Brussels terror attack

At last we get the truth about why Belgium is having so much trouble with ISIS terror cells.  According to US counter terrorism officials, they haven't got a clue and likened the Belgian security forces to "children."

Brussels has allowed terror cells to flourish in the suburb of Molenbeek near the centre of the city and there have been unconfirmed reports that police are afraid to enter the area.  How on earth was this allowed to happen?

News of today's attacks was met in some parts of Washington with resigned frustration.  "Belgium has been stepping up the amount of people they're devoting to intelligence and law enforcement but they're playing catch-up and we are seeing the terrible results today" Rep. Adam Schiff, the senior Democrat of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence said.

A frustrated US intelligence official bemoaned the state of the counter-terrorism in Belgium and across Europe.

"Even with the EU in general, there's an infiltration of jihadists that's been happening for two decades and now they are just starting to work on this.  When we have to contact these people or send our guys over to talk to them, we are essentially talking with people - I'm just going to put it bluntly - children.  These are not pro-active, they don't know what's going on....they're in denial......it's such a frightening thing to admit their country is being taken over."

The end result is that Belgium has been targeted as a base camp for violent extremists.  "Hijadists think that Europe is the soft underbelly of the West and Belgium is the soft underbelly of Europe" said French terror expert Gilles Kepel.

But it's now too late, the horse has already bolted and tracking suspect individuals is an overwhelming task.

Back in Australia, Man Monis took 17 hostages at a cafe in downtown Sydney on 15 December 2014. The siege came to a bloody end after a 16 hour standoff.

Police were criticized for the way it was handled.  They had a clear shot of him all day, in broad daylight through the cafe window but were told not to enter until he killed someone.  That decision cost two innocent lives.

So it makes me wonder if our counter terrorism people are getting advice from the wrong people - namely the British, and if this is true, we need to get some Americans to come here and tell us how it should be done.