Brussels terror attacks: At least 30 dead following suicide bombing and explosions at airport and Metro station

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/...t-a6945381.html

This time these bastards hit our neighbor Belgium.
It was to be expected maybe after the raids of yesterday and the arrest of Salah Abdeslam..

This shit is literally getting closer and closer.
Couple of years ago it was Spain, couple of months ago it was France, now Belgium. Can't help but think that my country, the Netherlands, will have to deal with such an attack in the near future..

All we can do now is wish the Belgians the strength to cope with this horrible ordeal..

I hope TKJ is safe.
Check in when things settle down to let us know.

Another horrible tragedy. My heart goes out to Belgium.

I'm fine, Gets. Don't worry
I appreciate the concern of you guys.

Everybody over here already knew something was going to happen. Nobody knew how or when, but it was inevitable that at one point there would be a terrorist attack in Brussels.

Luckily I'm not a frequent visitor to Brussels (I live in a more rural province of the country near the Dutch border). But on the 2nd of May I have to take the Thalys train in Brussels to Paris, where I have to take the plane to Shanghai. So I probably won't feel entirely comfortable that day

Good to see your ok TKJ

Indeed, TKJ.

There will probably be more attacks.

Need some good police work to break this network that is so ingrained with the marginalized immigrant population. Bombing won't get you anywhere.

Thanks Giacomo_Vacari and mightyhealthy

We haven't seen the last of this for sure. It must be noted that it's a specific "Moroccan problem". We also have a lot of Turks over here, but it's much more rare to find a Turk or an Albanian that has these extremist thoughts. I'd even stretch to say that there are more indigenous Belgians (who converted to Islam) that went to fight in Syria than there are Belgian Turks.

To say that all Moroccans are bad people that are out to destroy the country, that's simply not true. I want to be clear about that. I know quite some Moroccans and some of them really are fine people. I met quite a few who really are sick of this crap as well. But of course, out of all the 'immigrant' groups the Moroccan population is the one that seems to have the biggest problem adapting to Western society. Maybe it has to do with the Arab influence of their homecountry? Possibly. We never had these problems with the Turks or later on with the Albanians. And certainly not with the Italians, Greeks and Eastern Europeans that came to Belgium.

They allowed almost 50,000 people of the same community (that already had problems integrating) to settle in the same impoverished area. Then they allowed the whole area to become even more decrepit. What did they expect?

The problem is that Belgium, just like a lot of other countries, failed to vet them, followed by a second failure in not giving them a chance to assimilate. Too much immigration too fast prevents them from assimilating since there is little reason to do so. When people come in to a new country they also need to be made aware of what the laws and norms are, as well as what is expected of them. In the past, migrants had to be self-sufficient, but today they get welfare benefits. What could go wrong there?

Well said Faithful1. And just think, we want to bring in Syrian's by the thousands to the U.S. to do the same to us. Nothing we do or any other country will change their thinking. You're either with them or against them period. If we bring 10,000 or 65,000 over here you better believe it will happen here too.

Right now President Obama is bringing in Muslim Somalis with no desire to assimilate. Many have been interviewed saying they didn't want to be here and preferred life in Somalia, where they can practice Sharia. So why are they here?

I live in the south of Holland, minutes away from the border and also work in Belgium 2 days a week..

I wish you and your country all the strength in the days to come, I love Belgium, I even plan on rooting for them this summer at Euro 2016 since my country didn't qualify

Go Red Devils!!!

Agree.
I'm a lot closer to the immigrant experience than many on this board. The pattern is normally...father goes through screening process...arrives in new country..finds work..gets settled, and years later sends for family.
There's an immigrant enclave of big cities that helps to support the immigrant (socially) and an entire economy is based on that....restaurants, money wire services(to send money back home),churches, etc.
My father always said that it serves a purpose but that many use that enclave as a crutch and it can prevent the immigrant from learning what they need to know to function and thrive in the new country.

I have very little knowledge or experience with immigrants from Muslim countries, but I'd guess that there are gonna be similarities.

Without the screening process...the ethnic enclave expands and no longer serves as a bridge to the new country.

TKJ.
Cool. You and JCVD are the only Belgians I know.

Rest in peace to your innocent countrymen killed by those demons.

@BillyBrizzi

Are you perhaps from Limburg?
Yeah, shame the Netherlands didn't qualify. I remember way back when the Belgian team straight up sucked, I was always rooting for the Dutch as well

@Gets

Thanks, I appreciate it. It's a big mess, but we can only hope for the best

I'm keeping you and your countrymen in my thoughts and prayers too, and I hope that Europe learns from its mistakes before it's too late. In the meantime, I'm going to buy a big piece of Belgian chocolate to help support the Belgian economy.

Always appreciate your wisdom and you sharing your experiences with us.

Thanks Faithful1. Always appreciated.
Enjoy the chocolate. If I can give a recommendation (although I rarely ever eat sweets haha), I think the Leonidas chocolates are quite tasty

No, Noord-Brabant, Breda to be exact..

I grew up in Brabant, but lived in Amsterdam the last 15 years.
I came back to my roots just a couple of months ago, because there were some family issues that needed my attention..

I'm from Belgian Limburg. Eindhoven is a 30 minute drive from where I live. I fondly remember Brabant for the trips to "De Efteling" in the past haha!

That tune of the Puppet Carnaval will play in my head all day now for bringing De Efteling up LOL

Youth nostalgia ;-)

I don't agree with this. The terrorists in Belgium had a political/racial gripe with Belgians, period. The attacks were payback for some grievance. That being the case, the more you allow them to assimilate, the more exposed you are for when they decide it's payback time. The only answer is banning Muslims from your country, whatever country that may be. The reason no one has yet done this is at least twofold: one, you would immediate be banned from their country...and resources, in a diplomatic tit for tat, and two, it's unsightly and appears Islamophobic or anti-Arab, whatever you wish to call it. Be that as it may, a ban is sensible and it's where nations under terroristic threat should be. You are at war with them. You must ban them, and they will ban you. No, you cannot go into their country and cut oil deals. This is not about money...or at least it shouldn't be.

nice post alfa, well said, and well thought out, nobody makes more sense than you.

Good to see you Binnie, old friend.

My heart goes to Belgium too. I was very scared because my cousin ' s wife and daughter was landed in Brussels same bomb attack day.
They stay well but my aunt was nearly dead cause the fear.

Banning all Muslims is never going to happen. Extreme positions like that will go nowhere. Second, there can be more than one motivation for an attack, and having a political gripe does not preclude ISIS-type Islamist terrorism. In the case of the Brussels attack, the unassimilated Muslims were already planning attacks, which is why when police raided their homes they found large caches of explosives and bomb-making material. They simply moved up the date of the attack to send a message after the capture of the Paris attacker. Third, these countries are not at war with all Muslims, but with Islamist Muslims. Even if you were to theoretically ban all Muslims, it wouldn't prevent ISIS from sending people into those countries because they've sent in terrorists who are pretending to be Christians or secular Europeans. Fourth, like it or not, but in the fight against Islamic radicalism we have to fight with some Muslim countries that are also fighting Islamists, like Jordan and Egypt, as well as some of the oil-producing countries. The Kurds, who are Muslims, have given their lives to fighting Islamists and have saved many Christians from persecution. You will get nowhere if you want to make enemies of our friends.

Banning Muslim tourists is extreme.

Banning Muslim immigration would be great.

Do we need these people in our country?

Meanwhile:
http://torontocatholicwitness.blogspot.com/2016/03/breaking-fr-thomas-uzhunnalil-was.html

I am watching YouTube the other night. The old what's my line show. During the show the host John daily made an announce ment show aired in the early 1960s.

He reminded people here on visa's had to register again their address before the end of the year.

If they don't and found their gone.

Sounds like something we should do today. But we won't if we elect another democrat president. No stoping illegals comming in from our southern borders. Just more taxing the rich. Only jobs will be government jobs. Nothing like a government job

This is the real horror ! A passanger that made a selfie with the (fake) hijacker

That's not a selfie..

Yeah Billy but ask someone to make a photo with the hijacker is a insane thing.