Response to Baader Meinhof:

The film Der Baader Meinhof Complex was very interesting to me. It showed the internal struggles as well as the external for political activists. Although they were technically radicals there are still many similarities to those who wanted to do something, but didn't. They both had to live with what they felt was injustice, but when the members of Baader Meinhof attempted to make things better through their what they felt necessary the public began to disagree with them and just live under the injustice. It is one of the common downfalls of radical or extremist groups, because violence is never looked kindly upon. But sometimes it is the only tool at the disposal of a small group that is seeking change. I really liked how the group was portrayed throughout the movie due to its gritty reality. It was very well done in my eyes.

The RAF:

The RAF was the "Baader Meinhof" group that we watched in class. They were born out of a call for change in the 60s. They were a communistic/ new left wing "faction" that used violence as a means for negotiation. They were influenced by many post war writers like Mao Zedong, Che Guevera and even older texts written by Marx and Lenin. Because they were born after the second world war in the baby boomer generation they were torn between their parents views on the world and the newer more left sided ideologies that were becoming prominent. This put them in a situation where thier government was being run by their parents, but they believed something entirely different. The only way they thought they could get what they wanted was to use violence to attain it. Thus the Rote Armee Fraktion was born.
Since the first generation of the group has dissolved the later ones have become less violent, but still carried out attacks. After the Soviet Union collapsed the group took a morale hit but still managed to carry out activist missions against the "authoritarian" rule in Germany and even some US targets. But the final generation was defeated in the late 90s, which spelled the end for the RAF and its political goals and attacks in the future.
The RAF has similarities to modern terrorist groups like Al Quida, but mostly differences. They both use violence to achieve their mission, but against different targets. Osama Bin Laden attacked targets outside of Pakistan and Afghanistan like the Trade Center instead of focusing only on targets inside their country of origin. The RAF did attack US installations, but they were in Germany and were viable targets.

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rote_Armee_Fraktion