Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:

 CptJake wrote:

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:
As I said earlier, glancing over the newspapers highlights a disturbing lack of co-operation between the various branches of the Belgian security services. Intelligience not talking to police, police getting their funding cut, political barriers between Flemish and French factions creating a lack of co-operation between various government agencies. And so on.

Hopefully in the short term, a full review will fix this. Also, perhaps, if they're not already doing so, the USA could pledge more intelligience support to Belgium. Would make a big difference, and would be relatively cheap.

Overall, from what I've read, intelligience needs to get a lot better for all Western nations, not just Belgium. The focus on mass surveillance seems to be churning up a lot of junk, when in the past, old fashioned, focused methods, produced better results.

The various technical 'INTs' are only so useful for dealing with this. You really need good HUMINT, and the US is not in a position to provide that, especially in European cities.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 jhe90 wrote:
Well one thing.

From now on, if one is known to one country,EU, US, Russia etc, anyone. Share Intel and act fast. It's a curse on this world we need to stop. Lives matter more than nations ego,s.

Well they should.

Egos are not the issue. Sources and methods are.

I may be wrong, but don't the CIA have a station in every European city? Plus, the US embassy in Belgium, and the American presense at NATO HQ, will probably have a fair idea of what's happening on the ground, when you consider how vast the US intellegience apparatus is.

 Da Boss wrote:
Tokenistic bombing is certainly a stupid strategy. We can see that from the outcomes.

It's an unintended consequence of the overwhelming military superiority of the US that these insurgency tactics are becoming so much more common. When faced with a Goliath like the US military, fighting in a "fair fight" does not make any sense at all, so no one does it. Instead they try to exhaust the will of the US and it's allies through these sorts of attacks, provoking expensive interventions which achieve little other than to wreck the infastructure in the middle east and generate more recruits.

I'm sure the US will have a role to play in this, because it's the world military hyperpower and is our ally. But I'd rather see European leadership on this for once than go running to Papa USA again to save our butts.

 thenoobbomb wrote:
The Toulouse airport in France is being evacuated.

 LethalShade wrote:

 thenoobbomb wrote:
The Toulouse airport in France is being evacuated.

Bomb scare or an actual attack ?

 Matthew wrote:
Just a question, what is Dakkas opinion on the whole 'why not PrayForAnkara' thing?

 Matthew wrote:
Just a question, what is Dakkas opinion on the whole 'why not PrayForAnkara' thing?

 thenoobbomb wrote:
Suspects have been arrested.

 LethalShade wrote:

 thenoobbomb wrote:
Suspects have been arrested.

Got a source ?

 Sigvatr wrote:

yellowfever wrote:
I think the US should fix it's own problems first. I don't mind helping others but my own country would come first. Everyone should put Their own country first. Then by all means spread the love if that's what floats your boat.

To be fair, the US started a lot of the trouble we now have with ISIL by sticking their lovestick into the beehive that is Iraque. You can't fully abandon all responsibility - t

 LethalShade wrote:
Thanks. He's one of the guys they were looking for after Paris' attacks. Glad he's been caught (if it's confirmed).

 Sarouan wrote:

 LethalShade wrote:
Thanks. He's one of the guys they were looking for after Paris' attacks. Glad he's been caught (if it's confirmed).

It's not him. They admitted they were wrong saying it was Najim. It's someone else, but we don't know who right now.

RT wrote:Brussels terror: 3 suspects identified, suicide bombers were brothers, media reveals

Belgian police have discovered that the alleged suicide bombers in the CCTV footage at the Brussels airport were brothers, Khalid and Brahim El Bakroui, both residents of the capital and connected to Paris attacks’ key suspect Salah Abdeslam.

The two brothers and one more suspect, believed to be Najim Laachraoui, 25, were caught on the airport CCTV before the explosions, with Laachraoui thought to be the one who planted the explosive charges, according to Belgian newspaper DH.

Reports now indicate that Brahim was the airport bomber, while Khalid was behind the subway attack.

According to local broadcaster RTBF, citing a police source, the apartment raided by the police last week in the Forest borough of Brussels was rented by Khalid El Bakroui under a false name. The raid last week found weapons and an Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) flag, as well as fingerprints belonging to key suspect Salah Abdeslam, who was detained three days later.

According to RTBF, the link to terrorism was only made by the Belgian police in the wake of the Brussels attacks, despite the two brothers being on the radar for some time. The Bakraoui brothers also had criminal records for violent crime. Brahim was sentenced in 2010 for firing a Kalashnikov at police officers in the course of an armed robbery. He was released before serving his full sentence.

Earlier on Tuesday the police got a major break in the case when a taxi driver, who had unwittingly driven the three suspects to the Brussels airport, came forward with information.

The driver had recognized the trio after driving them to the airport early in the morning, HLN reports. He recalled them trying to fit too much luggage into the car, more than it could take. They were forced as a result to leave some bags behind, something they were visibly angry about. He tried to help them with the load, but was ordered not to touch anything.

Police raided the address where the suspects had been picked up, in Schaerbeek, finding the remaining suitcases, which contained an IS flag, nail bombs and hazardous chemicals.

Hours after the raid police were still at the property. A helicopter was reportedly seen hovering over the suspects’ address, with a sniper at the ready, as a large group of masked Belgian police worked the scene.

A subsequent airport search yielded two more unexploded devices, which were destroyed by police.

Armed raids have been taking place across the capital in the wake of the airport and Metro attacks that claimed more than 30 lives and injured 250 people.

yellowfever wrote:
Why is it the juries falt. They just decide guilt don't they. Doesn't the judge determine the punishment.

6 Arrested in Brussels Police Operation after French Raids Foil Planned Terror Attack



Six people have been arrested in a large police operation in Brussels, a Belgian prosecutor said Thursday night, as two suspects in the deadly Brussels bombings remain on the loose.

The six arrested were detained for questioning, a Belgian prosecutor said in a statement. The decision of whether to charge them is expected to be made tomorrow.

Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon tweeted earlier in the evening that five people had been arrested.

Several houses were searched in Brussels, Schaerbeek and Jette, the prosecutor said. The police raids were conducted in connection with the Brussels terror attack investigation.

News of the raid came shortly after raids in northwest Paris foiled a planned attack, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said.

The French plot was at the "advanced stage" of preparation and was discovered after a French national -- described as being at a "high level" in the plot -- was arrested this morning, Cazeneuve said.

There did not appear to be links "at this stage" between the plot foiled in France and the Paris or Brussels attacks, he added, saying the arrest is the result of weeks of investigation and the individual was involved in a "terror network" that planned to strike.

The raids in Argenteuil, about 8 miles outside of the center of Paris, were ongoing and the streets were sealed off.

Investigators are actively seeking a second suspect in the Brussels metro bombing who has been seen on surveillance camera footage inside the subway station with suicide bomber Khalid El-Bakraoui, a Belgian police source told ABC News.

That second suspect, who is unidentified, was spotted on the subway platform at the Maelbeek station with El-Bakraoui, according to police.

El-Bakraoui is thought to be dead after detonating a bomb on the subway train as it was pulling out of the station. The accomplice now being sought has yet to be identified, but police do not believe he died in the Tuesday attack.

In the other attack at the city's international airport, Khalid El-Bakraoui’s brother, Ibrahim El-Bakraoui, was one of two alleged suicide bombers who led that attack.

Najim Laachraoui and a man wearing a light-colored jacket, who has not yet been publicly identified by police, were with Ibrahim El-Bakraoui at the airport, as seen on a surveillance camera image released by authorities.

Laachraoui is believed to be dead after detonating his suicide bomb, while the unnamed man has been the subject of a manhunt since Tuesday's attacks, as Belgium lowered its threat level today from the highest level, 4, to 3. Paul Van Tieghem, director of the office that evaluates threats to the nation, said there is no indication that another attack is imminent but the threat is still serious and possible.

The first suspect that is being sought was pictured on the airport surveillance footage. His identity remains unknown, but he stood out in the photo because he was the only one of the three suspects pictured not wearing a black jacket. As a result, he's been widely referred to as the "man in white."

There has been some speculation that the "man in white" was a handler or supporter for Laachraoui and El-Bakraoui since he was not wearing a glove on his left hand like they were, which may have been hiding a trigger, and his bomb failed to detonate until after it was secured by law enforcement.

 Laughing Man wrote:
You'd think, but even in the US, with our typically harsh sentencing, assaulting an officer with a deadly weapon only carries a maximum sentence of about 12 years (IANAL, result of quick google research). With good behavior, it's fairly reasonable for someone to be paroled halfway through.

 thenoobbomb wrote:
A security member of the Tihange nuclear power plant was found shot the other day, his access card was stolen and has now been blocked.