Belgian Police in shootout; just thawrted a major attack

[SammyPops]

Good for them.

This lone wolf attack thing is gong to get a lot worse before it gets better.

 

[AgentOrange24]

It's not illegal to travel to Syria and back. And it's very hard to prove that someone has being supporting terrorist acts while they were there.

It's a major issue actually, legally speaking. Intelligence services seems to be able to handle it though.

Given the current state of Syria, it probably should be.

 

[PorkPiePusher]

Belgique is supposedly no1 per capita in people going to fight for ISIS, but I've also read in one of the articles this morning that it expends the most time and money in countering the return of fighters. I sincerely hope that yesterdays action was part of that effort - also, everytime I'm west of Grand-Place I feel as I've steped through a portal that leads to the Middle East.

 

[zulqarnayn]

No need to be friends with Assad, and no need to try and destroy him either.

Do you really believe the West is trying to destroy Assad? Are you that naive? Trust me if they wanted Assad gone he would've been gone years ago. They can destroy him with ease if they choose to; but they don't want to, for obvious reasons.

 

[Thames]

Given the current state of Syria, it probably should be.

That's where the legal hassle is though. You also have to consider the people who travel there for humanitarian reasons.
The ideal situation would be to make it a one-way ticket for those who travel there to fight with ISIS (or Assad). But that's impossible.

As it is now, you're just going to end up on some intelligence agency's watchlist.

 

[Turboozo]

That's where the legal hassle is though. You also have to consider the people who travel there for humanitarian reasons.

I would have no problem with that getting banned as well, at least until the situation stabilizes. There are plenty of places (including back home) where people could make a difference. By going to Syria they're 1) making it easier for the returning jihadists, and 2) exposing themselves to the risk of being kidnapped, effectively financing terrorism at their country's expense.

 

[Codger]

Being noticed by security services doesn't stop you carrying out at attack in democratic, open nations, as several recent cases have proved. There are too many radicals for the security services to watch properly and with encypted comms/darknet it's damned hard to stop them communicating with each other or to monitor what they are planning. We don't have enough agents or money to physically watch 1000's of people.

Security services are apparently thwarting plenty of attacks but plenty will get through. There is no way of stopping it and several thousand young men due to come back from these fighting zones in the next couple of years is going to ramp up activity hugely. IMO, this is the tip of the iceberg and it's going to get a lot worse.

 

[MicroBrew]

Do you really believe the West is trying to destroy Assad? Are you that naive? Trust me if they wanted Assad gone he would've been gone years ago. They can destroy him with ease if they choose to; but they don't want to, for obvious reasons.

The US has just authorized 400 American troops to help train the Rebels.

Ofcourse the US wants Assad gone, because that is what Israel wants and what the Saudis and other Sunnis want.

If it weren't for China and Russia, Assad would have been gone. The US went after him after the alleged chemical attacks and only settled for Assad relinquishing his chemical weapons because China and Russia stepped in and forced a deal.

 

[Anung Un Rama]

Do you really believe the West is trying to destroy Assad? Are you that naive? Trust me if they wanted Assad gone he would've been gone years ago. They can destroy him with ease if they choose to; but they don't want to, for obvious reasons.

The only reason they haven't destroyed Assad, is because they haven't had a legitimate reason to do so. If the British Parliament didn't demand a vote, the US was on its way to acting unilaterally against Assad for "using chemical weapons against its own people *wink, wink*".

Allah be praised, we didn't, because we would have been helping ISIS, and ISIS would have had even more chemical weapons at their disposal.


Wolfowitz Doctrine
http://work.colum.edu/~amiller/wolfowitz1992.htm

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