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bananas

(27,509 posts)
Wed Mar 23, 2016, 04:00 PM Mar 2016

EXCLUSIVE: Belgian Intelligence Had Precise Warning That Airport Targeted for Bombing

Source: Haaretz

Attack in subway likely also known in advance by Belgian and Western agencies; attack plan was formulated at de-facto ISIS capital of Raqqa, in Syria.

- Belgium ignored Turkish warning about Brussels attacker, Erdogan says
- Brussels awakens to a new reality: Soldiers on the streets, heavy security on metro
- Belgium prosecutor confirms brothers were suicide bombers
- After Brussels, will Europe finally crack down on terror Israel-style?

The Belgian security services, as well as other Western intelligence agencies, had advance and precise intelligence warnings regarding the terrorist attacks in Belgium on Tuesday, Haaretz has learned.

The security services knew, with a high degree of certainty, that attacks were planned in the very near future for the airport and, apparently, for the subway as well.

Despite the advance warning, the intelligence and security preparedness in Brussels, where most of the European Union agencies are located, was limited in its scope and insufficient for the severity and immediacy of the alert.

<snip>


Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/world-news/1.710572

18 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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EXCLUSIVE: Belgian Intelligence Had Precise Warning That Airport Targeted for Bombing (Original Post) bananas Mar 2016 OP
From everything I've read leftynyc Mar 2016 #1
I read the other day that the police knew about the mother of one of the group. They just LiberalArkie Mar 2016 #3
No - I think you're right leftynyc Mar 2016 #5
criminal negligence MariaThinks Mar 2016 #2
They had immediate warning from the cab driver Warpy Mar 2016 #4
^^^This!^^^ Surya Gayatri Mar 2016 #7
"the larger Muslim community, which will likely cooperate to turn these jerks" JustABozoOnThisBus Mar 2016 #11
The repercussions from bombings and mass murder are far worse Warpy Mar 2016 #12
Belgian knows all about mass murder. They know it all too well. TowneshipRebellion Mar 2016 #13
No, the driver only realised after the explosion at the airport muriel_volestrangler Mar 2016 #14
heard over the BBC last night that stellanoir Mar 2016 #6
Definetly has a LIHOP feel to it. yourout Mar 2016 #8
You mean like we all did after 9-11? pink-o Mar 2016 #9
Or worse still nichomachus Mar 2016 #15
Military arrived Friday at the nuke plants bananas Mar 2016 #10
How do you protect against an attack like this? nichomachus Mar 2016 #16
Exclusive! So is National Airport in DC. So is Dulles. mahatmakanejeeves Mar 2016 #17
Even if you have a credible threat you cannot shut down a county while it is investigated Marrah_G Mar 2016 #18
 

leftynyc

(26,060 posts)
1. From everything I've read
Wed Mar 23, 2016, 04:03 PM
Mar 2016

and seen reported, it appears Belgium was grossly negligent about terrorism and terrorists that were right under their noses.

LiberalArkie

(15,686 posts)
3. I read the other day that the police knew about the mother of one of the group. They just
Wed Mar 23, 2016, 04:15 PM
Mar 2016

never stopped by to check it out after the Paris bombing. That is where the guy captured was found.

These groups seem to be working like the old resistance movement in Europe against the nazis. Storing stuff and staying in someones home for a while and moving on. The John Does assisting them in resistance.

Probably nothing, but it reminded me of the old WW2 movies with some of the reports that have come out.

I am generally incorrect in my thinking any way.

 

leftynyc

(26,060 posts)
5. No - I think you're right
Wed Mar 23, 2016, 04:24 PM
Mar 2016

That makes perfect sense. Stay off the phone, stay off the internet, only deal with those you know and who support you.

Warpy

(110,910 posts)
4. They had immediate warning from the cab driver
Wed Mar 23, 2016, 04:15 PM
Mar 2016

who got suspicious when the 3 goons wouldn't let him touch their luggage. One warning was too close to the bombing and one was too far away and too nonspecific.

Even stationing a military squad at the airport wouldn't have done much good since the bombs would likely have been detonated by the time they got to the scene.

The only way to deal with this stuff is to prevent it and for that, they need to build better ties with the larger Muslim community, which will likely cooperate to turn these jerks in because whenever the bombs explode, they all suffer.

 

Surya Gayatri

(15,445 posts)
7. ^^^This!^^^
Wed Mar 23, 2016, 04:31 PM
Mar 2016
"The only way to deal with this stuff is to prevent it and for that, they need to build better ties with the larger Muslim community, which will likely cooperate to turn these jerks in because whenever the bombs explode, they all suffer."

JustABozoOnThisBus

(23,283 posts)
11. "the larger Muslim community, which will likely cooperate to turn these jerks"
Wed Mar 23, 2016, 04:46 PM
Mar 2016

That would be nice, but there may be repercussions for "snitching".

muriel_volestrangler

(101,154 posts)
14. No, the driver only realised after the explosion at the airport
Wed Mar 23, 2016, 05:22 PM
Mar 2016
According to VTM TV channel in Brussels, the taxi driver took the three suspects to the Brussels airport. The three suspects, with two of them being identified as Bakraoui siblings, ordered a large taxi to fit all three of them and their suitcases which were filled with explosives.

When the taxi arrived, at the house in Schaerbeek, in the north of Brussels the suspects started arguing about the size of the vehicle. The taxi driver reportedly said that the three suspects would not help him to load the suitcases in the taxi because they were irritated. Despite the complaints, the suspects entered the vehicle and the taxi driver dropped off the men to the Zaventem airport.

When the driver heard about the brutal suicide attack at the airport, he realized that the men he carried were probably behind the attack. Then he came in contact with the local police and informed authorities about the house in Schaerbeek.

http://neurope.eu/article/taxi-driver-offers-clues-brussels-attacks-investigation/

stellanoir

(14,881 posts)
6. heard over the BBC last night that
Wed Mar 23, 2016, 04:30 PM
Mar 2016

Belgian security forces had been crippled due to downsizing under boneheaded austerity programs.

yourout

(7,521 posts)
8. Definetly has a LIHOP feel to it.
Wed Mar 23, 2016, 04:31 PM
Mar 2016

If I was a Belgian I would be asking some tough questions in a very loud manner.

pink-o

(4,056 posts)
9. You mean like we all did after 9-11?
Wed Mar 23, 2016, 04:44 PM
Mar 2016

Only to be silenced and shamed: "You're questioning at such a tragic time?" "How dare you be so divisive, we need to come together!"

Media and Bureaucrats colluding to shut down the doubts is par for the course.

nichomachus

(12,754 posts)
15. Or worse still
Wed Mar 23, 2016, 05:24 PM
Mar 2016

You're labeled a "truther" and you're ridiculed if you don't accept the government narrative at face value.

bananas

(27,509 posts)
10. Military arrived Friday at the nuke plants
Wed Mar 23, 2016, 04:46 PM
Mar 2016
http://www.politico.eu/article/security-crackdown-belgium-nuclear-plant-electrabel-brussels-attacks/

Security clamp-down at Belgian nuclear plants

The two facilities at Doel and Tihange are under military protection.

By Sara Stefanini
| 3/22/16, 1:28 PM CET
| Updated 3/22/16, 7:19 PM CET

Energy utility Electrabel has stepped up security at Belgium’s two nuclear power plants, following the attacks in Brussels Tuesday.

The two plants — Doel, made up of four reactors, and Tihange, with three — have been closed, with “systematic control” of all vehicles coming and going, Anne-Sophie Hugé, a company spokeswoman told POLITICO.

Military and police have been onsite since the weekend, she added. Employees who are not needed to run the two power plants are now leaving the sites.

Military arrived at the Tihange plant on Friday, months after authorities in the local Huy municipality asked for more security, Belgium’s RTBF reported last week.

“This is part of a comprehensive operation for the protection of power plants,” Serge Dauby, director of communications at Electrabel, was quoted as saying. “In many countries, there is protection. For us, it was not the case, that’s why we requested it.”


nichomachus

(12,754 posts)
16. How do you protect against an attack like this?
Wed Mar 23, 2016, 05:27 PM
Mar 2016

The bombs were detonated outside security. I suppose you could put security closer to the street, but then you just create another choke point where someone could detonate a bomb.

From what I saw of the photos, these just looked like three travelers on their way to their flights. At what point do you stop and inspect every traveler?

mahatmakanejeeves

(56,897 posts)
17. Exclusive! So is National Airport in DC. So is Dulles.
Wed Mar 23, 2016, 05:30 PM
Mar 2016

So is LaGuardia. So is JFK. So is LAX. So is SeaTac. So is....

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