MUNICH, July 23, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Police officers secure the area near the Olympia shopping mall in Munich, Germany, on July 22, 2016. (Xinhua/Luo Huanhuan)
BEIJING, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Germany is known for its fine intelligence gathering and strict security measures. Yet the recent bloody attacks in Germany, including Friday's shooting strike that killed at least 10 people, have raised serious questions about the country's ability to protect its people from being harmed.
Like Germany, other Western governments are now facing some fundamental dilemmas in their fight against terrorism and other criminal acts.
First, these constitutional democracies do not have adequate powers to cope with the security risks brought by mass migration worldwide.
Of course, Berlin's decision to host refugees is admirable, yet neither the country nor the EU has the ability to screen the huge inflow of displaced population. Thus, the axe-wielding Afghan youngster was able to be admitted into Germany and slaughter the innocent.
Second, the Western world does not have an effective grip over the Internet so that the extremists can easily communicate and plot terrorist attacks online, especially the lone-wolf ones, which few countries can forestall at the moment.
Therefore, the people in the West may have to sacrifice a little bit of their freedom in exchange for better security.
Third, the existing security resources are far cry from meeting the needs of domestic anti-terror efforts as a result of the influx of large numbers of immigrants.
Actually, Germany boasts top-notch intelligence agencies and police services, thanks to which, no major terrorist attacks have happened on German soil until recently.
However, the intelligence communities often find themselves in an awkward situation as they draw public attention only when they make mistakes.
There are only two approaches to solve this problem. The first is to further empower the country's security services and greatly increase the law enforcement resources, which, however, is very likely to draw criticism for trying to transform the country into "a police state."
The second one is to adopt the so-called "universal participation pattern," which is to encourage the public as a whole to get involved in the fight against terrorism. However, this strategy is also unlikely to be carried out in Germany as such a pattern might be charged with racism.
Fourthly, some Western countries have been stuck with legalism and the lengthy process of coming up with new laws and regulations, which made it impossible for them to deal with the ever changing situation of terrorist threats.
Some say it is the price to pay for being civilized, yet such a self-claimed civilization has produced monstrous fruits beyond comprehension.
Norwegian killer Anders Behring Breivik, who took 77 innocent lives in a massacre in 2011, could enjoy a vacation-like jail term and accuse the authority of violating his "human rights."
Such kinds of "civilization" and "the rule of law" have become weaknesses of the West that could not protect their people.
Europe has striped itself of self defense capability, partly due to the American protection that has lasted for too long. The Munich attack is just the freshest alert for Europe to re-examine its political and legal systems.
