Terror attacks in Brussels justify European response

A photograph of the three suspected terrorists in Monday’s bombings in Brussels is noteworthy for the calmness of their demeanors. The alleged killers can be seen casually pushing their luggage carts. There are no outward signs of anxiety over the carnage to come. As far as anyone could tell, they were just three travelers in the crowded Brussels airport terminal.

But the two back-to-back bombings – one occurred in the luggage area and the other near a Starbucks – were a stark reminder that the battle against Islamic extremism will not be won with simplistic solutions. After all, if someone is willing to die for his or her beliefs, the fear factor that is a part of traditional warfare doesn’t exist. That makes the enemy all the more dangerous.

Indeed, 40 minutes after the airport attacks that killed 11 people, there was a bomb blast in the subway beneath buildings that normally host European Union meetings and house the EU’s top leadership. The death toll surpassed 20.

Hundreds were injured in the attacks, including many children who are now clinging to life.

The brutality, immorality and inhumanity of the acts of terror in Brussels, and in Paris four months ago in which more than 130 innocent people were murdered, give lie to the claims of Islamic extremists that they’re following the dictates of the Quran.

These individuals are nothing more than cold-blooded murderers who have no respect for human life.

It comes as no surprise that Islamic State – or Islamic State of Iraq and Syria – has taken responsibility for Monday’s carnage in Brussels. But, in reality, the target was all of Europe.

Europe’s vulnerability

Just as the Sept. 1, 2001, terrorist attacks by al-Qaida in New York City and at the Pentagon were designed to undermine the world’s leading democracy and disrupt the global center of capitalism, the terror in Brussels was meant to show Europe’s vulnerability to Islamic extremism.

A timid response by the Europeans – and, by extension, the United States – will simply embolden Islamic State and other terrorist organizations.

On Monday, two of the suspects died – one was said to have been a suicide bomber and the other reportedly detonated a bomb inside a suitcase – while a third escaped.

About 40 minutes later, a blast ripped through a subway car as it left the Maelbeek station in the heart of the European Union’s capital city, sending shockwaves through the continent. After all, each of the 28 countries that make up the union is struggling to deal with the ever-present threat of terrorism by Islamic extremists.

But governments in Europe must also deal with the ever-growing anti-immigrant sentiment that only gets stronger with each new terrorist attack that claims innocent lives.

Leaders insist they are committed to defending “European values and tolerance from the attacks of the intolerant,” but a growing number of their citizens now view all Muslims as the enemy.

Indeed, after the attacks in Brussels, the United Nations’ lead official for Middle East refugees, Amin Awad, warned that Europe faced an increasing risk of racist retaliation against Muslim immigrant communities.

Truth be told, these communities have only themselves to blame for shying away from partnering with their host governments in cracking down on Islamic extremism in their neighborhoods and mosques.

It is instructive that four months after the Paris attacks, one of the key suspects, Salah Abdeslam, was living in a Brussels district among like-minded individuals who have no qualms about working at cross purposes with the country that has provided them with all the benefits of a free society. It is telling that these individuals prefer to live in the West rather than in any Middle Eastern country where freedom is in short supply.

That said, the European Union must recognize that a unified response to Islamic extremism is long overdue. It will require a multi-faceted approach that involves law enforcement at all levels and human intelligence.

For their part, U.S. intelligence agencies and other law enforcement organizations that have succeeded in stopping terrorist attacks like the ones on Sept. 11, 2001, should offer their services to the Europeans.

Islamic State must be destroyed.