Brussels attacks (catch all)
A rare, detailed article on counter-terrorism in Belguim before the latest attacks in Paris, a week after the Hebdo attack; the former were linked to a suburb of Brussels, Molenbeek:http://www.buzzfeed.com/joshuahersh/...ns#.pgNVQOLglm
The headline & sub-title:
Quote:
What They Missed: The Anti-Terror Raid That Asked All The Wrong Questions Ten months before the deadly attacks in Paris, a nighttime raid in a quiet corner of Belgium left an apartment destroyed, two suspected attackers dead, one man arrested — and a host of unanswered questions. BuzzFeed News’ Joshua Hersh investigates a shoot-out that showed Europe’s terrorism problem starts at home.
Brussels Attacks: At Least 31 Dead at Zaventem and Maelbeek
Brussels Attacks: At Least 31 Dead at Zaventem and Maelbeek
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Brussels attacks (catch all)
Pentagon Chief: U.S. Working to Account for Civilians, Service Members After Brussels
Brussels attacks (catch all)
Brussels Attacks Live Coverage: ISIS Claims Responsibility
Brussels Attacks Live Coverage: ISIS Claims Responsibility
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Brussels attacks (catch all)
Brussels attacks (catch all)
A temporary thread, after the bombings AM today, for maximum visibility. A number of SWJ Blog threads exist, they have been copied to this thread and some posts placed earlier on the main, general CT in Europe thread. Accordingly this post will be first for a few moments only.
Clearly this thread should be read alongside the updates on the French CT thread:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...=15299&page=11
Brussels Shows Europe’s Shockingly Dysfunctional Approach to Security
Brussels Shows Europe’s Shockingly Dysfunctional Approach to Security
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Brussels attacks (catch all)
IS Seen ‘Deeply Rooted’ in Europe in Wake of Brussels Attack
IS Seen ‘Deeply Rooted’ in Europe in Wake of Brussels Attack
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Brussels attacks (catch all)
What happened in Molenbeek, a Brussels suburb?
I expect the title rather gives it away:
Quote:
Brussels Attacks: It isn’t about Molenbeek, it is about a Broken Belgian Government
It is a good, short explanation what has happened in a European capital city, long before the recent wave of migrants arrived:http://www.juancole.com/2016/03/brus...overnment.html
Vox offers a Q&A with ICSR's Peter Neumann. A taster:
Quote:
According to Neumann, Belgium isn't just one of many European countries with a homegrown extremist problem; it's the country with the biggest such problem on the entire continent.
Link:http://www.vox.com/2016/3/23/1129017...lgium-jihadism
From John Schindler:http://observer.com/2016/03/europe-is-again-at-war/
Community policing worked, the rest didn't
Within a long and partly accurate report on today's shooting in Brussels is this passage:
Quote:
It comes as Belgian police admitted a catastrophic police blunder allowed Paris bombings logistics chief Salah Abdeslam to remain at large for more than three months.A dedicated beat officer gave information about the whereabouts of Abdeslam to superiors on December 7 and urged them to pass it on to the country’s anti-terrorist police. But the confidential report was inexplicably not passed onto the federal bureau.
Link:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz43vpoROfW
Also an official statement of apology:http://www.politico.eu/article/local...tell-brussels/
In the more infamous commune (neighbourhood) of Molenbeek, via a FP article and citing a US SME Matthew Levitt:
Quote:
....the police in Molenbeek had 185 unfilled positions. “When I asked them if they do community policing — which works really well for counterterrorism — they said, well, maybe part time, but not full time,” Levitt recalled. With so many vacancies, they’re having a hard time just doing basic police functions.
Within a longer article:http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/03/24/...ved-brussels/?
A Belgain explains why Belguim?
Superb New York Review of Books article 'Why Belguim?' with a Q&A which covers many topics:
Quote:
Why has Belgium become such a focus of European jihad? And why has it been so difficult for Belgian authorities to contain the problem? Joost Hiltermann spoke to Didier Leroy, a leading terrorism researcher at the Royal Military Academy of Belgium and an adjunct at the Free University of Brussels.
Link:http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2016/03...s-why-belgium/
Brussels attacks (catch all)
The Choices Ahead for Policymakers
Raffaello Pantucci's column, which was in the FT earlier this week, is now on the RUSI website; which opens with:
Quote:
With cells apparently able to launch large-scale atrocities on an increasingly regular basis, what does Europe now need to do address an acute terrorist threat?
(Ends with) This is the biggest problem with which security planners will have to contend. It is often said that the best response to a terrorist threat is to keep calm and carry on. This is sage advice but in the face of a network that appears able to strike with impunity, and a political environment growing more toxic by the day, it will be ever harder for security forces and politicians to ensure that Europe maintains its values in the face of the terrorist threat from within.
Link:https://rusi.org/commentary/brussels...k-policymakers
Molenbeek has a voice and feels for the dead
I was wondering amidst all the footage when we would see Belgian Muslims feature and this short documentary (6 mins) has some, notably at the end:http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2016/apr/01/brussels-divided-molenbeek-after-the-terrorist-attacks-video?
At least the reporter spoke with some young Muslims, whose voice is rarely heard.
Wrong, not extremists but Muslims run over their own
A classic headline in The Daily Mail today:
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Horrific moment Muslim woman is mown down by grinning far-right activist who then stops to take a PICTURE during anti-Islam rally in the troubled Brussels district of Molenbeek
Link:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...Molenbeek.html
The facts are that it was two local Muslim men in the car, who have been named on Twitter and when I last checked it was unclear if they had been arrested afterwards.
See a local report:http://www.rtbf.be/info/societe/deta...tov?id=9258473
What to do with Molenbeek?
Prompted by a "lurker" here is the local police chief explaining his "beat" and his goal is:
Quote:
The goal also is to try to go back to normal life, so people aren’t hiding in their houses. We have to not scare people.
Link:https://www.lawfareblog.com/cop-molenbeek-beat
Awhile ago now SWJ had two articles, 'Time to Bring Counterinsurgency to Molenbeek' by Gary Anderson and a response by a Dutch journalist's riposte 'Time to Bring Strategy to Molenbeek: No Need for Counterinsurgency'
Links:Time to Bring Counterinsurgency to Molenbeek and http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art...nterinsurgency
Terror in Europe documentary
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/fi...ror-in-europe/
Quote:
FRONTLINE and ProPublica go inside Europe’s fight against terrorism — the missed warnings and the lingering vulnerabilities.
And the associated article:
https://www.propublica.org/article/h...n-to-terrorism
How Europe Left Itself Open to Terrorism
Quote:
The ISIS attacks on France and Belgium exposed weaknesses in Europe’s approach to borders and information sharing that counterterror officials had warned about for years. The vulnerabilities remain largely unaddressed.
Quote:
In interviews, some on camera with Frontline, counterterror veterans in Europe and the United States outlined systemic problems they said they had warned political leaders about for years. (ProPublica granted some anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly or because of security concerns.) The list includes:
•Weak and uncoordinated enforcement of Europe’s international borders, a situation aggravated by the chaotic influx of refugees from Syria.
•Differences in laws and security cultures that hamper intelligence-sharing and law enforcement cooperation among nations.
•Fragmented and incomplete databases, and the lack of a universal database of terror suspects effectively used and supplied by all European nations.
•Short prison sentences for terrorism and violent crime that have freed ex-convicts to play prominent roles in the jihad.
•Limited resources and support for security forces in some nations, such as Belgium and Greece — a weakness that terrorists have studied and exploited.
Brussels Attacks One Year On: More Still Needs to Be Done
A Belgian SME has written this commentary:https://rusi.org/commentary/brussels...-needs-be-done
I noted these lines:
Quote:
According to
recent figures, there were still at least 160 Belgian fighters in the region, including women and children.It is unclear how many of them will eventually return home, since a portion could fight to the death (110 Belgian fighters have died so far), while other true believers may decide to relocate to other jihadi theatres. Although it is known that around 20 of these fighters are currently
negotiating with the authorities the conditions of their return, the actual number of returnees could likely be higher, adding to the 120 foreign fighters that have already returned to Belgium since 2012.