Brussels Attack 22/3/2016

[ngatimozart]

How did this post get misinterpreted to mean warrant-less house to house searches?

Because of the way it was worded and the tone of the posts

They had plenty of leads to follow up in after the Paris attacks in these months. And they finally did one (or was it two?) arrests, a few days later the rest of the cell performed this hineous attack. If that's not a security failure that has to be lambasted I don't know what is.

How do you know that? Are you being read in to what the investigation teams have and have not access to? Do you have access to the intelligence material that the Belgian govt, security, defence and police do? Or is there a special security category "Top Secret - Toberlone"?

These people are not operating in a vacuum, they are communicating in person and online, living together, moving around Europe, getting weapons and bombs, sheltered by others etc.

No the Daesh terrorists do not operate in a vacuum, however a Mao maxim about a revolutionary being a fish living in the sea of the proletariat comes to mind. When extremists, terrorists, enemy operatives, enemies live and move within a population, blending and assimilating with that population, it can be very difficult to identify friend from foe let alone winkle them out. If their tradecraft, fieldcraft and operation security is very good, the finding and eliminating of their threat is very difficult, almost impossible.

So my suggestion to you is before you go flaming and flinging accusations about, you should sit back and have a good think and undertake some logical unemotive reasoning. Whilst the act that has been committed is irreprehensible, that does not excuse flaming on this forum.

 

[Toblerone]

OK, I see you points. I expressed my disappointment at the results of their efforts.

I don't have any Top Secret access, but Mr. Erdogan surely does. And he accused them directly of not properly acting:
Brussels attacks: Belgium accused of ignoring warnings about suicide bomber - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Because of the way it was worded and the tone of the posts
So my suggestion to you is before you go flaming and flinging accusations about, you should sit back and have a good think and undertake some logical unemotive reasoning. Whilst the act that has been committed is irreprehensible, that does not excuse flaming on this forum.

There has been no flaming or accusations.

 

[Todjaeger]

OK, I see you points. I expressed my disappointment at the results of their efforts.

I don't have any Top Secret access, but Mr. Erdogan surely does. And he accused them directly of not properly acting:
Brussels attacks: Belgium accused of ignoring warnings about suicide bomber - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Note the bolded text I quote from the article you linked:

The brothers, identified by their fingerprints and security cameras, had a history of crime and had also recently emerged as connected to the Paris attacks.

Ibrahim El Bakraoui was deported last year from Turkey after being detained near the Turkish-Syrian border and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Belgium ignored a warning that he was a militant.

"One of the attackers in Brussels is an individual we detained in Gaziantep in June 2015 and deported. We reported the deportation to the Belgian Embassy in Ankara on July 14, 2015, but he was later set free," Mr Erdogan said.

"Belgium ignored our warning that this person is a foreign fighter."

Mr Erdogan's office confirmed Ibrahim El Bakraoui was deported to the Netherlands.

It said he was later released by Belgian authorities as "no links with terrorism" were found.

In previous cases, officials have said without evidence of crime, such as having fought in Syria, they cannot jail people deported from Turkey.

While we do not know just was information or evidence Turkey provided, a few things do need to be kept in mind. The first is that unfortunately, Turkey was correct about this person they detained and then deported. The second is that in a free society, the gov't/authorities need to follow the rules, just like the populace. The third is the general principle that people cannot be arbitrarily searched, have their freedom of association restricted, be detained or imprisoned without due process.

The absence of the third point is sort of the hallmark of a dictatorship. When the authorities can make all the decisions on when someone can be searched, who can be searched, whom one can associate with, and/or where one can go... that is not a free society.

 

[gf0012-aust]

Thread closed while being reviewed by Mod Team

 

[OPSSG]

Attention all and directed at no one in particular.

Kindly note that any failure to observe the Forum Rules or writing factually deficient posts that defy logic, will attract the attention of the Moderating Team and result in swift bans.

As a general rule, more facts (supported by links) and less opinion only posts, please. Thread re-opened, subject to guidance given. The Moderating Team will not hesitate to close the thread again or ban a disruptive member (especially if they have had prior warnings), if the same issue arises again.

 

[Toblerone]

The belgian officials admitted to not properly acting on the turkish information and this directly led to the Paris and Brussels attacks.

The Belgian justice and interior ministers acknowledged that their departments should have acted on a Turkish alert about Ibrahim el-Bakraoui, a convicted Belgian criminal briefly arrested in Turkey last year on suspicion of terrorist activity, who turned out to be one of the suicide bombers. And the Belgian prosecutor’s office said that man’s brother, Khalid — another suicide bomber — had been wanted since December in connection with the Paris attacks.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/25/world/europe/brussels-attacks.html

And the raids and arrests are continuing.