Late last week, the architect for the horrific terrorist attack in Paris last fall was captured in Belgium. He was found to be in possession of "heavy weapons", and planning further attacks. At the time, Paris was the assumed target. It is apparent, though, that either he was trying to mislead authorities, or that others in his organization decided to take some action before being discovered and captured too.

As is known worldwide at this point, there were two coordinated attacks in Brussels, Belgium, killing over 30 people. The airport and the main train station were targeted:

These attacks did not include the added horror of men with rifles shooting down civilians like deer in a petting zoo, as was the case in Paris, but that doesn't lessen the psychic and commercial damage done as the European tourism season is just getting ready to warm up. The US State Dept has issued a Travel Alert for the entirety of Europe. This is a step above "Caution", but a step below "Warning". The advice is common-sense stuff, and this writer and fellow blogger Raine will be observant and take common-sense precautions in April while visiting there.

I am reminded of my first visit to Paris in 90s. In those pre-9/11 days, most of us in the U.S. were tone-deaf to ongoing bombings in European cities. I noticed that all the trash cans on the streets there had been sealed shut. When I asked why, I was told matter-of-factly that it was to keep people from planting bombs in them. Looking back, it really shows the difference in reaction between Americans and Europeans to these types of events. They take a pragmatic "we won't be deterred from normalcy" approach, and we go insane, stockpile guns, automatically assume the worst about anyone who "doesn't look like us", and circle the wagons.

And - of course - the current leader in the Republican primary race - Herr Drumpf - somehow managed to make a bad situation worse:

He also called for waterboarding, natch'. I'm surprised he didn't call them losers, and blame them for being victims. The pathetic thing is that his comments will likely resonate with his supporters, rather than horrify them as they should any American with an ounce of awareness about how this all works in that great world outside our borders.

We stand with the Belgians and the French, and any other country who is victimized by despots pushing a violent nihilist ideology. What we cannot do is stand with those who fan the flames of hatred that feed into that violent mindset and justify their actions in their minds. Let us be more like the Belgians, and less like the Drumpfs.