BRUSSELS AND THE TELETUBBIES!
AN ANALYSIS OF WHY PASSIVIST
JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM.
I’m going to try
something I used to do in an “official capacity”, but never just for my own
enjoyment.
As I was perusing the morning news, I came upon two stories
that struck me as so flawed, I had to
stop to think about the perspective the author of both stories were trying
place in front of the readers. Yes, I even review the stories published by CNN,
although, I must admit, at times it’s all I can do to finish whatever they have
posted for the world to read.
So, here is what I’m going to do? Well, I use to do this with just about everything I
had to review when it came to the Middle East.
By the way, this is going to be rather lengthy, so if you don’t have the
time to think about what you are about
to read, then I would encourage you not to start the process and then try and
finish at some other time. It’s the type of product that just doesn’t lend
itself to such an approach. Train of thought is the key to final analysis.
Ok, below are both articles I have copied from the CNN news
website. The original articles are in black and my comments are in red. As you
read the actual story, you will see where I’ve commented on why the approach is
flawed and how the progressive, passive mindset always looks to find blame away
from the hard to solve issues. Passive,
Progressive thinking is simply not equipped, designed to deal with aggressive,
brutal and most often, totally committed movements or leaders of such
movements. Notice I didn’t mention Islamic
Fundamentalism as my theory of passive vs aggressive movements applies beyond
the current issue of Radical Islamic groups.
With that, let me get started!
Brussels (CNN)Since the Paris terror attacks last November,
Belgians have struggled with the fact that jihadists born and raised in their
country were among those who carried out the carnage.
Now that carnage has struck at home with Tuesday's attacks in Brussels.
And after the carnage, the inevitable
finger-pointing: fragmented law enforcement in this divided nation, as well as a lack of coordination between the
28 European Union members
in fighting terrorism. And the breakdown runs deeper here -- Belgium has
long struggled to govern itself. Right out of the box, the author starts to paint the picture of,
‘this event happened because of some other reason other than fanatical Islamic
members’!
The news website Politico's Tim King stirred
widespread debate in December by declaring Belgium a "failed state.'' Among
the examples, it cited a failure to coordinate between the French-speaking
Walloon police and their Dutch-speaking Flemish counterparts. So, what happened to the liberal ideology of
“Diversity”… aren’t we all just supposed
to be marbles in one big bag? Why can’t
the Dutch speaking and French speaking sections of the Belgium society be a
good thing? Now, suddenly, it’s one of the major reasons the Terrorist are able
to execute inside of Belgium?
That breakdown is blamed in part for how long
it took to catch serial child murderer Marc Dutroux in the 1990s. Reforms since
then have sought to improve that communication, but language differences remain
an issue. Really, an event from over
20 years ago is an example of something that took place in 2016? Again, the
issue of redirecting the blame!
Belgium has struggled at times even to form a
government, as long as two years most recently -- longer than Iraq took --
while some leaders in the Flemish north threaten to break away and form their
own country.
The more affluent north, comprising about 60% of the
population, became more powerful after the post-industrial decline of the coal
and steel-producing Walloon south. The Flemish complain about supporting the less-affluent south. So, here we go. Here is the heart of the
Progressive, Liberal doctrine…..Social Inequality!!!! That is the reason the
Terrorist attack! When you can’t define the problem and you know you don’t have
the correct answer, then divert and reshape the event into something you can
defend and that also supports your philosophy. So, Belgium is a likely target
for terrorist acts because of its social inequality?
One could liken the division to the drive by
Quebec, where French-speaking separatists have so far failed to win votes there
to break away from Canada. Some here suggest there should be a referendum.
Difficult to govern
Belgium is a relatively young country, younger
than the United States, formed in 1830 after ending Dutch rule. Wedged between
France, Holland, Germany and Luxembourg, Belgium has remained difficult to
govern, with layers of administration and parallel structures serving the three
official language groups -- Flemish (a version of Dutch), Walloon (a version of
French) and German.
The Brussels-Capital Region is inside Flanders
but has separate, bilingual status. It also has 19 communes, each with their
own police force, speaking either Flemish or Walloon. Difficult to explain
for a region of 1.4 million people,
and also an obvious impediment to coordinated anti-terror operations. But doesn’t this sound like liberal utopia? It’s
the land of everyone gets to have everything the way they want it. Belgium and
the Teletubbies!
One stark example of Belgian parochialism: it
wasn't until 1998 that Belgium centralized its passport production, until then
the responsibility of more than 500 town halls. That had made it easier to
forge passports by stealing blank ones from local government buildings.
Brussels International Airport is an ongoing
example of the clash between the north and south. Located just inside Flanders,
its planes take off and often land over Francophone areas of Brussels and
Wallonia, sparking bitter protests by the residents and leaders there.
Politics itself can complicate concerted
action. Interior minister Jan Jambon has said he wants to clean up Molenbeek, the
Brussels district where terror suspect Salam Abdelsalam was captured. But
cooperation from the Brussels region and its French-speaking community is
difficult, as Jambon is a member of the Flemish nationalist party N-VA.
Belgium 'more stable'
A recent article by New Europe, titled "Belgium is not a failed state," argued
that things aren't so bad for Belgian residents after all. Belgium ranks 14th
in the Global Peace Index's State of Peace rankings, ahead of France, Germany,
Spain and the UK. Belgium is in the "more stable" category of
the Fragile States Index. And in World Bank's
so-called "Gini index," which
measures inequality, Belgium ranks ahead of France, Germany, the UK and the
United States.
So, where did the author go here? Belgium is a
heaven for peace loving people and social inequality is not that bad? So, why
did the terrorist strike the very place they were hiding in? Yep. The theory is
so weak, the author can’t side with his own viewpoint.
The World Justice Project, which measures rule
of law and judicial effectiveness, ranked Belgium ahead of France and the
U.S.
Whether Belgium can act in a more united
fashion to tackle the terror threat remains to be seen.
Some leaders argue the answer is in closer
cooperation on a European level. That includes a better exchange of intelligence information between the
28 EU countries, and measures like the Passenger Name Records, or PNR Directive, that
the European Parliament is to vote on this spring, which would oblige airlines
to hand EU countries their passengers' data in order to help the authorities to
fight terrorism and serious crime.
Now, here is the ugly
truth on this comment about the intelligence apparatus of Europe. It’s not the
actual men and women of the anti-terrorism mission that are the problem. They
do talk! They do share, even when their liberal, progressive political leaders
don’t want them to! Yes. Most liberal political leaders are more than willing
to look the other way when some subject matter expert walks up to them and
states, “I know you don’t want to hear this, but we have a problem”! I’ve seen
it time and time again and that won’t change. Just think of the movie,
“Jaws”…..” there is no Shark here….everyone back to water”!
Also
before the Parliament is a European Commission proposal for a common border
police and coast guard, not only to tackle the migrant crisis but also to
counter terrorist activity. That is to be voted on by June. It’s too late to try and invent some technique that will save the
concept of a “Unified Europe”. The events of the past several months have
already put into motion the swinging of the political pendulum. The
progressive, look the other way mindset of Europe has opened them up for
internal crisis. Those who never agreed to the One size fits all,
federalization of Europe are going to come to power and some of them will be
almost as dangerous as the PASSIVIST that brought this problem to Europe’s
door.
In the meantime, Belgium is Europe's latest
anti-terror battlefield, and ill-equipped
to fight on its own. Notice the author never gives any example of how
to prevent such attacks; unless you account for the timeless argument of any
Progressive….you know… Social Inequality.
Formerly with
CNN, Chris Burns is a Franco-American
journalist and media consultant with 25 years' reporting experience in Europe,
the U.S., Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East. The opinions expressed here
are solely those of the writer. (But posted and supported by
CNN)
A tale of two Brussels
How terror shaped the capital of Europe before the attacks —
and after
Story by Nick Thompson, CNN
Photographs by Jerome Sessini/Magnum Photos for CNN
Photographs by Jerome Sessini/Magnum Photos for CNN
Updated 6:55 AM ET,
Sat March 26, 2016
Brussels, Belgium (CNN)Every time Haroun Zamouri leaves his house, there's a chance he
will be searched. It's getting to him, and when he's finished with university,
he's gone.
Inga Skaara moved to Brussels recently from
the West Bank because she was fed up with the violence. But it feels like the
bloodshed followed her here.
Alicia Gabam was expecting this to happen, she
just didn't know when. Now she is wondering if it will happen again.
It was Brussels' darkest hour -- three
explosions heralding the arrival of pure, unbridled terror in the heart of
Europe.
The fear of a
homegrown attack had been building for months, accumulating in the collective
psyche of the Belgian capital like gray clouds in the sky. And when the storm
finally hit on Tuesday, 31 people lost their lives, killed in suicide attacks
on an airport and a rush-hour subway train by a group of young men who grew up
here.
The deadliest terrorist attack in Belgian
history has turned the spotlight on a city at odds with itself. Brussels is at
war in peacetime, the beauty of its medieval cobblestone streets marred by the ugly presence of green military
trucks on seemingly every corner. Yep… wonder what the author’s opinion is of the “military”?
The mood is one of defiance, mixed with the
fear that another attack could happen at any minute.
And while everyone in this shell-shocked city
is grieving and searching for answers, not everyone is asking the same
question.
In the
glimmering glass high-rises of the European Quarter, the country's leaders are
asking themselves how security forces that blanketed the city for months still
let the bombers slip through the cracks. Again, the liberal political leadership of Europe
can’t stand to look in the mirror as they try to “figure out why this
happened”! It must be the fault of the very people who give their lives day and
night to keep the social elitist political leaders safe and in power!
In the tranquil district of Anderlecht,
parents are wondering how to explain the horrific events of the past few months
to their young children -- and whether their children are safe at school. Are the parents worried or are the political
leaders worried about what the parents might say to their children and who they
may blame. “Son, this is why we can’t have these day dreamers in power. They
simply try to wish the hard parts of this world away or blame it on someone
other than them”. That is the kind of explanation they are truly worried about.
And in the worn-out working class neighborhood of Molenbeek, mothers don't
know if their children will come home at all -- and are asking how long they
will have to continue to pay for the sins of a few. Worn-out? Worn-out from what? Worn-out from
progressive attitudes towards keeping people dependent on the political leaders
who worry about votes not safety?
“Working Class”….. again the indirect reference to social inequality.
If the Berlaymont is one
of the most recognizable buildings in the city, the most notorious is a gray
and redbrick three-story building in Molenbeek.
It was here that Salah Abdeslam, Europe's most
wanted man, was captured by Belgian authorities in mid-March after four months
on the run, hiding in an apartment not 500 meters from the house where he grew
up. So, did the Law
Enforcement community have a plan to go door to door in the whole area? Was it
denied? Was the dreaded “profiling” disapproved by the same political
leadership that supports the same liberal mindset of people like the author of
this article? What was leadership willing to do before the event happened? What
information where they briefed on, and what did they decide to do with the
information? Where is the news story on the failure of political leadership in
Europe?
In the four months since the Paris attacks,
this immigrant neighborhood -- just a 20-minute drive west of European Union
headquarters -- has become synonymous with jihadism. But the community here
tells a different story, one of hard-working people who feel angry and
disconnected from a
society that doesn't seem to want them.
Whose fault is that other
than current leadership?
At the Bienvenue Café, football banners hang
from faded pink walls. Old men sip coffee and play cards as the latest news
bulletins emanate from a corner TV.
The apartment building where Paris attack
suspect Salah Abdeslam was arrested in mid-March.
A man named Said is eating lunch at the next
table over. Like many others in the neighborhood, he declined to give his last
name. "The people here are as nice as anywhere," he says. "It's
a community -- we know
each other and help each other out."
He says men like Abdeslam are giving Molenbeek
a bad name. "These explosions are not in our culture. Terrorism is not in
our culture, and they're making our culture look very bad." Was it at this point, the author asked, “so what
are you doing to change what is taking place in your community….your
culture”? Funny; I didn’t see that part
in this story.
The weary expression in Said's voice betrays
the general exhaustion of the people in Molenbeek. They are tired of the media,
tired of having to apologize and tired of living in fear in their own
community. Then do something about
it!
Molenbeek may be the most heavily patrolled
neighborhood in Europe. Soldiers and military vehicles are parked on nearly every
corner. Anti-terror raids at all times of the day here are a fact of life now.
Children play cricket in the streets, but their parents are sometimes too
scared to leave their homes.
At the Thursday market, men argue over the
price of apples as women peruse the stalls, dragging their shopping carts
behind them. It could be a scene from any city.
This woman's 21-year-old daughter, Nohaila,
was spit on at a vigil for the victims.
Halima Abdelkader is a mother of four who has
lived in Molenbeek most of her life. She says people are close here, that
everyone knows everyone -- including the families of the neighborhood's most
notorious men.
"I've known Salah Abdeslam since he was a
little boy. I've known his family for decades," she says. "We started
our families at the same time, and they're certainly not radical people." So, it’s the old, “He was a good kid. Something
must have happened”!
But
Abdelkader has seen a shift recently. Molenbeek is trying to maintain its
unity, she says, but the space is growing between different communities in
Brussels. And here is the “Something”……yep….. The nucleus of all that is wrong
in the world from the eyes of the liberal doctrine……………..Social Inequality.
"In the '80s, Molenbeek was like
Marrakech. Now it's like Kabul. It's like a war here," she says.
"People in other parts of the city don't see the reality of the situation
-- but here we're living
in it. Make it better? What have
you done to make your life better? What have you done to change what you don’t
like about the community you live in? Again, absolutely no mention of self-responsibility!
"When I cross the road I am afraid. It's
my country and I'm scared to go out.
"We're also suffering from these attacks.
One woman in our neighborhood went to work and never came back." And that is exactly what the Terrorist want. They want people to hate the one’s not responsible
and thus drive their youth into the camp of the “resistance”. So, if the
parents know this, where is their fight
to change what is taking place?
The regular Thursday market in Molenbeek's
Place Communale.
Kamal, 35, owns a butcher shop not far from
the market. His 7-year-old son Bilal is too young to understand most of what's
transpired here in the past four months, and Kamal seems grateful for that.
"I don't speak to him
about the situation here, and I don't let him watch the news on TV. He's
too young. He has other occupations." But, does he talk to him about the evil movement amongst his own
religion….his own people… Does he influence his Son before the others do? Again….what
are they doing to fight the movement on their own front door?
As the years go by, Kamal says, he feels more
and more like a stranger
in his own country.
"The situation here has gotten bad over
the past four months. All Belgian people see Molenbeek as a problem. We are
Belgian, but many see us as strangers."
It's the same old narrative, says Khadija
Zamouri, a member of Parliament who was born in Molenbeek. "It's putting
everything together in one pot and saying, 'It's the fault of the Muslims,' and
they expect us to apologize for that. And for me, I don't want to apologize for
something I'm not part of." Here is one problem. Nobody is looking for an apology! What they want
is to see you take action. Do something to counter the radial side of your
religion! People will stand with them, but they need to see effort!
Zamouri says people forget that the Muslim
community also has been traumatized by the bombings. And although the country
is united in grief, she says, the social integration of Belgium's minority communities has
fallen short. Ah yes… a favorite buzz
word…. “Minority” and all the subliminal messages that come with it! Why, this
is taking place because we are treated as “minorities”! And then the issue of
social integration! Who’s job is it to socially integrate? Is the government
supposed to walk into your neighborhood and say, ok, we are relocating a few
Germans and a couple of Asians into this area”?
When a culture has a closed viewpoint towards itself, then those people
decide, on their own, to move next door to each other, shop with each other,
then who created this “Social integration” issue. Can someone show me a Belgium
law that states all Muslim must live in the same area?
Ahsan grew up in Molenbeek. He says he knew
the attacks would bring more trouble to his neighborhood.
"It touches our lives," she says.
"My daughter is in the third grade, and one of her classmate's aunts is
missing. She was on the metro on Tuesday, and that hits really, really close to
us."
Zamouri's sons also know what it is to feel like strangers in their own
hometown. How do you feel like a
stranger in your own town, when the point of the story just a paragraph ago was
all about “Social integration” or the lack there of? A stranger in the hometown, you built? If you
don’t like seeing liquor stores, bars, and women in short dresses walking down
the street, then live amongst those who think like you. Oh ya…that’s what they
did. So, tell me, who created these “Social Integration” issues? If you isolate
yourself with those that think like you, then you made the choice!
"My two boys look very Arab, and Haroun, the younger of
the two, always gets
stopped by the
police, even before the (Paris) attacks. Whenever he goes out, it's one
or two times a week he is checked," she says. The implied message here is the wrong doings of
the law enforcement community and not the actions of the Terrorist. Again, the
thought process of the liberal mindset. If you can’t explain something you are
unwilling to confront, then go back to the baseline story that fits your
purpose.
"He even has a chain on his trousers so
he can get his pass out to show to police. And that's getting to him. He's now
studying at university and he says, 'When I'm finished with my studies, I'm
gone.' And his older brother is already saving money so he can afford to leave
the country.
"That's
really disturbing," she says. "If even my children -- who have had
everything, who are not in need -- are looking for a way to get out of here,
what about children who have no chances, no parents behind them to guide
them?" This Youngman wants to leave because he is treated differently, but
has he honestly asked himself why? What level of conformity is he willing to
live with?
A woman rides a train on Line 1 the morning
after the attacks.
'She can feel the fear
around us'
On a normal day, the courtyards surrounding
the Berlaymont building would be filled with diplomats and professionals,
rushing back and forth between lunch and the glistening towers that represent
the center of European democracy.
But Thursday the European Quarter was mostly
empty. Schuman, the train station that serves the "heart of Europe,"
as a nearby sign says, was closed to the public -- although the escalator was
still running. And this is exactly the results
the Terrorist are looking for and the ability to create this environment is
nearly unavoidable. Terrorism at its core value is based on fear!
Jonathan Williams works nearby but lives in
Anderlecht, just south of Molenbeek. Like thousands of parents across the
country, he is struggling to find ways to explain the attacks to his daughter.
"She's still young, but she can feel the
fear around us," he says. "Her teachers try to find the right words
to explain what's happening without traumatizing her. But still, you can feel
fear.
"So we try to put some words on it
without being too dramatic -- we don't want to worry her. We try to explain the
probability to her. ... There are many metros. For a child you have to
generalize so they don't get worried." Again, are they taking the actions they need to that will show their
children what needs to change? Are they speaking to the violence of the very
people who are trying to hijack organized religion? If the answer is no, then
hit the repeat button and move on.
The grounds of the Berlaymont — headquarters
of the European Commission — were almost empty on Thursday.
What worries Williams is the world's inability
to stop these kinds of attacks from happening.
"New York, Paris, Brussels -- it's
saddest for the children, the
world that they're going to grow up into. And it seems so difficult to find a
solution to this problem. These people don't care about living, and you can't
control everything. What
a defeatist attitude. The next stage of such an outlook is, “Compromise”! Passive
people see too many things as simply too hard to deal with, so they compromise
and adapt to a lesser world! The aggressor on the other hand, they see success
in their actions and that leads to new, even more stringent demands.
"My
partner and I were saying yesterday that we'd like to move to an island and
grow tomatoes," he says, laughing. "But we have to live with it, with
love. It can bring out the good side of people when this happens." Yep.. There it is.. Let’s just move away and sing
songs together! So if sheep decide the best tactic for avoiding a pack of Wolves
is to move to the next field, does that mean the Wolves won’t follow? “The good
side of people”. Another fallacy of the PASSIVIST mentality. All people have a “good
side”. No… It’s not true! There is good and evil in this world. Always has been.
Those that turn so evil that they can bomb children on an Easter egg hunt are
evil! There is no “good side” to them. That answer must makes it easier for the
PASSIVIST to cope with what they can’t seem to come to terms with.
'Now it's too late'
Five minutes down the road, the entrance to
Maelbeek station, where 20 people died Tuesday, is still closed. A small group
of people lay flowers on the ground outside, some too upset to speak.
Joelle Scott was in her office around the
corner when the bomb went off. The mother of three looks visibly shaken as she
recalls the helplessness she felt.
Army
trucks are now a frequent sight in most areas of central Brussels. 3rd time the author had to mention “Army Trucks”!
"We were locked in our building,"
she says. "All day we heard the sirens of the police, and the ambulances
taking people away. We couldn't do anything besides watch out the window and
see and hear these people who died on the streets. Could you have run outside and tried to help? Some
did! Can you stand up in a time of crisis for the country you live in? Could
you say to your children, “Stay here…..I’m going to see if I can help and then
sit and tell them why you chose to do this. Teach them?
"On Sunday my daughter was at the
airport, heading to Stockholm for a school trip," she says. "Every
day she takes the train through Maelbeek. Even though I knew she was in
Stockholm, I kept thinking she was in the metro. If she hadn't been in Stockholm,
it could've been her."
Scott, 53, lives out by the airport, but even
there she doesn't feel safe anymore. She starts to cry as she continues.
"In the past four months things have
changed," she says. "I am afraid. I am afraid to leave my house. I am
afraid to walk my dogs. When I go outside I'm looking everywhere -- maybe
(terrorists) are over here, or over there.
"I think I want to say to my family and
my friends every day that I love them, you know? Because maybe this is the last
day you'll be able to say that to them.
"I don't think it's finished. They're
everywhere in every land," she says. "The politicians didn't do enough before -- and now
it's too late." Well,
at least she got the blame line correct, at least part of it. The political
leadership of a liberal Europe didn’t do enough! How about the people in the communities
where these killers hide out? What did they do? Fear…all radical actions are based on building
or reacting to fear. To live in fear is a choice.
Aldona lives in Ixelles. She's worried about
paying her bills after the school where she works was closed for the week.
'Something heavy in
the atmosphere'
It's only another a 20-minute drive from
Molenbeek to Ixelles in the east, but the two districts seem worlds apart. Yep. Back the common core theme, “Social Inequality”.
Regal brick townhouses line the ponds that run
through the affluent residential part of this area. Parents pick up their kids
from music school, and well-heeled couples drink coffee in the nearby café.
The blaring of police sirens, ever-present
elsewhere in the capital, doesn't seem to reach here. But the fear does.
For Lisa Croonenberghs, a pensioner who has
lived her entire life in Brussels, the biggest change has been the military on the streets.
The 4th mention
of the evil military. It may be the new norm
in the so-called "croissant pauvre" -- the crescent of poor
neighborhoods to the west, including Molenbeek -- but it's a jarring sight in a
prosperous neighborhood like this.
The tunnel to a metro line is closed at Gare
de l'Ouest the morning after the attacks.
"You (might) feel more secure in Molenbeek," she says
with a laugh. "It's possible that the security there is better than it is
here." Leverage the part of the story that fits your
needs. That is what any liberal author would do! Change the issue from something
your doctrine is not equipped to deal with to something that helps you reach what
you think the answer is, social inequality / injustice!
Aldona, a 26-year-old model who lives in the
area, has grown accustomed to seeing soldiers patrolling the streets. But she says some of the security measures are
excessive -- and she's worried about paying her bills after officials
closed the school where she freelances for the week.
"It's been a big shock to me -- I'm a
very sensitive person," she says. "I'm hurt by people's suffering,
but I'm also hurt personally because of my finances. I was really counting on
that money. For some people it's nothing when they lose some money, but for
some other people it's important.
"It's
insane. They let the terrorists win doubly -- some people get killed, and
others get poor." “They”? Who is “They”? She implies the government of her country is
at fault. How can she say the measures
taken are already “excessive”, yet state “they” are at fault for letting the
terrorism happen, for costing her money? This just goes to prove the passive mindset’s inability
to deal with aggressive behavior. So, what should “they”
have done to prevent the attacks? Did the author think to ask that question? Of
course not. That is not the purpose of the story. The purpose of the story is
to show how unfair it all is!
Inga Skaara moved to Ixelles recently from
Bethlehem because of violence in the West Bank. But it's as if she cannot
escape the bloodshed.
"I came here because I wanted to leave a
similar situation," she says. "Not because I was terrified of my
daily life, but it wasn't easy. I have a little boy, and with him it was really
stressful.
"I came here to get away from that and
now I'm thinking, where am I going to go now?" How about you make a stand? How about you get involved
and change the environment these killers hide in? Stand up! It’s not as easy as
printing a silly sign and walking around a College Campus, but where is her
will to make a change?
Lisa Croonenberghs, right, worries that her
grandchildren's school in Ixelles could be attacked.
Her partner, Pablo Avendano, says life has
become less spontaneous since the Paris attacks.
"In the past four months, life has
shrunk," he says. "Less movies, concerts, going to the park ... we
don't do that as much. There's something heavy in the atmosphere that started
in November when the (terrorism) alert level went up." Again, exactly one of the goals the Terrorist are
looking to achieve.
The street less
crowded
Moumen Hamdouch works for the European
Commission and heard the bomb rip through Maelbeek station. A colleague's
husband was on the platform when the train exploded, but survived.
"People don't have confidence that the state can keep them
secure," he says. "If I have to choose between walking down
two streets, I will always take the one that's less crowded, and I won't be in
the commercial and pedestrian areas where there are tons of people." It’s the state’s failure to secure the people, but
in the same breath the issue switches to ‘don’t suppress me and don’t let me
see your warriors in the public’.
Hamdouch, a French expat who has lived in
Ixelles for a decade, thinks the government needs to do a better job of unifying troubled communities.
The “government” should?
How about the actions of those that live in the community? What do they do to
improve the environment they live in? Notice the author never attempts to look
at the issue from the perspective of induvial responsibility. Individual
responsibility…….a concept foreign to Liberal thinkers.
Well-wishers scrawl messages on a wall at the
Place de la Bourse on the day after the attacks.
"When I turned up in this country I
always thought that, compared to France, Belgium had much better integrated its
minorities," he says. "I still think it's true, but the security services and
the police have made a mess of it and not done their jobs for years. At this point it’s easy to see the author has the
turn the tables on the Terrorist event. It’s the government’s fault! It’s not
the actions of the killers that the Arthur dives into, but the failure of an
unjust, over authoritarian government with its ugly military trucks and its oppressive
actions! I have to admit, it’s usually
at this point I stop reading trash like this, but this time, I kept going,
knowing all the time my goal was to show the flaw of the liberal logic.
"Some of these authorities in communities
like Molenbeek have turned
a blind eye to what is happening. They have no clue who's living in
their own city, so if you
have no clue about who rents what, the basics aren't there in terms of
intelligence gathering." So,
imagine, just imagine a government announcement that anyone who is not of
Belgium bloodlines must register when they move into an area!!!!!! The same people who were interviewed for this
story and the same people who write articles like this one would be marching up
and down the street demanding an end to such an “oppressive government”! Amazing!
Hamdouch, like almost everyone else in Brussels,
has been rattled by the attacks. But he's determined not to give in to fear.
The evening of the bombings, he saw people
filling the city's restaurants and bars, appearing to carry on as normally as
possible.
"That's what I've done. It was a friend
of mine's birthday and he wanted to cancel his party -- but I told him no,
don't cancel."
He
relishes the reaction of the people of this city who are "giving the
finger to these guys and continuing to live." Giving
them and the government they are complaining about the finger. Guess what?
The “guys” as this author refers to, don’t care about the sheep and
their middle fingers! They are steadily plotting the next attack. The attacks
that will get the passive, Liberals / Teletubbies / even more upset with their
government. For you see, the Teletubbies know they alone cannot stand up to the
Wolves, so in their frustration and they attack the one thing they have been raised
to blame for all social injustices……the “government”!
