The Bombings in Belgium: What is the Response?

I was pretty happy when I heard that Salah Abdeslam had been captured the other day.  He was one of the attackers that slaughtered at least 130 Parisians in France on November 13th, 2015.  It was a terrible event.  Suicide attackers blew themselves up at a soccer game.  They also gunned down unsuspecting patrons at a heavy metal concert and at a restaurant.  He was born in 1989 and is the same age as my son.  What causes the anger to develop in young men to the point where they would commit acts like this?  Belgium seems to be a breeding ground for such frustration right now.  There are divisions in Brussels between Dutch and French speaking citizens.  Meanwhile, the poverty that exists breeds contempt for existing power structures. 

My euphoria at his capture was short lived.  At least one of Salah's brothers blew himself up on that fateful night in November.  The four month manhunt for Mr. Abdeslam seems to indicate that he had a much wider system of support than previously thought.  I can imagine that the pressure was intense to catch this suspect.  Even when they zeroed in on a location, two suspects were killed in the ensuing gunfight.  These guys do not want to be caught alive.  Even Salah ran towards the police in a case of suicide by police.  They only wounded him.  He is probably going to be harshly interrogated as the authorities try to figure out the roots of these attacks.

It will be interesting to gauge the responses of our American presidential candidates.  Donald Trump has already gone on record as saying that he would ban all Muslims from entering the U.S.  Ted Cruz has indicated that he would increase patrols of Muslim neighborhoods.  In Philadelphia, I wonder how that would look.  We have mosques here and the attendees seems to be well mannered and respectful.  In other cities we see the same thing.  How would the Nation of Islam react to an increased presence by FBI types?  Do they even share the same fanatical aversion to western power structures?  I don't think that there is a blank response to these queries.

Image result for brussels bombing 2016

Yesterday's attack seemed to consist of at least two bombs planted by a set of brothers and another accomplice.  One bombing occurred at an Airport.  The other occurred at a train station sometime later.  I heard that the mother of a set of twins was among the victims.  It is disheartening to read about the lives of the unfortunate individuals who lose their lives in these events.  There were shootings in Sierra Leone recently.  Innocent people were slaughtered at a beach front resort. 

The mourning process is continuous for victims of terror worldwide.  Al Shabab, Al Qaeda and the other groups that are dedicated to violence are not taking much time off between exhibitions of extreme violence.  What is the most well trained, blessed of the Lord, prayed up individual to do when confronted with an AK-47 staring you right in the face?  I pray that everyone's insurance is up to date and that they told their loved ones that they were truly loved.

I am an observer of human interactions.  I make sure that I am not overly judgmental in any way.  I am highly empathetic and I realize that the best laid plans can sometimes go awry.  When we thought that Osama Bin Laden was hiding in Afghanistan, we invaded and stayed until he was killed in Pakistan.  When we were attacked in California recently, we went after Apple to see if we can access one of the killer's IPhone.  In this situation, I am perplexed as to the response.  Many people are already riding the subway.  They will not be cowed by the brazen murder of their fellow citizens.  The government cannot drop bombs on poor neighborhoods where purported terrorists live.  Too many innocent civilians will be hurt.  I know that those individuals in the intelligence community are to remain on high alert.  I hope that the instances of violence against civilians diminish. 

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