Brussels : Symptom of a Europe on the Brink of Losing Control

A week ago AP reported that ISIS has trained 400 to 600 fighters to target Europe in waves, deploying interlocking terror cells like those that hit Brussels and Paris. This mobile, semi-autonomous network of cells indicates the depth of ISIS European infiltration, even while it's losing territory in Syria and Iraq. EU and Iraqi intell officials and a French lawmaker described camps in Syria, Iraq and possibly the former Soviet Union where units of fighters who will be sent back to Europe are trained in battleground strategies, explosives, surveillance techniques and counter surveillance. The dead leader of the November 13 Paris attacks had claimed he entered Europe in a multinational group of 90 fighters, who dispersed "everywhere." And, the arrest of Salah Abdeslam didn't stop the two attacks four days later in Brussel's airport and metro that killed 35. Fleeing Paris the day after the November attacks, Abdeslam built a new network and planned attacks from in his childhood neighborhood, Molenbeek, long known as a haven for jihadists, according to the Belgian Foreign Minister. French Senator Nathalie Goulet, co-head of a commission tracking jihadist networks, told AP Abdeslam's arrest was a reason for the rapid Brussels attack : "...[the Brussels attacks] was a response : So what if he was arrested? 'We'll show you that it doesn't change a thing'....The reality is that if we knew exactly how many there were, it wouldn't be happening." ~~~~~ Two of the Brussels suicide bombers, brothers, had no known jihadist links until an apartment one of them rented was traced to Abdeslam. An Algerian killed in that apartment on March 15 had nothing but a petty theft record in Sweden -- but he had signed up as an ISIS suicide bomber in 2014, returning to Europe as part of the November 13 plot. The cells were confirmed by the EU police agency, Europol, in a January report revealing that intelligence officials believe ISIS has "developed an external action command trained for special forces-style attacks." An unnamed EU security official told AP that French speakers with links to North Africa, France and Belgium are chosen as unit leaders responsible for developing attack strategies using fighters including Moslems and Moslem converts from across Europe : "The difference is that in 2014, some of these ISIS fighters were only being given a couple weeks of training. Now the strategy has changed. Special units have been set up. The training is longer. And the objective appears to no longer be killing as many people as possible but rather to have as many terror operations as possible, so the enemy is forced to spend more money or more in manpower. It's more about the rhythm of terror operations now." These "external operation" units are now also trained to be their own operators -- not needing to wait for specific orders from ISIS Raqqa headquarters, Syria or elsewhere. ~~~~~ Security and Intell experts now believe the Brussels attacks were moved forward because of Abdeslam's arrest. Magnus Ranstorp, a Swedish security analyst says : "I see the link to the environments either in France or in Belgium. Whether they're logistically linked...they're probably part of the same batch of extremists that have come out of Syria." Security officials say there is evidence to suggest most of the training is taking place in Syria, Libya and elsewhere in the empty spaces in North Africa. ~~~~~ Dear readers, the question intelligence and security officials ask is how many fighters are trained and in the EU ready to attack. A senior Iraqi intell official says members of the cell that carried out the Paris attacks are scattered across Germany, Britain, Italy, Denmark and Sweden. Intell and security will do their job, but to succeed, they need EU political leaders to help keep their citizens safe. Politically, how can jihadist ghettos like Molenbeek be prevented from forming? What can be done about them once they exist? EU politicians must find answers or Europe will be headed toward bloodshed unseen since World War II. More on this tomorrow.