The Associated Press says Germans are surprised that Islamic terrorists plotted mass murder against them, since they opposed the Iraq war: Train bombing plot surprises Germany. (Hat tip: Piltdown Man.)

But I know that a lot of Germans were not surprised at all.

BERLIN - A Lebanese student suspected of planting a train bomb that failed to explode had contacts in Hamburg, authorities said Tuesday, the latest link to the northern port city where three of the Sept. 11 suicide pilots prepared for their attacks.

The planned attack here stunned Germans who thought the country’s vehement opposition to the Iraq war would insulate it from becoming a terror target almost five years after the attacks on Washington and New York.

The main suspect, identified by authorities as 21-year-old Youssef Mohamad el Hajdib, was arrested Saturday in Kiel, about 30 miles north of Hamburg, on suspicion of placing one of two suitcase bombs in German trains on July 31.