Bien-pensant Europeans are already saying that Europe will just have to put up with attacks like the ones in Brussels. It is the price of an open society: that is, unlimited immigration, no borders, and ineffective security. After the Paris attack, the Belgian police knew where the mastermind was in Brussels, but they couldn’t do anything, because the law prohibits police raids between 9 PM and 5 AM.
On the evening of Sunday 15 November, two nights after the terror attacks, security services learned Mr. Abdeslam was hiding out at a an address in the notorious Molenbeek district of Brussels, reports Flanders News.
The problem they faced is that in Belgium no properties can be raided between the hours of 9pm and 5am, and by that time it was after 9pm. In fact the police did not raid the property until 10am on Monday 16 November, which newspapers have reported was because the street was busy.
Reports from reliable sources have told Belgian broadcasters that Mr. Abdeslam was able to escape that morning, either hidden in a car belonging to a person who was moving house on that street, or in a piece of furniture.
(see NYT also)
By 10 AM, when the police got around to doing something, the terrorist had moved. Presumably the law is meant to allow criminals and terrorists to get a good night’s sleep before being taken off for a hearing and then released to disappear in the Moslem neighborhoods that shelter them.
Is the patience of the European populace unlimited? Will they accept attack after attack and millions immigrants? Or will they turn to someone who promises security? I think the bien-pensants fear nationalist governments more than they do terrorism.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff Peter Altmeier posted on Twitter touting the strength of “European values” in the fight against terrorism alongside Belgium. Merkel has previously called for EU member states to welcome refugees and maintain the passport free travel of the international partnership.
Ukip has been criticised by David Cameron and others for claiming the Brussels terror attacks show the dangers of lax immigration controls and a need to leave the EU.
David Cameron was among those to criticise Ukip’s remarks. He said it was “not appropriate” to be drawing a link between the terror attacks and immigration on such a day.
“We are in a situation of structural vulnerability,” Hayez said. “That’s what democracy is. It’s an open society. There will always be risk.”
[Clinton] called the number of casualties — at least two dozen killed — “deeply distressing.” Clinton called for Washington to work with allies across Europe to track potential terrorists and said a “dream of a whole, free Europe (at peace) should not be walked away from.”
But the former secretary of state cautioned against blanket bans on immigrants based on the attacks.
“It’s unrealistic to say we’re going to completely shut down our borders to everyone,” she said. “I know that Americans have every reason to be frightened by what they see, (but) we’ve got to work this through, consistent with our values.”
Asked about calls to monitor mosques following the attacks, Sanders said, “It would be unconstitutional, it would be wrong. We are fighting a terrorist organization, a barbaric organization that is killing innocent people. We are not fighting a religion.”