After Paris, Brussels was always suspected to be the next target for a terrorist attack. It’s less-than-desired security apparatus, the presence of a large number of migrants and the fact that it is the capital of the European Union placed it in the middle of the terrorist map. On Tuesday, it happened. Two bombs went off at the Zaventem airport on the outskirts of Brussels, leaving 10 dead and scores injured. A third bomb exploded at the Maalbeek station killing at least 20 people. Aided by CCTV footage and vital information provided by the cab driver who transported the bombers to the airport, Belgian authorities arrested
a member of the cell responsible for the attacks. The explosions came four days after the arrest of Salah Abdeslam, the prime suspect in the Paris attacks, prompting investigators
to believe that these attacks could have been staged in
retaliation for the arrest. Belgian police have been on the lookout
for Salah for the past two months and it is possible that the
Brussels attacks were planned in
advance and the arrest of the Paris
mastermind was a conicidence,
because to plan and execute bomb
blasts at such short notice and under
the eye of security forces is not
easy. The Brussels attack is likely
to affect Europe in a much deeper
way than the Paris shootouts. The
series of bomb blasts on the transport
system in Madrid in 2004 resulted
in the fall of the government
and led to Spain’s pull out from the Iraq war. The recent attack
could force European states to install tighter border controls
and check posts. Elements of the Schengen Agreement, which
guarantees free movement within the EU, have already been
suspended to allow certain states to deal with the refugee influx.
Demands for a complete repudiation of the Agreement
will get louder. The attacks will strengthen right wing political
parties, which are critical of the refugee policy and place
a lot of pressure on Germany’s Angela Merkel, who recently
suffered electoral reversals. In the US, Donald Trump seems to
be the only person to have gained from the Brussels blast and
the Republicans will find it harder to eject him from the race.
What is being played out today is the result of a flawed policy
by former US president George Bush which foolishly thought
democracy would bloom in West Asia after the toppling of
Saddam Hussein, who, by the way, had done a lot to keep terrorist
organizations at bay. To think that Donald Trump could
be president is scary, to say the least. His pathological hatred
for Muslims is a recipe for disaster which is more likely to visit
Europe than the US, which is separated by the Atlantic.
Terrorist attacks are political and the present one is aimed
at driving a wedge between the large Muslim population and
mainstream Europeans. Hence, terrorism requires a twopronged
strategy. First, a tighter security net needs to be
thrown over Europe. Surveillance needs to be increased and
pressure to break cells must be relentless. Agencies might
break nine out of ten cells, but even one can slip through to
cause damage. Terrorism cannot be solved by military actions.
Instead, it would be more prudent to alleviate the rage within
communities that gives rise to terrorist attacks. Second, Europe
and the US need to pause, take a second look at the Muslim
world, and build a foreign policy that alleviates the anger.
