN AN EFFORT
TO WEAKEN SOCIETY'S RESISTANCE. THE FAVORED TACTIC WAS THE DELAYED
DETONATION OF LARGE EXPLOSIVE DEVICES. U.S. ARMY V CORPS HQ WAS
BOMBED ON 11 MAY (ONE DEAD), THE AUGSBURG POLICE HO AND THE STATE
CRIMINAL OFFICE IN MUNICH WERE BOMBED ON 12 MAY, THE FEDERAL
PROSECUTOR'S CAR WAS BOMBED ON 15 MAY IN KARLSRUHE, AND USAREUR HQ
WAS BOMBED ON 24 MAY (THREE DEAD). THESE ATTACKS TURNED OUT TO BE
PREMATURE, ILL-CONSIDERED AND DISASTEROUS FOR THE RAF LEADERSHIP.
WITHIN SEVERAL WEEKS OF THE HEIDELBERG BOMBING THE ENTIRE COMMAND
ELEMENT OF THE RAF WAS IN POLICE CUSTODY. ON 2 JUN, BAADER, ALONG
WITH HOLGER MEINS AND JAN-CARL RASPE, WAS ARRESTED IN FRANKFURT
FOLLOWING A GUNBATTLE WITH POLICE, DURING WHICH HE WAS WOUNDED IN
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THE LEG. ALSO ON 2 JUN AN EXPLOSION RIPPED THROUGH AN RAF COVER
APARTMENT IN WEST BERLIN, RESULTING IN THE CONFISCATION OF WEAPONS,
EXPLOSIVES AND OTHER EQUIPMENT. GUDRUN ENSSLIN WAS ARRESTED ON 7
JUN IN A FASHIONABLE HAMBURG BOUTIQUE WHEN A SALESGIRL NOTICED A
PISTOL PROTRUDING FROM HER COAT. MEINHOF WAS CAPTURED ON 15 JUN IN
HANNOVER FOLLOWING A TIP FROM A LEFTIST SYMPATHIZER. ALSO CAUGHT UP
IN THE SPREADING POLICE NET WERE A NUMBER OF MINOR GANG MEMBERS, ONE
OF WHOM WAS FATALLY SHOT BY POLICE. ENCOURAGED BY POLICE SUCCESSES,
GERMAN AUTHORITIES CONFIDENTLY PREDICTED THE DEMISE OF THE RAF AND
TURNED THEIR ATTENTION TO ROUNDING UP THE FEW REMAINING FUGITIVES.
THE SHATTERED RAF WOULD SURVIVE, HOWEVER, REGENERATE ITSELF AND
CONTINUE THE STRUGGLE AGAINST THE ESTABLISHED ORDER.
12. ALTHOUGH 1972 DID NOT MARK THE END OF THE RAF, AS PREDICTED BY
THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT, IT DID MARK THE END OF THE FIRST PHASE OF THE
ORGANIZATION'S EVOLUTION. THE RAF'S USE OF EXTREME VIOLENCE, A
KEYSTONE OF ITS STRATEGY, WAS A MAJOR STRATEGIC ERROR THAT NOT ONLY
.SUCCEEDED IN ISOLATING THE GROUP FROM THE MAINSTREAM OF GERMAN
SOCIETY, BUT ALSO FROM THE MAJORITY OF LEFTIST RADICALS. THE RAF
REACTED BY ISSUING A PAMPHLET DENOUNCING "LIBERALISM" AMONG RADICALS
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SUBJECT: SPECIAL ASSESSMENT - THE WEST GERMAN RED ARMY FACTION
AND BRANDING THEM AS "TRAITORS TO THE MOVEMENT." THIS ESTRANGEMENT
BETWEEN THE SELF-STYLED ELITIST "VANGUARD OF THE REVOLUTION" AND THE
GENERAL LEFTIST MOVEMENT ENSURED THAT ALTHOUGH THE RAF WOULD
CONTINUE TO INFLICT DAMAGE ON ITS ENEMIES, FROM 1972 IT WOULD NEVER
AGAIN THREATEN THE EXISTENCE OF THE SOCIAL ORDER IN WEST GERMANY.
13. THIS IS THE PART I OF A THREE PART ASSESSMENT OF THE EVOLUTION
OF THE RED ARMY FACTION. PARTS II AND III WILL COVER THE PERIODS
1973 - 1977 AND 1978 - 1985 RESPECTIVELY.
14. POC IS MR. HAGEN, ETS (370-) 6505/8179.
END OF MESSAGE UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/01/28: CIA-RDP87T00434R000300270010-5